I personally like many of the writers at the Baltimore Sun. I think they have a lot of talent, but at some point somebody is telling them to cover lame topics or produce fluff stories. I assume there is some sort of mindless corporate directive that infests the editorial department at the Sun which helps spit out the questionable product that some of us still read today. If you do not read the print version of the Sun then most likely you are one of the many former online readers who can no longer access online version of the paper which currently sits behind a pay wall.
Luke Broadwater is a good writer and a nice guy. I know he can write a hard hitting investigative piece because I have seen him do just that at InvestigativeVoice.com and the Baltimore Examiner. At some point somebody neutered this article about Warren Branch.
I have seen Warren Branch in action at City Hall. If we are cursed to have Branch reelected in November then I encourage all of you to check out Mr. Branch at City Hall. You will quickly see that he does not come across as the smartest man in the city. Check out this article about the Pete Welch/9th district open seat hearing. In the article I describe some of Mr. Branch’s odd behavior:
“At one point Young appeared to be quite frustrated with Branch. By the 4th candidate the crowd in the balcony was vocally frustrated and angry at the embarrassing Branch. It is also important to point out that if any organization is a 501c3 nonprofit then they can not legally endorse any candidate. Branches rant eventually morphed into him talking about how recommendation letters need to become a requirement at future open council seat hearings.
It is obvious that many residents of the 13th district voted for Branch because of his Brother who is in the House of Delegates. Branch represents the nightmare scenario of Baltimore political family based power. Someone in the 13th needs to step and run a solid campaign to get rid of this guy.”
The power of incumbency is amazing in this town. When an incumbent sends out a press release about the lamest of issues the Baltimore Sun covers it. When a challenger has an article written about her the Baltimore Sun then gives the incumbent a fluff piece. Many legitimate contenders are IGNORED during primary season when they send out awesome hard hitting press releases to the Sun. The Baltimore Sun completely ignored the Belinda Conaway housing scandal until she ignorantly sued me. Challengers have a right to dislike the Baltimore Sun and its blatant bias toward incumbents.
Why doesn’t the Sun mention that the 13th district resembles a war-zone more than any other district in Baltimore? Why would most Baltimore Sun readers not step foot in the 13th district of Baltimore? How can Warren Branch not be held accountable for the current state of the 13th district? I invite every single one of you to visit the 13th district in the middle of East Baltimore and tell me how on Earth Warren Branch’s incompetency is not mentioned in the paper of record every single day. For four years the media ignores the travesty that is the 13th district and when primary election time comes along they decide to ignore his challengers and hold him accountable for nothing. The voters of the 13th district should have held the Branch family accountable long ago, but just because the voters are blind does not mean that the local media should reinforce the people’s political ignorance.
Who in their right mind believes a grown man holding elected office: “lives with his mother one day a week at the address he lists on campaign information — the same address listed by his brother, State Del. Talmadge Branch — and stays with his girlfriend and their three children the rest of the week at a different home in the district“?
Stop the madness/blind ignorance and support Shannon Sneed!
Adam is the most recognizable face of the recent resurgence in Reservoir Hill. He has appeared on many national and local radio shows, in several news publications, and at numerous events discussing his innovative urban redevelopment ideas and his unique lifestyle. Adam is a successful entrepreneur, community activist, and a local political guru who ran for city council in 2007. He is the founder and director of the TechBalt.com Buy a Block Project and BaltimoreHourly.com. His fearless local political commentary has rocked the local blog scene for most of this decade and he plans to take it to the next level in the next decade here on Charm City Current.
The problem with the Sun isn’t the recent Branch or Sneed articles, but the overall lack of coverage on the decay of the 13th district for the past 60 years. Whereas areas to the north, south and west of the district have seen different measures of improvement, the 13th is in one of the worse shapes in all of Baltimore. The level of crime and abandonment, coupled to the contrast between Hopkins and Monument Street merchants, makes this district the dark hole of urban development. The clear answer isn’t either Sneed or Branch, as one person cannot \resurrect\ the area.
