“…usual suspects of city activists.”

As Mr. Barker is a former Missourian reporter, I’m sorry the Missourian continues to push this derisive and unfortunate stereotype. I see it applied with smug surety all too often in both local newspapers.

The city activists here — including myself — do important work no reporters seem willing or capable of doing.

We dig for buried information, we reveal important conflicts and corrupting influences, and we keep local government honest, often against an onslaught of negativity by the establishment status quo — and for reasons I still cannot understand after 13 years in this community, many local newspaper reporters and their editors.

For instance, if you had read “usual suspect” John Clark’s handout, you’d realize that he offered a cogent, well-constructed, thoughtful alternative to the ordinance Mr. Boeckmann had prematurely placed before the council that evening.

If the Missourian’s senior editorial staff would get out more (go to more meetings, actually press the flesh instead of pontificating from on high) they’d see how fallacious and irresponsible is this negative stereotype of citizen activists.

I’m a professional science journalist, btw, not a “citizen journalist,” though if you wanted to refer to me as the Citizen Journalist columnist at the Columbia Business Times for the past two years, I’d certainly appreciate that designation.