Also this issue:

Secret Service
Nonprofit group Citizens Alliance keeps it on the down-low when it comes to its for-profit enterprises.
-Daniel Brook

First Light
Daily News photographer Jim MacMillan scores big with a shot from Ground Zero.
-Deborah Bolling

On Media
-Deborah Bolling

Taxi Driven
-Mary F. Patel

They Kill Kenney
-Daniel Brook

The Bell Curve
City Paper's weekly gauge of Philly's Quality of Life

September 26-October 2, 2002

on media

Who the heck is Walter Lundy?

The Inky editor walks into a hornet's nest at a Jewish Business Network meeting.

by Deborah Bolling

From the door, it was pretty apparent that the only thing being served up at the Sept. 18 luncheon hosted by the Jewish Business Network (JBN) was the guest of honor: Walker Lundy.

For starters, the placards announcing the presence of the new Inky editor and executive vice-president read: "Guest Speaker, Walter Lundy."

If that wasn't enough for Lundy to know that he was not necessarily amongst friends at this affair, the vacuous stares and yawns that accompanied his opening comments about the "mission" of the Inquirer had to be the clincher.

Around 100 local Jewish businessmen and women attended the event, scheduled from noon to 1:30 p.m. Lundy, who appeared calm and in good spirits in the face of his foes, took to the podium and launched into his spiel.

"I'll talk until 1:28," he quipped, laughing slightly. "Then I'll take a few questions."

For about half an hour, Lundy detailed the new objective of the Inky. In often redundant detail, he explained how the emphasis of the newspaper's coverage was being shifted to impact those suburban readers who make up the majority of the paper's subscribers. Then, Lundy got to the main course.

"There are some stories that a newspaper covers, that people are so positioned about in terms of what they believe, that I'm not sure that anymore light can be shed on the topic," Lundy said, trying to address the criticism the newspaper has received in recent months from some Philadelphia Jews, about what they term "biased and unfair coverage" of the conflict in the Middle East.

"People look at the same event and see different things," he said. "Take for instance, O.J. Simpson. Whites think he got away; blacks think the man beat injustice. And a debate on that topic will not change your mind. The Middle East is that way, too."

For nearly an hour, Lundy defended his staff and their coverage, fielding disparaging comments about how his "newspaper of record" was not reporting facts accurately, nor offering historical context to the stories about Palestinians and Israelis that run daily.

"The more thoughtful your criticisms, the more effort I'll make to respond," Lundy said, pointing out to the guests the impossibility of responding to every letter he receives. "You're free to boycott [the paper], but I will say it's not the most effective way to do things because often that does not lead to change."

On July 12, about 300 demonstrators -- supporting and opposing the Inky's Mid-East coverage -- staged a protest at the paper's Broad Street headquarters. About 200 of the protesters, members of the Zionist Organization of America (ZOA), called for a boycott. By his own count, ZOA executive director, Steve Feldman, who attended the JBN luncheon, says that at least 10 other ZOA members were also in the room.

"I thought that judging by the response of the audience, everybody seemed solidly behind our effort to boycott the Inquirer," Feldman says. "Mr. Lundy's words and responses showed him for what he is. People saw through what his intentions are in regards to Israel. And it was clear from his responses why his paper is no good."

Menachem Schmidt, JBN director, says that the main purpose of the luncheon was simply to bring a community leader to speak to the audience, noting that the Inky is "the major print media of Philadelphia."

"I thought there was an exchange of ideas and I thought it was useful," Schmidt says. "We're not an organization involved at the forefront of this particular 'battle.' But if people have an issue, and we create a forum for that, that's the way it goes."

As for the misspelled placards, Schmidt says, "That was a mistake -- plain and simple."

To Lundy, there are enough mistakes to go around for everybody.

"I try to go everywhere I'm invited, whether it's a friendly crowd or not," he responds via e-mail. (Meetings prevented him from personally returning a phone call.) "I find I learn more from our critics than from readers who are satisfied with the paper as it is. I figure talking (and listening) is always better for all of us than the alternative. I just wish both of us was better at making the other understand our respective viewpoints."