Hi Cory. I think one could argue that the article doesn’t show that, but I’ll leave everyone to have their own impressions.
As for my multiple articles on Shannon, including a front-page article, they didn’t come out until after the primary, because, well, I was only moved to The Sun’s metro desk the day of the primary. I know from other reporters in town that they decided to cover the Sneed campaign after seeing it featured in The Sun.
I can’t speak for the editorial board, because they are walled-off, so to speak, from the reporters. So I can’t explain to you their decision-making process.
As for Branch “cherry-picking” people to help, I will note that I contacted him half-an-hour before I shadowed him that day, so it doesn’t really seem feasible that he could have planned these visits with inspectors that quickly if he hadn’t already planned to do them.
I believe, as was stated in the article, that Shannon’s momentum has caused him to step up his game.
In any case, I will continue to be covering this race, and I appreciate any feedback (positive or negative) you have along the way.
I hope people will show up at Life of Reilly Irish Pub (2031 E. Fairmount Ave.) tomorrow (Friday, Oct. 28) night from 5pm to 7pm to talk to Shannon and support her campaign by buying happy hour specials.
Luke, I appreciate that you have to present the side of Branch’s supporters. And I enjoyed your first article about Shannon (even if the timing, after the primary, was awful). But as a resident of a (soon-to-be) 13th District neighborhood, the impression I have overwhelmingly heard from long-time 13th District residents is that Branch is almost entirely unresponsive when contacted by residents. I have a hard time believing you didn’t hear plenty of that when you were doing your research. Your article portrays Branch as somebody who is strong in constituent services and very responsive to the community, simply because he cherry-picked a couple of people to help out when you were watching. As you might imagine, this is extremely frustrating to somebody who is a little more familiar with the situation on the ground.
Like Adam, I have a great deal of respect for quite a few of the Sun’s reporters (Luke, Julie Scharper, Justin Fenton, and Kevin Van Valkenburg come to mind off the top of my head), but it is appalling that the Sun endorsed Branch in the primary. And the execrable editorial board is the reason I will not pay for an online subscription.
I agree with your sentiments of The Sun. Baltimore is rich in topics that NEED investigation and thoughtful exposure. The Sun does seem to have some sort of directive to remain superficial, and hold the party line. (IMO) The paper in its current state is detriment to the city. I am much happier and more informed now that I have made the resolution to not read it. Its negativity is contagious and there is nothing of substance in it that can not be found more thoughtfully and objectively produced else where.
The 13th district now includes the active communities of Butchers Hill and Washington Hill. Branch protested these inclusions in his district since the residents tend to be more informed. I personally believe Sneed would have won the primary if we had open primaries in the city. Being a write-in candidate is tough, but she will have my vote in November.
Hi Adam. Thanks for your feedback. We wrote an article two weeks ago documenting the momentum of the Shannon Sneed write-in campaign in District 13, so it’s only fair to document how the Branch campaign is responding. The point of the article is this: Branch is taking Sneed seriously as a challenger, and stepping up his efforts. I disagree with your assessment of the piece as “fluff” — issues of Branch’s residency, voting record, legislative record and history of changing his mind on key issues — are all raised. I also disagree with your assessment that information about the state of East Baltimore was not included in the two pieces. I called the district one of the city’s most beleaguered and quoted Shannon saying some parts of it were comparable to Baghdad. And, I’d add, not all of the 13th District can be categorized as a “war-zone”: Belair-Edison and Berea don’t have the high crime and mass vacancies as some of the other neighborhoods, for instance. That said, I think the two articles give a look at why Branch has been successful at winning his last two elections: His long-time roots and connections in the community, his large fundraising advantage, and the fact that, like it or not, he does sometimes help individual constituents with their issues with City Hall. Branch’s supporters are people, too, and have legitimate views. I think the two articles taken together paint a fair picture of the major issues in the campaign, who each candidate is, and what each is doing to try to win this election. In any event, thanks for reading and thanks for your feedback.