It has been hard in recent weeks to avoid news stories about the Krabloonik dog sledding operation in Snowmass. The owner has been charged with animal cruelty and is due in court next month. Media coverage has gone beyond these charges to include an inter-family dispute, the relationship between the company and Snowmass Village and it’s mayor. The story has also had its share of tangled relationships and friendships involving members of the media. Aspen Times Editor Rick Carroll, in an editorial this week called it a media orgy. Carroll told us he is getting exasperated with the story. He spoke with APR's Roger Adams.
Excerpts from the editorial, "The Media Orgy Over Krabloonik," by Rick Carroll
"I’m fatigued by the Krabloonik saga, as I’m sure many readers are, but there’s one version that hasn’t been told: the Aspen media’s embedment in this story. My greatest mistake in our Krabloonik coverage was allowing our part-time photographer, Leigh Vogel, to continue working as a newsroom employee when this story erupted (again) in October. Leigh, hired by the Times last summer, has been involved with the activist group Voices of Krabloonik, which for years has been trying to effect change at the kennel by raising its standards of animal care."
“It would be unfair, however, to single out Leigh as the sole media member who has potentially helped shape the coverage of Krabloonik.
In December, local writer/author Jay Cowan contacted me about publishing a Krabloonik story that he was writing…At the end of the conversation, I asked Jay if Krabloonik were paying him to write this story. He answered affirmatively, and I elected not to run a gushing advertorial…
…one of MacEachen’s sister-in-laws was my daughter’s nanny for three years… news is news, and my personal discomfort did not, and will not, affect our coverage…
…It was Aspen Daily News columnist Doug Allen’s call to District Attorney Sherry Caloia that purportedly triggered the eight misdemeanor counts of animal cruelty against MacEachen…”