LNP Editorial Board simply can’t get their facts right… despicable re Joe Paterno

By Robert Field

LNP editorial “Honoring Joe Paterno Wrong Again” is a tragic example of the incredible combination of ignorance and laziness on the part of the Editorial Board of LNP, even when it comes to so thoroughly reported and important a matter to Pennsylvanians as what Michael McQueary told Coach Joe Paterno after McQueary witnessed interaction between former coach and faculty member Jerry Sandusky and a young boy in the Penn State field house showers.

According to the LNP editorial:

“In 2001, graduate assistant coach Mike McQueary told Paterno that he’d seen Sandusky sexually assaulting a child in the football complex showers.

“Paterno informed Tim Curley, who was then the athletic director — but not right away, because he ‘didn’t want to interfere with’ anyone’s weekend.

“And that was it.”

That is not what McQueary told Paterno, as witnessed by doctor who was visiting with Paterno at the time.  After changing his account several time during the following months to suggest that he had explicitly told of  a sexual encounter, the following  excerpt from Wikipedia describes what McQueary testified to under oath in a court of law:

“Mike McQueary’s testimony for the preliminary perjury trial indicates that he heard ‘two or three’ slapping sounds before entering the locker room, and later saw Sandusky with his arms around the child’s waist while hearing ‘more than one’ of the showerheads running and saw that the child’s hair ‘was wet’; although he did not see any sexual contact of hands or genitals or any evidence of arousal, just from the positions of the bodies he knew it was ‘over the line’ and ‘extremely sexual’ and ‘some sort of intercourse’ was taking place, and that he tried to explain what he had seen to Coach Paterno by using the word ‘fondling.’

How can we explain the difference between what McQueary explicitly  testified to in court as to what he had seen and  yet his simply reporting to Paterno that what he saw appeared to be “fondling” ?

Why do the editors put words into McQueary’s mouth concerning “Sandusky sexually assaulting a child” that he never said?  Why do the editors blame Paterno for McQueary’s failure to fully report?  (Concernin the inconsistencies of McQueary’s reporting upon his meeting with Paterno, McQueary suggested that the generation gap inhibited him from providing Paterno a frank description of what he saw.)

Moreover,why does LNP say “And that was it.”   Coach Paterno reported what McQueary had told him the first thing the following Monday morning to the appropriate Penn State criminal justice authority.

There will always be ‘little’ people trying to drag down ‘big’ people into the mud. We have seen this played out again and again on the national political scene.  But we should expect more from LNP.

If  Coach Paterno were still alive and if it weren’t for the special First Amendment protection of the media (which is a good thing), LNP would have set themselves up for a major libel suit by their false accusations.

Who is the ‘nut job’ on the editorial board?  How long must Lancastrians put up with such venomous foolishness?

 

Post Scrip 9/08/’16:  The LNP editors would rather kick someone who is down, or better yet – dead, than to take on the real local issues of the day which might offend advertisers, confront the Establishment,  lose circulation, or put the spot light on LNP ownership’s nefarious enriching its real estate interests from the public trough.

They do write some good editorials, but seldom brave ones, and often ignorant.

 

 

 

 

 

Share

11 Comments

  1. A better question would be….”Who isn’t a ‘nut job’ on the LNP Editorial Board? My guess (and it’s only a guess, mind you) is that the majority of these ‘Editorials’ are written by either Cassidy or Roda, and no one else on that ‘Editorial Board’ would ever challenge the ‘Queens of prose’.

    Sad, sad, sad….what was once passable as a functioning newspaper has become little more than the Advertiser or PennySaver.

  2. Sexual assault is any type of sexual contact or behavior that occurs without the explicit consent of the recipient. Falling under the definition of sexual assault are sexual activities as forced sexual intercourse, forcible sodomy, child molestation, incest, fondling, and attempted rape.Apr 1, 2016 This definition is taken from the Office on Violence Against Women, but it certainly could be applied to sexual activities with a minor.

    From Wikipedia: Sexual assault is a sexual act in which a person is coerced or physically forced to engage against their will, or a non-consensual sexual touching of a person. Sexual assault is a form of sexual violence, and it includes rape (such as forced vaginal, anal or oral penetration or drug facilitated sexual assault), groping, forced kissing, child sexual abuse, or the torture of the person in a sexual manner.[1][2][3]

    Simply said, “fondling” is sexual assault.

  3. LNP is becoming more irrelevant every day. It has taken many years but I have no respect for the lot of them. Starting with Ernie Schreiber. Yes. It is personal.

  4. Just going by the information that is piblic. He was told in the mid 70’s by a young boy that says he was abused….and again by Mcquery. iIs a sad situation. i understand he did a ton of good things…but he obviously failed in this and I dont think he shouls be celebrated for it.

  5. Joe Pa could have done or stopped anything that had to do with anything when he was the coach of that team. He did do a lot of good, but he failed those young boys. He did report to to the athletic director….it did go to the local police….but when there are more then 1 reports by more then 1 person and he failed to act he failed those children. He does not deserve to be celebrated. He does not deserve a statue. He doeserves to rest in peace and we need to think of the kids that were harmed…nobody ever talks about them…..to me, thats not right.

  6. If you were told that about a person would you let them run football camps. Joe let him bring kids to game practices.

    I say to anyone if it was your son molested would you say Joe did enough. If you can answer yes I say SAD.

  7. I have a huge problem with Coach P. To me, he was a total fraud. He coached way to long and hurt the school as a result, all to get his record. And if the accusations are true, he even overlooked Sanduski as well.

  8. Shame on Newslanc and founder/editor Robert Field for defending an enabler such as Joe Paterno.

  9. It’s really sad that people … are totally devoid of facts can make comments like this. Too bad Joe isn’t alive to sue you.

    Fact: Mike McQueary never told Joe he saw an assault. He told his dad and his dad’s boss about the ‘uncomfortable’ incident that her heard in the shower. They, in turn, suggested he tell his boss, Joe Paterno, and not the police since…you know…he didn’t see anything criminal.

    Fact: the story about the kid from the 1970s has been debunked. He claims Jerry, who at the time was a little known assistant linebackers coach, picked him up while hitchhiking and they smoked pot, drank beer, and then he was molested by Jerry. #1 Jerry never drank alcohol. Never. #2 This kid supposedly told his parents who said he shouldn’t call the police but, instead, Joe Paterno?

    It’s so stupid it’s laughable. How in the hell would this kid even know who Jerry was at the time. Nobody in the general public, except die-hard PSU football fans, knew who he was at that time.

  10. Who is LNP? Are they even relevant anymore?

    EDITOR: They sure are if you live in Lancaster County.

  11. Why are people telling a football coach? If Paterno didn’t see with his own eyes isn’t it just hearsay? I can imagine millions of people have heard about people around us committing crimes, do we tell?

    EDITOR: Of course he did.

Comments are closed.