Is “journalism” dead?
News, news to show
government overreach / needless laws, or just lazy reporting, which is it, you
decide.
Is “journalism” dead?
It is clear to me that often we assume what we read or hear
in the news is based on truth or at least some. If it is in writing, it must be accurate.
Ordinarily I should concentrate my first blog on the
personal property appraising world.
However, I was angered on Friday by a news report that I believed to be
accurate but turns out to be a “Nothing Burger”.
I got so angered by the following story that I called the
mayor of Gardendale to express my outrage.
(I guess I had nothing better going on for me on Friday!) What I found out made me reevaluate talk
radio, as for ABC news, well they don’t count.
Their ratings show that they will not be long for this world.
On the Dr. Thompson show (stand in for Glen Beck on Friday),
a popular conservative talk show host, went on and on about how Gardendale was
punishing teens and siding with big lawn companies who were responsible for a
law being passed to make teens pay $110 for a lawn cutting license. It was a long rant which caused me to pick up
my phone and reach out and express my anger to the bureaucrats of
Gardendale.
The Thompson show basically took an ABC article and ran with
it as if it were the Gospel. The piece
had the headline: BIRMINGHAM, Ala. — Teens in Gardendale are in for
a rude awakening this summer when it comes to cutting grass. According to the
city's ordinance, you must have a business license ...
You can see the complete ABC story that was featured on
Friday.
The calls to the radio show were an indication that many
others were angered as well. Comments such as “How dare the “gov” take this
type of action against teens who are just trying to make some extra cash during
the summer.” Mostly we hear the stories on
TV or radio and get angered because we believe that it is honest and truthful
and do nothing. We think reporters
certainly verify prior to putting something in the newspaper! Furthermore, morning talk show hosts have a
staff that they would also do some fact checking. Not the case.
Being angered by the report that I thought was truthful; I
searched for the contact information for the mayor of Gardendale and phoned
them. It took me one minute to find the
right numbers. When I phoned, they could
not have been more delightful. I was
planning on expressing my outrage but that was not necessary. They indicated that they were aware of the
article but they told me that the law regarding getting a $110 business license
does not apply to teens cutting grass.
The woman I spoke to indicated that the article and publicity surrounding
it was a result of a facebook post on a teen taking away one client from his
landscaping business. She indicated that
the police would not be approaching any young person about a grass license. She indicated that the law has been on the
books since the 1980 and does not pertain to teens. No teens are being cited or will be cited for
mowing lawns without a license.
What is pathetic about the whole thing is that no one bothered
to even call Gardendale. It took me 10
minutes to verify that the story was at best embellished to make a point or
cause one to think negatively about local governments. I am embarrassed that the news article and
the talk show rant on the topic hoodwinked me.
The take away for me is that I need to not be so lazy and verify
information before taking a stand. Don’t
be a sheep. This was a relatively minor
incident of pathetic reporting both by ABC and talk radio. Unfortunately, I believe that reporting news
is long gone. The “reporters” are making
the news as they go. Most politicians
and reporters feel the public is too stupid to decide for themselves. The reporting news outlets as well as
politicians feel the need to guide your thought process. It is very sad.
Current information.
New York Times is eliminating there watch dog editor which was created a
number of years following a scandal.
Follow this link: http://www.slate.com/articles/news_and_politics/politics/2017/05/the_nyt_is_wrong_to_eliminate_its_public_editor.html
What is the real reason for the New York Times eliminating a
department or people responsible for vetting stories for accuracy. Maybe honest journalism is not the goal
anymore. Maybe outrageous or very bias
reporting “Trumps” real journalism?
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