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It appears the reason Joravsky points out the holes in the Times story is to cover up his own weak reporting. I’m guessing the reasoning goes something like this: “The Times didn’t explain what the erroneous or misleading information in Sykes’s petition was, and I can’t get ahold of any Norwood Park Chamber of Commerce officials myself, so I might as well point out my secondary source’s failure’s instead of mine.”
If it’s not immediately obvious, why not ask the man behind the project, 41st Ward alderman Brian Doherty? He was one of the sources Joravsky managed to get an interview with. Or why not ask Senator Walter Dudycz, who secured the funding for the project? From reading the article, it appears there was no effort to contact Dudycz. Perhaps there was no effort made because an answer from either public official defining the parking problems would have shifted attention away from the David vs. Goliath story and lessened the chance that readers would empathize with Mary Sykes. Or maybe it was just sloppy reporting.
Maybe Doherty, Dudycz, and CDOT wouldn’t have been able to explain why Norwood Park needs more parking or bump-outs, but the reader will never know. Instead, those who look to the Neighborhood News section for their weekly martyr will once again find it.
W. Cullom
