Tony: Disagreeing with Dave Helling is Easier in The Digital Age

Let’s start this with a simple fact.

Kansas City Star reporter Dave Helling is the “Gold Standard” of local journalism. EVERYONE working in local media agrees that he is a thoughtful reporter and a consummate professional.

That doesn’t mean he can’t be wrong.

Back in the day, Helling was on KCTV5 “Truth Busting” local politicos and that’s part of his solid reputation as a reporter who does his best to be objective. But now, thanks to the Internet, more than ever it’s newsies getting busted and without patting myself on the back too much. I think that’s what happened to Helling recently.

I’ll make it simple:

Helling wrote a great article published on Friday Morning regarding complaints about Funky spending on his Mayoral campaign using taxpayer funds. It was basically a gripe story from all of the Mayoral hopefuls.

I heard about this story coming down the pipeline coming from the very same people talking to Helling. But I noticed that the Star reporter missed an integral part of the tale: Of course, the Mayor is using taxpayer cash to tout his campaign but a great many people suggest he is running afoul of