By Steven T. Jones
Even before reading the article about Club Six’s conflict with neighbors that I wrote for tomorrow’s paper, Paul Hogarth (a half-time housing activist with Tenderloin Housing Clinic and half-time managing editor for THC’s Beyond Chron blog) has concluded that I’m being terribly unfair to the SRO residents of Sixth Street, all because Club Six advertises with us. Apparently he’s psychic.
Actually, Paul’s poorly executed preemptive strike illustrates the danger of activists masquerading as pseudo-journalists. Under Hogarth’s direction, Beyond Chron has already slammed Club Six without bothering to contact owner Angel Cruz, who is at the club everyday and easy to reach. And that article didn’t disclosure Hogarth’s role in organizing the NIMBY mob until I asked him about the apparent conflict of interests (difficult questions that Hogarth considers “hostile”).
So now he’s bending over backwards to explain why they’re the good guys and we’re the bad. I won’t deign to address his many illogical accusations and willful misinterpretations except to say that I’ve been a professional journalist for more than 15 years and I’ve been known for my integrity, independence and willingness to slam advertisers when that’s how I see a story. And I’ve interviewed all sides of this story and read all relevant documents, so the story that you’ll read tomorrow is actually journalism.