JG publisher gets nervous about political violence only when she perceives it's directed at her

An open letter to Julie Inskeep

It’s interesting that you worry about your own safety while leftists encourage and egg on violence against conservatives nation-wide.  Steve Scalise was nearly killed by a leftist encouraged to violence by a steady drip, drip of leftist nonsense i.e. blowing up the White House, decapitating the president, killing the president nightly in a Central Park play etc. The leftist thug army, AntiFa, shows up at every PDJT rally stirring up trouble and assaulting Trump supporters with nary a word from leftist papers like the JG.  Silence is consent.

The editorial page of your paper regularly paints Trump and his supporters with the broadest brush possible calling them all white supremacists, Nazis, racists, KKK and all manner of vial names.  A recent letter compared Trump to Hitler.  Hitler was responsible for the deaths of 6 million Jews and between 70 and 85 million people world-wide.  So is Trump really anything like Hitler?  Meanwhile leftist college thugs carry signs, “It’s OK to punch Nazis.”   

Your paper published an editorial by Chris Francois, “Hoosier inhospitality” on Sep 5, 2019 where the entire state of Indiana was labeled racist.  In her editorial, Francois claimed that she had been assaulted and suffered property damage at the hands of Hoosiers.  I sent Editor Karen Francisco an e-mail asking if the JG ever bothered to check to see if police reports on the alleged crimes had ever been filed, are there witnesses to the crimes, hearings, punishments, etc.  I never received a response. My guess is that Francois is a Jussie Smollett type of race-baiting poseur. Change my mind.  How is allowing an editorial that is false on its face and every word concocted to divide Hoosiers while enraging leftists constructive journalism?

If you were really interested in public safety, you’d issue rules to tamp down the vitriol on the left.  As a start, editors should not allow any letter containing comparisons of any person to Hitler unless it can be proven that the person is indeed Hitler reincarnated.  Nor can any person be assumed to be or likened to KKK members unless it can be proven that the person is in fact a card carrying member of the Klan. White supremacists, Nazis, racists are other words that, barring proof of their veracity, should be avoided on the editorial page of the JG.  

Now if you believe that there is an equal amount of violence on the right, I’ll make you the same deal I offer to anyone who believes in that foolish argument.  I’ll wear an “I’m with her hat” and put a Hillary bumper sticker on my truck if you’ll wear a “MAGA” hat and put a Trump sticker on your vehicle.  Then, let’s see who gets assaulted and whose vehicle gets keyed first.

If you would bother to take a stand against violence on the left and the incendiary rhetoric that inspires it on pages of the JG, I’ll begin to take your concerns for your own safety seriously. Until then, welcome to the fight, literally, Ms. Inskeep.  Now you are beginning to understand what conservative have endured since Nov 9, 2016.

Wednesday, November 06, 2019 1:00 am

An open letter to Jason Arp

JULIE INSKEEP | The Journal Gazette

Congratulations on your reelection as the District 4 representative on Fort Wayne City Council. But, be assured, you did not “defeat The Journal Gazette,” as your recent campaign mailer called for.

Your large postcard featured you gripping a baseball bat and included, in capital letters, the phrase: “BEAT THE MEDIA.” There were four references to The Journal Gazette, the only media identified by name.

At best, it was disappointing and inappropriate, especially from an elected official. Do you not remember the murders of five staff members and the wounding of two others at The Capital Gazette in Annapolis, Maryland, just over a year ago? The alleged shooter in that case, angry with the newspaper's coverage, pleaded guilty to the shootings just last Monday.

Why would you tie your campaign message to the bat-wielding photo and language that not so covertly invited violence?

The Journal Gazette is a locally owned business, with many long-term staff members who live and work in this community. It takes its journalistic role in promoting community understanding very seriously. That goes for our news pages as well as our editorial and oped pages.

During the election cycle, the editorial board does make recommendations in local races. It is always our intent to inform and share our insights based on both our news-side coverage of the candidates, our observations and research, and our interviews with them.

This year, you did not respond to multiple requests to meet with our editorial board before the May primary election and, again, before the general election. You also did not respond to calls from a news reporter preparing an election preview story. All were opportunities we provided you to identify the issues you considered most important and to explain to our readers, many of whom are avid voters, your plans for addressing those issues.

We did ultimately support your opponent, Patti Hays. However, as part of our efforts to share many community perspectives on local issues, we have published more than a dozen commentaries you have submitted to us in the past four years, as well as others you coauthored.

We also have published a number of letters to the editor in support of you.

Because the mailer came so late in the campaign, we chose not to call you out prior to the election. Now that all votes have been cast, I need to say how disappointed I am that an elected official would use such an offensive and inaccurate characterization to promote himself.

Julie Inskeep is publisher of The Journal Gazette