An apology to the parishioners of St. Mark's

On Tuesday night, the 2010 Catholic School Initiative convened a meeting at the St. Mark's School to bring parents up to date on the Dorchester parochial school consolidation process that has been ongoing since the spring. The meeting was advertised in the parish bulletin inviting "school parents and parishioners" to attend. The Reporter was told by Terrence Donilon, a spokesperson from the Archdiocese, that no press would be allowed.

Nonetheless, what was happening was important news for our community, so the Reporter's news editor, Pete Stidman, went into the hall to cover the story for the paper.

Although the meeting was intended to have been for parents and parishioners only, also present that night were officials and representatives of city and state government.

During the presentation, Stidman, seated in the audience, was approached by Donilon, and asked if he was a member of the press. Stidman said no.

Seconds later, Stidman got up from his seat and sought out Donilon and acknowledged his role with the Reporter. Donilon eventually asked Stidman to leave. Stidman then identified himself to the audience, and put to them the question of whether he should leave or not. One attendee responded that she wanted to ask her question, so perhaps it would be best for Stidman to leave. At that point, he left the hall.

Our news editor should not have misrepresented himself to Terrence Donilon, even momentarily, nor should he have engaged the meeting's participants in the matter of his attendance. He made mistakes in judgment that are out of character for him and unacceptable to the Reporter. We apologize for our reporter's actions at the meeting and regret any disruption they may have caused to the people of St. Mark's, who had serious business to deal with that night.

- Ed Forry

An explanation: our role in passing along the news
It remains the Reporter's position that these parish meetings are newsworthy events that we will be covering for this week and in future editions, whether or not we are allowed access to meetings where the matter is under discussion. It is our job - and our charge -to report on the Catholic school consolidation process now, not at a time of the Archdiocese's choosing in the "weeks ahead" or after a decision on school closings has been handed down by Cardinal O'Malley.

Each constituency of the schools, parishes, and villages that surround the eight schools under discussion has a pressing interest in the process as well as the outcome. They have questions and points of view and, in our judgment, those questions and opinions should be heard in the context of these parish-by-parish meetings. How the Archdiocese responds to its constituents and arrives at a decision is an essential element of a story in which all in our community have a great stake.

The Reporter has been in attendance at other meetings of this type before, without incident. Our coverage of those meetings early this year was instrumental in informing our readers about the 2010 Initiative, a massive planning process that will have significant and long-term impacts on Dorchester and Mattapan.

It is our responsibility as news gatherers to attempt to verify the information that people are being given at these meetings and then to be accurate and consistent in our stories.

We will continue to do our job in that spirit, but it will be made more difficult because of the unreasonable restrictions directed at us earlier this week by the Archdiocese of Boston, stipulations to which we vehemently object.
- Ed Forry