When Newspapers Fail: The Tribune’s endorsement of Chris Becker distorts his record and its impact on Trumbull County

On Monday, October 28, The Warren Tribune (a.k.a. The Tribtoday) smeared my name, dragging me into the election for the judge on the Trumbull County Court of Common Pleas. It was an odd choice but not accidental. The piece was an “editorial,” so comments were disallowed, of course.

In its endorsement, the Trib again revised history, telling a carefully curated version of Chris Becker’s Twitter fiasco, you know the one where he expressed his hatred for defendants accused of a crime, defense lawyers, black people, trans people, and “brought shame on the legal profession,” according to the Ohio Supreme Court, which seldom criticizes officials and which can go 50 years without punishing a judge.

Yes, back when Chris Becker was revealed as a closet troll who identified himself as a prosecutor in his bio, like a masthead for a bigoted stream of consciousness. Legal professionals asked to comment on whether it was appropriate for an officer of the court to take pictures of and make fun of defendants on social media were left in shock and disbelief.

The Tribune always doctors the past when it tells a story, sanitizing it for the local establishment and obliquely attacking enemies, “outsiders” or anybody who was ever accused of a crime, especially if they complained about the Warren police.

The editorial hand wrote, “Becker’s conduct was reviewed by legal counsel for the Ohio Supreme Court after a complaint was filed by a California man.

In a letter dated March 31, 2021, assistant disciplinary Counsel Adam P. Bessler stated that Becker did not violate the Ohio Rules of Professional Conduct. With that, the state body dismissed a grievance made by Tim Tolka and closed the case. But Bessler stated in a letter to Tolka that Becker brought “shame and embarrassment to the legal profession.”

I’m a California man, now? I lived there for a total of six years, but alas, the fact remains that this is yellow journalism. Why not explain why the Court went so far as to note Becker’s comments caused “shame and embarrassment”?

The Tribune cowers in the face of the powerful, but it never fails to attack regular people, basically the opposite of the usual mission for a newspaper.

The Tribune once published a courageous special investigation in 1996, but after that, the Tribune’s reporting fell off a cliff and the Vindicator, or Vindy stepped into the role of telling the truth about local events.

During the turbulent early 2000s, the Tribune cowered when local controversies required them to write a description of any incident of police brutality. The editor was always using scare quotes and emphasizing the version of the police. Outside the dusty confines of the Tribune’s reporting, many residents knew that these incidents were occurring on a bimonthly, and sometimes biweekly, basis.

The Tribune’s endorsement of Chris Becker for judge is a damning indictment of its credibility. At least, on the webpage, there’s not a paid ad for Becker, although that’s not always the case in the past, as I wrote earlier this month.

If Chris Becker becomes a judge, he will smuggle in his oft-professed bias under his black robes, and the people who happen to be accused of a crime will pay the price. When they are up for parole, you can expect Becker to way in before the parole board, as he did last week.

It seems like, from Becker’s statements before the parole board, that he has doubts about the possibility of rehabilitation once a person has done a lot of time in prison.

My advice: Don’t read the Tribune but DO VOTE for Sarah Kovoor, an attorney with a track record of conscientious legal advocacy and competent litigation.

BONUS: Unlike her opponent, she has never been criticized or punished by the Ohio Supreme Court. On the bench, it’s a good bet that Becker will cause more cases to be appealed at great cost, as well as more interjections by the state supreme court, wasting taxpayer money and clogging local dockets.

When you take into account the flimsy allegations thrown around locally and the poorly trained Warren police, having a biased judge who used to be a prosecutor is a recipe for injustice in a jurisdiction already plagued with graft, waste, and systemic dysfunction.