Connelly and Marshall

Richard Connelly's news hostage column this week provides the definitive "fact-check" of Thom Marshall's ass.

Marshall, of course, is that useless potted plant of journalist -- the type that makes the Chron proud -- whose "work" we've noted before. He has a really bad habit of not doing any research or coverage, but simply extracting from press releases, and usually press releases that somehow reflect the views of the city's murky leadership.

He's an excerpt from Connelly's demolition of the Potted Plant:

Marshall apparently wasn't at the ceremony; his column has only Broach's descriptions of how "folks who had gathered around -- many of them homeless -- applauded 'and we all blessed the car.' " The quotes from the recipient all seemed to come from a thank-you letter Marshall somehow got his hands on.

It was all very heartwarming. But shortly after the paper hit the streets, the Chron began receiving angry, not to mention astonished, phone calls and e-mails.

Some of them referred the Chron to an article printed a week earlier in the Houston Press. In "Beyond the Womb" (May 30), the Press noted that Broach had been convicted of fraud and had first gained fame as the "womb for rent" woman who put up a billboard on the Southwest Freeway in 1993 advertising her availability as a surrogate mother for a fee.

Dan Parsons of the Better Business Bureau told the Press that he was stunned to see Broach's name associated with the charity.

It's pretty clear Marshall, and his editors, don't read the Press. We're not offended. But it's also clear they don't read their own archives. A sampling of Chron headlines about Broach: " 'Womb-Rent' Figure Found Guilty of Fraud," "Surrogate Is No Stranger to State, Federal Authorities," "Womb Lessor Called Sweet and Friendly: Residents Say Woman Cheats with Kindness."

Of course, beyond Marshall's column, there was also the March 2001 article on Broach's charity removing gang tattoos. That one also didn't mention her past.

Marshall's column engendered high-level discussions at the Chron on how best to deal with the fuckup. Reporter Lisa Teachey was dispatched to gather information on Broach and the Valentine Foundation, but no story appeared. For days -- days when perhaps some readers knew nothing more about Broach than what Marshall had said -- nothing further appeared.

His whole column is worth reading, as always.

The Chron is so pitiful.

[Posted at 15:16 CST on 06/19/02] [Link]