What are friends for?

Here in the patch, we think you would be hard-pressed to find a newspaper as closely intertwined with the local power structure that it is supposed to be covering than is the Herald-Standard.

"With the help of our partner, the Herald-Standard, we have launched a major “Buy Local” initiative that emphasizes the important part that locally owned businesses play in our economy." That's a quote from Stephen Neubauer, taken straight from the 2009 annual report of Fay-Penn Economic Development Council. It is readily available online at http://www.faypenn.org/nu_upload/2009_Annual_Report_-_for_website.pdf

In the same annual report, Neubauer, Fay-Penn's chairman, also states, "For the first time in fifty years, Fayette County has finally arrived to the point where there are abundant job opportunities. This seems to contradict the local unemployment statistics. No longer
can it be said that the problem with Fayette County is the lack of jobs."

We don't recall the Herald-Standard ever investigating this bold claim, but hey, maybe that's what "partners" are for.

The love goes both ways, apparently.An April 22, 2011 story titled, "Buy Local -- Program celebrates one year anniversary," featured a prominent color photo of Neubauer seated with Fay-Penn head honcho Mike Krajovic, Connellsville Chamber of Commerce president Bryan Kisiel and Herald-Standard publisher Val Laub.

Here is a section of that story, unedited and printed verbatim:

The Herald-Standard, said (Fay-Penn's Bob) Junk, has been a key partner in the development of the Buy Local initiative which evolved from the newspaper's Spin It program.

Val Laub, Herald-Standard publisher, said that program participants, whether a business or consumer, benefit from it.

"Everybody wins," he said. "Everybody gets something out of it. Community members save money through the support of local commerce and business owners are able to support their families and provide jobs."

Teamwork, said Laub, will help Fayette County. "We have to work together," he said.

Most newspapers strive to remain independent and to eliminate any appearance of "teamwork" with those they are supposed to cover. During Watergate, we can't imagine Washington Post publisher Katherine Graham sitting on a stage next to President Richard Nixon, saying, "Teamwork is needed to move the country forward. We have to work together."

When it comes to county government, the Herald-Standard's willingness to form partnerships manifests itself on two very visible fronts.

First, there is the funnelling of county hotel tax dollars -- currently $70,000 -- toward the operation of Fayette County TV. There is no hiding the fact that this money is being used to help make productive use out of the former HSTV studio and building. Nor is it a secret that the newspaper has been effusive in its praise of the two county commissioners that support this arrangement, while condemning the one who has raised questions.

The second front is self-explanatory if you just read the headline of this May 29 story: "County, H-S teaming up for charity softball game." Right off the bat, we won't dispute that this game benefits a good cause, fighting cancer, and we hope this year's game sets an attendance record.

But we find more than a touch of irony in the fact that editor Mark O'Keefe and county commissioners Vince Vicites and Vince Zapotosky have decided to officially play on the same team .(It is also interesting that Zapotosky is now in that mix, since the managers for this game have long been O'Keefe leading a newspaper team and Vicites leading a county team.)

“It’s going to be different playing with the commissioners instead of against them, but it should be a lot of fun and we’re really looking forward to the game,’’ said O’Keefe in that story.

Again, we repeat that this game is for a good cause and we have no quibble with that. But using our Watergate analogy, we also have a hard time imagining Washington Post reporters Bob Woodward and Carl Bernstein "teaming up" with White House officials John Ehrlichman and H.R. Haldeman for a charity softball game.

This annual softball game is O'Keefe's brainchild, and he has long partnered with Vicites in pulling it off.

Back to the primary proponents of the Buy Local program, which encourages Fayette County residents to spend their cash on local businesses:

1. The Herald-Standard's corporate headquarters are located in Levittown, near Philadelphia.

2. The preparer of Fay-Penn's 2009 Form 990 IRS tax form, readily available online at the Guidestar website, is a firm located in Pittsburgh.

3. When the Herald-Standard did a story earlier this year on Neubauer's flower shop being selected to provide flowers for the inauguration of Gov. Tom Corbett, it said he was checking out floral shop supplies in Atlanta when he got the news.

Buy local, indeed.