Vince Horiuchi is a decent TV critic but he apparently doesn’t know much about journalism or community service. He thought he was defending “objectivity” in his column Sunday by attacking KTVX and anchorman Terry Wood for not only taking an editorial stand against Divine Strake, but delivering a scathing, powerful and emotional commentary on the air, and a petition opposing it to the Department of Energy HQ in Las Vegas. Vince forgot, or conveniently omitted, the fact that his own newspaper, the Salt Lake Tribune took a similar stand against the explosives test two weeks earlier. “Utah has seemed immune from such ethical lapses and blatantly sensationalistic news presentations. Until last week,” Vince proclaimed self-righteously. (FYI: the rule in the newspaper biz is that the worst reporter usually gets to be TV critic. I’m not kidding.) The tradition of editorializing has been active since Gutenberg and has been the nearly-exclusive franchise of newspapers in American history. Finally, a TV station comes out and not only takes a stand editorially but actually backs up its bravado with action- and that’s bad? Newspapers and TV stations nationwide are paying for their lack of community involvement with evaporating audience, ad sales, and mass defections to the Internet. If there was a perfect time for the Tribune and Vince to not only make a statement (talk’s cheap, guys), but to endear themselves to their surviving audience, it was now. Instead, Vince cheapened his own employer’s lame attempt at community service by criticizing a competing medium for their superior and creative efforts to serve their viewers. “(S)ince Wood’s controversial broadcast,” Vince whines, “I have not seen a disclaimer stating the station’s position on the issue.” Hey, Vince: do you guys put a disclaimer next to every story you do on Divine Strake reminding everybody that you’re against it, too? Nope. “Are we getting the whole story?” Vince drones indignantly on. “Of course not. And that’s a disservice to viewers, who should be allowed to make up their own minds. But it also destroys the credibility of KTVX’s news department.” Beyond Vince’s ignorance of his own paper’s editorial dilemma, let’s talk credibility. If someone tells you something’s bad but does nothing- in fact, expects others to handle it- you’d think they’re arrogant and irresponsible. If the Tribune was a politician, we’d be asking “where’s the beef” right now. Using Vince’s logic, I suggest the Tribune withdraw its editorial against Divine Strake immediately if we are to believe anything they say ever again. And I suggest Vince start watching Channel 4 more- to see what real community service looks like.