Don’t you just love when newspapers call on others to do what they are unwilling to do themselves?
Sunday’s editorial [1] criticizes the Virginia Beach School Board for holding candidate interviews in private.
“Private conversations may indeed be more candid, but they shut out the very people the candidates are vying to represent: the public.”
As we enter elections scheduled for May and November, guess who is going to be holding closed, private interviews with candidates for School Board and City Council?
The Virginian-Pilot!
That’s right. The same editorial writers that tell others that candidate interviews need to be public and open for all to see will gather candidates in the Pilot offices, close the door, and conduct their private interviews with candidates and the public not knowing a single issue that was said or discussed.
The Pilot talks a lot about leadership. Here’s a chance for them to show some. They’ve called for candidate interviews to be open and public. Will theirs be?
Is the Pilot interested enough in transparency to practice it?