The Wheeling Alternative
Bransfield’s travel extravagances
Once again, the Washington Post documents the abuses of West Virginia’s former bishop
The Washington Post continues to investigate former West Virginia Bishop Michael Bransfield. This time, Post reporters Shawn Boburg and Robert O'Harrow Jr. present an extensively-documented investigation of his travels that includes this chart:
The article is titled:
A penthouse, limousines and private . . .
Posted in: bishop bransfield
Some recent West Virginia stories you probably haven’t seen
A reaction to the Bransfield investigation, the proposed gas storage hub, and CNBC’s annual “worst states for business”
A Washington Post op-ed on West Virginia's former bishop
The religious section of this morning’s Washington Post has an op-ed by Michael J. Iafrate, who is co-coordinator of the Catholic Committee of Appalachia and a doctoral candidate in theology. Iafrate has been asking important questions of the Wheeling-Charleston Diocese for . . .
Reading the front page of the Wheeling Intelligencer on a holiday
Can we find anything newsworthy?
The Bransfield story and yesterday’s Washington Post story
This morning’s Wheeling Intelligencer featured Ogden reporter Steven Allen Adams’ report on Ogden-favorite and West Virginia Attorney General Patrick Morrisey’s ongoing battle with the Diocese of Wheeling-Charleston. If you look toward the end of the Morrisey coverage, . . .
Washington Post publishes a new investigative report on the Catholic Church’s failure to investigate Bransfield
Tomorrow’s edition of the Washington Post will again feature a long investigative piece on former Wheeling-Charleston bishop Michael J. Bransfield:
Warnings about West Virginia bishop went unheeded as he doled out cash gifts to Catholic leaders
The article is by Robert O'Harrow Jr. and Shawn Boburg, and it . . .
Posted in: bishop bransfield
Demonstrate concern: a rhetorical strategy used by Ogden papers to insulate themselves from any criticism that they are part of a problem
Today’s example: a Wheeling Intelligencer editorial wants the Catholic Church to “Probe Gifts Within Church”
One strategy to avoid being marginalized on an issue is to show concern for the problem. Take the climate change issue in which we've probably progressed to the point where arguing that “climate change is a hoax” hurts your credibility. As I documented earlier this year, Ogden newspapers (and local congressman David McKinley) appear to . . .
Editor Mike Myer asks: “If Bransfield did all these things for so long, how did he get away with it?”
Yes, it’s a clueless question from the editor of a newspaper that brags daily on its masthead that it has “stood guard for 166 years against predatory interests which would violate civil rights.”
Here’s my answer to Myer’s question: because those who had the power and the microphone (the Catholic Church, local media, and law enforcement) chose not to investigate.
Myer rightly questions the diocese but that is as far as he goes. I’m sure he, like anyone in the area who does not live under a rock, has heard rumors about some . . .
The investigation of Bransfield (with update)
I do not know how the Wheeling Intelligencer will cover this tomorrow, but I will be surprised if they do a better job than the Washington Post
Washington Post reporters Michelle Boornstein, Shawn Boburg and Robert O'Harrow Jr. have thoroughly described the charges against former Wheeling-Charleston Bishop Michael J. Bransfield. At 3,300 words, the reporters appear to leave nothing out. (I was going to quote key passages, but there are too many.) If this story is important to . . .
Posted in: bishop bransfield