Herald tells both sides? Since when?

Larissa Chinwah of the Daily Herald seems to be fighting for some air amidst the array of new sources for Carpentersville news and information that have popped up in the last year — the latest of which is by Mayor Bill Sarto.

Chinwah wrote a column in Sunday’s edition titled “Sarto’s blog on Carpentersville doesn’t tell both sides of story”. In the column she seeks to defend her employer while attacking Sarto, in addition to this blog, and “the other one”.

However, her column is not without its own spin, which makes it curious as to why it wasn’t posted on DailyHerald.com.

For instance, she says of both Carpentersville Action Network and Carpentersville’s Playhouse:

[Sarto's] blog should not turn into a situation found at the other blogs — like the the anonymously run Carpentersville Playhouse and Carpentersville Action Network–which constantly attack one another.

But, this blog has never (until now) even mentioned Carpentersville’s Playhouse, let alone attack it. (Although the sole purpose of their existence is to attack this blog and Sarto.)  Furthermore, I believe this blog set itself apart from that other one long ago, by posting real information. In fact, Ms. Chinwah has used this blog as a source of information, and has used some of that information in her own stories.

It is unfortunate that Larissa has now sunk to the “dragging through the mud” level, while trying to convince us that she and the Daily Herald “strive for fair and balanced reporting” and “the newspaper exists to inform residents on issues like the happenings around town and the antics of village officials”.

The question then remains as to whether the Daily Herald does, indeed, have an “agenda”? Well, you decide…

In the last year, the paper has published numerous editorials that were disparaging of Village President Bill Sarto’s “antics” and actions against Trustees Paul Humpfer and Judy Sigwalt. In that same time period, there has been one (and a half, if you count the one that also took a token shot at Sarto) written against Sigwalt and Humpfer — despite the fact that they have embroiled the Village in controversy, manipulated Village business, and even committed acts which violated state statutes or, in the case of Paul Humpfer, constituted a serious crime for which he was convicted.

Chinwah asks a question in her column …

When was the last time trustees Paul Humpfer or Judy Sigwalt posted to the Action Network?

While I understand the point she’s trying to make about telling both sides, I would have to say that neither Humpfer nor Sigwalt have to make comments on a blog, since they have the Daily Herald who is advocating on their behalf. However, it should be noted that my invitation to all the Trustees still stands, as it has since this blog’s inception nearly a year ago.

Perhaps folks should ask the Daily Herald and Ms. Chinwah why they do not take Sigwalt, Humpfer and others to task for the things they’ve done (which are arguably worse than anything Sarto has done). Word on the street is that the last time they called out the Trustees, for holding meetings outside the public view to discuss Village business, Sigwalt and Humpfer stopped returning their phone calls.

Maybe Sarto should do the same thing when the papers disparage him, but it seems that Sarto believes that he owes it to his constituents to provide them with information on what is really going on …

… which seems to be the reason why he started his own blog.