A Blogger Sells Out...

By DUARDO PAZ-MARTINEZ
The Paz Files

HARLINGEN, Texas - The news blogger Jerry Deal likes to say he has a quick trigger on issues affecting his beloved hometown, that when an elected officials blows it, he is there to make note of it; that when city leaders make mistakes, like not paying their taxes, he is there to bring it to light; that when the wrong resident rises to seek a position at City Hall, he is there to sink that campaign.

It's his journalism training, he'll tell everybody.

But a funny thing happened to veteran newsman Deal last week, when bad news surfaced in the local daily about his beloved Rio Grande Valley WhiteWings, a team he represents as an employee of the North American Baseball League. In a Sunday edition write-up, the Valley Morning Star gave light to a $100,000 debt owed the city by the Dallas-based owners of the semi-pro ballclub. Then, additional news came that the team had paid $50,000 in installments and had agreed to pay the remainder before the start of the coming season.

Jerry Deal, labeled an "excitable blogger" by another Harlingen blog, said nothing, wrote nothing. He distanced himself from the story, fending off comment by blaming a bad, malfunctioning home computer. By week's end, Deal, a former editor of the Valley Morning Star, was back at his keyboard, initially posting his corny "Community Briefs" before going hard after Mayor Chris Boswell and his State of the City Address. Deal is of the opinion that the mayor does not have the citizenry in mind when he holds the function at the private Rotary Club, where a lesser crowd can attend, and where attendees are charged $12 for the evening meal. Deal wrote nothing about what the address centered on, choosing to attack and use journlism's traditional "what about the poor?" angle.

Not that Deal is off-base.

But the exact same argument can be made about the WhiteWings enterprise. How can such a lax business relationship help the city? When taxpayers bankroll private enterprise, the loser always is the taxpayer. Would the WhiteWings be back for more this coming season if the city sued them in court for full payment? The answer here is a resounding no. We've said it before: Jerry Deal does his own community a disservice when he looks the other way on this relationship. It is, to date, a flawed arrangement if the citizenry has to bail out the ballclub. Deal is taking a beating on the blog http://www.myharlingennews.blogspot.com/, as he should be. He has abandoned true journalism in the case of the WhiteWings, and, worse than that, he thinks he's still fair and objective.

Harlingen needs many things, but it doesn't need a slow-paying baseball team any knowledgable fan would easily label as Amateur Hour. The city is paying a high price for availing its taxpayer-owned ballpark and ensuring utilities services for the team's games. Jerry Deal is paying a much higher price: his credibility.

But, then again, maybe he knows he's sold-out, and maybe he knows he did it long ago...

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