James Dornbrook, a reporter for the Kansas City Business Journal, covers local business news -- like, say, Gov. Jay Nixon signing a tax-break bill to ensure that Ford's Claycomo plant stays open and keeps 3,700 autoworkers employed.
Too bad Dornbrook drives a Toyota Camry.
Dornbrook drove his Camry to UAW Local 249 on July 15 to cover Nixon's signing ceremony of the Missouri Automotive Manufacturing Jobs Act -- and was
promptly bounced from the parking lot.
"We don't allow THAT in our
parking lot," a UAW worker told him, according to Dornbrook's account of events.
The reporter argued that he should be allowed to park in the lot because he was there simply to cover the event.
Unimpressed by the plea, the union employee told
him to get lost. Dornbrook relented and parked on the side of
Highway 69.
Way to know the enemy, UAW.
Dornbrook, in fact, reported that Claycomo was in danger before union officials knew anything. In February 2009, he quoted an analyst's prediction that Ford would shutter
the site; in the same piece, Local 249 President Jeff Wright told Dornbrook he'd heard nothing about that prediction.
And it turns out Dornbrook's Toyota (one reader sent him a letter dubbing it a "Jap car") is actually more American than the Ford F-150s getting banged out locally. Cars.com's American-made index, which measures factors including where auto
parts come from and where cars are built, ranks the Camry No.
1. The F-150 is off the list entirely because fewer than 75
percent of its parts come from within the country. Dornbrook's Camry was
made in Georgetown, Kentucky, and his father-in-law (from whom Dornbrook
bought the car) points out that the American-made car parts were
shipped to Georgetown by Teamsters.
The UAW has been touchy about parking for a while now. The Detroit News points out in a recent piece
that the UAW kicked Marines out of its parking lot five years ago for having George W.
Bush bumper stickers on their foreign-made cars. (The union soon
reversed its stance and let the marines' cars stay.)
Of course, Dornbrook wasn't making a political statement. He was driving an American-made car, with union-delivered parts, to an event that his reporting played a role in.
UAW President Bob King, briefed about Dornbrook's troubles covering
the signing, sent a less than remorseful
letter to the Business Journal, lecturing about the legacy and importance of auto unions. Blah blah, foreign automakers deny their American employees the chance to unionize, blah blah, buying an American-made car made by nonunion workers doesn't help the American economy. Oh, and real sorry, Mr. Reporter:
"The UAW member you encountered in the UAW Local 249 parkinglot meant no
personal disrespect to you. Accommodating vehicles not made by UAW
brothers and sisters is a passionate subject for our members."
We asked Dornbrook for comment, but Business Journaleditor Brian Kaberline said he'd prefer that his writer's
reporting stand alone. Maybe if we hadn't parked our Pitch news camper in the Journal's lot.
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I wrote the blog about my personal experience of getting kicked out of the UAW lot, which is well within the purview of a blog.
As for the actual story I wrote about the bill signing - which was completely separate from the blog - I challenge anyone read it and find a single example that violates journalism ethics or that was biased in any way.
Good insight I was searching Google for some thing and came across this blog site of yours. By the way, is there any way to subscribe to new posts?
I pulled into a union job at Kansas Medical Center. I was driving a Nissan but was in the union. Someone poured a bucket of Johnny-On-The-Spot Soup into my sunroof and wrote "get that Jap crap outa here".
It was nice. Thanks D-bags.
Private property, owner's choice of how to use it- so what's the story?
Oh, yes, it's that a reporter cannot tell the difference between HIM being booted from the meeting and his car not being welcome on private property. This illustrates how ignorance results in biased reporting. No wonder the KCBJ won't comment- their reporter looks like an ass!
Union folks just defy logic. I currently own 2 GM and 1 Ford products. In view of recent slams of states that have non union plants and the UAW's constant political activist actions. I will never buy a GM product again and buying a Ford will probably be ruled out as well. I have no problem with unions themselves but the UAW has gone overboard with their hostility to their employer as well as companies that employ others. In addition I have not seen the quality improvements that is touted in recent reports about GM and Ford. My Impala has had more problems with less that 60K miles than I have had in 10 yrs with my Mercury with 120K. My Saturn almost killed my daughter when her power steering went out while driving on the freeway we had it repaired back in April and just this week received a recall notice about it.
Nothing to see here folks:
Just another lowlife reporter violating one of the least followed rules of journalistic ethics: Don't make yourself the center of the story.
Everyone knows that only cars make with union labor are allowed to park on UAW lots. This has been the rule for decades.
If he doesn't like the rule, he should find another place to park other than the UAW private lot.
Nothing to see here folks:
Just another lowlife reporter violating one of the least followed rules of journalistic ethics: Don't make yourself the center of the story.
Everyone knows that only cars make with union labor are allowed to park on UAW lots. This has been the rule for decades.
If he doesn't like the rule, he should find another place to park other than the UAW private lot.
Nothing to see here folks:
Just another lowlife reporter violating one of the least followed rules of journalistic ethics: Don't make yourself the center of the story.
Everyone knows that only cars make with union labor are allowed to park on UAW lots. This has been the rule for decades.
If he doesn't like the rule, he should find another place to park other than the UAW private lot.
Nothing to see here folks:
Just another lowlife reporter violating one of the least followed rules of journalistic ethics: Don't make yourself the center of the story.
Everyone knows that only cars make with union labor are allowed to park on UAW lots. This has been the rule for decades.
If he doesn't like the rule, he should find another place to park other than the UAW private lot.
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