DOC...we need to talk

Sunday musings are typically for lighter fare. Consumption with coffee and a cruller or a piece of toast.
Today, I don’t get to be light. Today I delve into a subject that seems to be more and more prevalent in my dealing with public agencies and how the game is changing for local news organizations.
This may give some of you heartburn because of a perceived disdain for the media. Local media tends to get the emotional spillover of the disdain on a national level, but that’s just the way it goes. Pen City Current hasn’t been perched level on the fulcrum of objectivity, and it’s important to note that. But it’s also important to note that the tilt usually comes in the form of opinion, and not in the normal process of gathering news for readers.
In the past two weeks, I’ve spoken with several people in the area who had information about former Iowa State Penitentiary Warden Mark Foreman, who apparently resigned on Friday after it was heavily rumored that he had been placed on administrative leave on Feb. 3.
We had pretty good information that he had been placed on administrative leave and actually had been escorted from the facility. It used to be a rule to get double confirmation before sharing something as fact. The old adage was, if you’re mom says she loves you, verify it.
So our business model was to not run that kind of information without substantial confirmation. It’s not good policy, and it pecks away at integrity and can open you up to litigation.
But officials at local, state, and federal levels are changing the game. Typical social accountability was at the basis, as well as the U.S. Constitution and state code, of the exchange between news agencies and public officials. They respected the citizenry and the media’s role in providing information. National media has become very polarized, but local writers still have an objective job to do. And we have to count on public departments and agencies to maintain the status quo on what is disclosable information.
A press release on a change in leadership is appropriate. Locally we tend to see those press releases, but at the state and federal levels, it’s become a thing of the past. They have the same sense of accountability with social funding – taxpayer funding.
If they’re going to change the game and not provide information about a warden being placed on leave, at some point, we have to adapt to the change or we speed up the process of becoming extinct.
We started Pen City Current in 2016 with a rare idea in news gathering. We wanted to work with sources to generate official statements and on-the-record commentary, but also work hand-in-hand to create strong relationships while still asking tough questions.
If some sources turn the tables and only provide information when they’re good and ready, then adaptation is required to stay relevant.
We had to go with unofficial information for the first time in our history on Thursday with regard to the situation at the prison. I can only speak for Pen City Current, but the give and take with the Department of Corrections was workable until about four years ago, and then the spigot of information about what’s happening at Iowa’s only maximum-security prison was shut off. We obtained an email from DOC Director Beth Skinner to ISP Staff indicating Friday was Foreman’s resignation day. But Friday came and went with no official statement from ISP or the DOC. The email said the Mitchellville warden (Michelle) Waddle is assisting through the transition.
We regularly oblige when the DOC sends out a release around K9 programs or the like. We understand the importance of those in the grant writing world. But when we call asking for information on an assault, or an attempted escape, or want to dig into how many more of the country’s worst kinds of criminals are coming to Fort Madison, they’re nowhere to be found for the record.
I spoke with DOC Chief of Staff Paul Cornelius by phone last Tuesday and asked him for confirmation of the DOC’s placing Foreman on leave.
“I can’t talk about any of that,” he said.
“Can you tell me why you can’t talk about that, it’s a public-funded facility,” I replied, trying to extend my remarks to the fact that I wasn’t looking for specifics of the discipline, only the status of the leadership at the prison.
“Thanks for your time,” he interrupted, and then hung up abruptly.
Nowhere in that very truncated conversation did I ask for any personnel information that would be considered confidential under Chapter 22 of the Iowa code regarding confidential information.
I joined Foreman for his community board lunch in January and I brought up the fact that information about DOC operations and, specifically ISP operations, has been closed off of late and that’s very disingenuous to the people of Fort Madison with family and friends working behind those walls.
Foreman responded with a recent story that was published, not by Pen City Current, but another outlet, that was AI generated and was full of inaccuracies. That organization has since recanted the story.
We certainly understand that frustration on his part. He gave me a card and said I could call him at any time. I called him Tuesday night to confirm the leave. He didn’t answer or reply.
I’m sure it’s a delicate situation, but just because it may put them in an unfavorable light, doesn’t mean they don’t have to talk about what’s happening in that institution. That is social money – taxpayer-funded operations – that has no social accountability. And they seem to be fine with that.
It’s not fine.
We would never publish or divulge in any way, anything that jeopardizes the safety of those working there or those serving time there, but these requests do not, as far as we can tell, jeopardize any of those people.
These are stories that need to be told about the state of affairs at ISP. This is in our community. And for the DOC to think that this information isn’t already saturated locally is laughable. But without confirmation from them, it’s just… a rumor. And a state organization being fine with rumors tells the whole story.
So do we just start printing what is rumor? Is that a reckless disregard for facts? I’m not sure it is when public officials refuse to engage in the process of fact gathering.
Unintended consequences are sometimes the biggest consequences and we need to get back to intentionality and disclosing what is disclosable, when its requested by the public.
And there’s a lot more that needs discussed about what’s happening at ISP than just Mark Foreman – but that’s Beside the Point.
Chuck Vandenberg is editor and co-owner of Pen City Current and can be reached at Charles.V@PenCityCurrent.com.