BY DAN VALENTI

PLANET VALENTI NEWS AND COMMENTARY

(ADD 1, APRIL 25, 2019) — THE PLANET has word from sources in the know that Melissa Mazzeo will take out nomination papers for mayor tomorrow at 10 a.m. in the city clerk’s office at city hall on Allen Street in Pittsfield. Mazzeo made the decision after a trip to Italy with her family and after long deliberation. This will open up an at-large seat on the city council. The new, published here first by THE PLANET, all but assures a November showdown between Mazzeo and incumbent Linda Tyer.

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(FORTRESS OF SOLITUDE, WEDNESDAY APRIL 24, 2019) — “Investigating Berkshire County.” That’s the latest “Conversation Series” for The Boring Broadsheet, the paper once known at The Berkshire Eagle.

THE PLANET gladly offers the plug. It’s free to the public 7:30 Friday April 26 at The BB, 75 Church St.  Doors open at 6. BB executive editor Kevin Moran hosts the “conversation” with investigations editor Larry Parnass and scribes Heather Bellow and Haven Orecchio-Egresitz.

According to a BB house ad, “[t]he conversation will explore what local investigative journalism is all about and shed light on what it takes to report out stories like the Berkshire Museum, nursing homes, deteriorating bridges[,] and the women’s jail in Chicopee” [ED. NOTE: we didn’t know Chicopee was located in Berkshire County].

You can register at berkshireeagle.com/investigations or 1-800-245-0245.

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It would fill a Domesday Book if THE PLANET were to list the stories we broke that The BB either missed or was too timid to pursue. We could cram another such volume with the current stories — scandals, graft, corruption, pedophilia, bribes, shakedowns, embezzlements, you name it — going unreported locally. Why doesn’t THE PLANET go after them? Alas, we are but an empire of one. We don’t have an entire newsroom on call. And though it may come as a surprise to you, investigative reporting isn’t this site’s prime directive.

We began THE PLANET in 2010 as an online writing exercise. Gradually, this site emerged becoming an experimental, interactive column that would provide “The Little Guy” — Mary Jane and Joe Kapanski — with a voice. As the site grew, we became the “go-to” stop for those wanting more truthful reports and views than what they were getting from local media. Our investigative skills then kicked in, almost by habit. That said, we still don’t consider muckraking as our first mission.

It is, however, the duty of the local daily to venture into the dark lands authorities want to keep secret. Problem is, The BB has long shied away from such work. The newspaper is too embedded with city hall, The Suits and Skirts, and advertisers to dare actually roll up the sleeves and start respectable journalism whose backbone is hard-hitting investigative reporting.

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Investigative journalism reports facts that reveal truths others, particularly those in power, try to keep covered, usually to mask wrongdoing. You might wonder how THE PLANET can singlehandedly get stories the local daily misses. We have decades of covering the local scene, and not the pancake breakfasts of the Rotary or the Junior League’s plant sale — the puff-‘n-stuff The BB, local TV and radio, and the other online outlets love. Over those years, we’ve developed sources in just about every office and center of power. Our sources know us to be reliable, trustworthy, and good for our word. Mostly, they come to us. That’s how one guy, part-time, gets stories.

A good investigative reporter cultivates sources. Period. In every office, business, or concern, there are secrets. The tighter The Suits and Skirts guard or prevent access, the more there is to hide. In each office, you will find people who dare not speak in daylight but know what’s going on and want to drop a dime.

The BB‘s investigative problem lies in (a) frequent newsroom turnover, (b) failure in developing sources, (c) over-reliance on sanitized official information, (c) lack of management, and (d) business side control of the newsroom. THE PLANET, unencumbered by nervous executives, remains free to pursue. We can make decisions on a dime. We don’t have to appear before committees for the OK. We get tips and investigate. Sources spill. We act. Next thing you know, old Jed’s a millionaire, and we’ve got the story.

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A good investigative reporter is like a detective. He looks for clues, applies reason and logic, and gathers facts. He assembles those facts and testimonies into a coherent picture from which he draws conclusions. He goes where the evidence takes him.  He can’t be intimidated. Mess with him, and he gets tougher and more determined. If he gets you in his sights and you’re holding the goods, you’re as good as gone.

Because THE PLANET does not rely on advertisers, we can laugh off pressure. The BB doesn’t do this. It’s too scared, wants to play it safe to please anyone with power of the pocket. The BB long ago lost its edge, and it continues to blunt what’s left of the blade. In doing so, it has walked away from its first obligation, which is to be a voice for the voiceless among its readership and, in a larger sense, the entire local population.

If you attend the paper’s conversation on investigative reporting, ask them what they think of this piece. It should provide a good lesson in human behavior.

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“It is a joy to be hidden but disaster not to be found” — Donald Winnicott.

“OPEN THE WINDOW, AUNT MILLIE.”

LOVE TO ALL.

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