Was San Bernardino City Clerk candidate Joseph Turner less than forthcoming in a report/commentary the community activist filed for Red County San Bernardino? Turner, in an October 5, 2007 posting, blasted the editorial board of the Riverside Press Enterprise newspaper for endorsing his opponent after informing him via e-mail that "we (the Press Enterprise) do not plan to endorse in the city clerk races this election."

To bolster his claim of deception on behalf of the paper, Turner even posted a PDF file of the electronic correspondence the candidate received from a PE staffer.

Read election hopeful Joseph Turner's RCSB entry here.

With this one Turner-authored entry on Red County San Bernardino, his writing had the power to do two things. First, he diminished the legitimacy of the Press Enterprise's support for his opponent, Rachel Clark. Second, he called into question the ethics of the managing editorial staff of the PE for supposedly being duplicitous by supporting his opponent without even providing him an endorsement interview where he could present his case for the daily newspaper's backing.

Turner concluded his report by stating "You can just smell the fear in this town," which suggests that establishment media had underhandedly bestowed support without fair consideration for all the facts in San Bernardino's upcoming election.

However, Further reports now suggest that Jospeh Turner may have not have been as forthcoming as it initially appeared in his October 5 missive.

Red County San Bernardino has learned that on or about October 2, 2007, Joseph Turner did, in fact, meet with the Riverside Press Enterprise for purposes of an endorsement interview, which he would later fail to receive. Turner was given ample time to prepare and was afforded the chance to discuss his candidacy with the paper's managing editorial staff, which he did.

This means that when Turner posted his October 5 report - a report that clearly left an impression to readers that the PE had endorsed his opponent while neglecting to offer a fair forum for consideration - he was already well aware that the newspaper had changed its opinion on issuing an endorsement in the race. In fact, Joseph Turner had already met with them and knew the paper had changed their mind.

Therefore, the Riverside-based daily's endorsement itself was not a complete surprise to Turner, although its support of his election day opponent may have been. The decision of the PE to endorse in the city clerk race already had shifted from their stated opinion on September 21, 2007, and Joseph Turner knew it.

What Turner did not do was to fully inform Red County San Bernardino readers of the Press Enterprise's change of opinion, and that omission is now glaring.

To whatever credit may be due to Joseph Turner on this issue, it is the fact that at least he did not state that he was denied the opportunity to present his credentials and vision for the office he seeks. However, it is what Turner did not write that strikes at the heart of the matter here. As Turner's post is now the subject of another post, I have decided to allow it to remain, albeit with a disclaimer.

In conclusion, it does appear that Joseph Turner was less than forthcoming about his communication with the Riverside Press Enterprise.

Red County San Bernardino is a weblog, and not a traditional source of media. Yet when he report news, we identify the entry as information. When we offer an opinion, we label the posting as such.

The blurring of lines in reporting and commentary without a full disclosure of all relevant facts in Turner's entry from last week is not the standard we seek to establish. We apologize for any confusion caused to our site's readers.