News-editorializing from the Chron on $AFEclear
Anne Linehan and I both commented on the revenue-enhancement aspects of the $AFEclear story the Chronicle ran today.
Neither of us commented on the substantive problems journalistically in the article.
For starters, there's this sentence:
While most Safe Clear opponents were careful not to link the death to the victim's desire to avoid a tow, they said it illustrates the ordinance's potential for harm.
What opponents? Quotes? Names? Harm, as in death?
One could fairly call two bloggers here critics of the program. Here's what I wrote yesterday:
And Mayor White and his council should be ashamed of this poorly implemented, draconian program that now bears some responsibility for the death of a woman on the east side (we can debate how much responsibility in the comments). [note: the post was updated below after press reports indicated the victim was a man]
KTRH-704 talk radio host Chris Baker put forth a similar view on his radio program yesterday.
Even major media sources (but not the Chronicle initially) reported that the man was hurrying across to his vehicle from across the street after seeing a $AFEclear wrecker about to confiscate it, as we noted in the same post. Here is KTRK-13's original reporting:
She ran across the freeway to fill up her gas can. But when a Safe Clear tow truck showed up, eyewitnesses say she panicked, dropped the gas can, took off her shoes and ran back across.
That would seem to be a link, presented not as opinion, but as fact (we did later learn the person was a man, but other aspects of the reporting were affirmed). So, the Chronicle's reporting is misleading at best.
Another sentence paints Mayor White as the "good guy" and makes potential "bad guys" of any critics who might suggest a link:
White said the death should not be exploited by either supporters or critics of Safe Clear, calling it a tragic lesson that "people should not be going back and forth across busy freeways."
Let me translate Mayor White's statement: I should be able to exploit this man's tragic death to further my political purposes, but my opponents should not. Why the city's only newspaper is a willing, uncritical participant in the mayor's political gambit is unclear.
Towards the end of the story, the Chronicle slants its characterization of local state legislative support for Senator Whitmire's proposal to rein in $AFEclear:
Area state legislators contacted by the Houston Chronicle had mixed reactions to Whitmire's proposal.
State Reps. Gary Elkins, R-Houston, and Sylvester Turner, D-Houston, said they would want to end Houston's ordinance, even if it were amended to provide some free tows.
Elkins said emergency lanes were designed for motorists to take care of emergencies, and that vehicles should not be towed if a can of gasoline or spare tire can get them back on their way.
"People should be allowed to handle those situations the way they have for the last 50 years in Texas," he said.
Turner said he has questioned Safe Clear since it took effect Jan. 1, but Kahng's death convinced him that the program should be stopped, even though he acknowledged the death could not be directly attributed to Safe Clear.
[snip]
But Houston Democratic state Reps. Garnet Coleman and Jessica Farrar said they likely will support the city's ordinance if some free tows are provided.
[snip]
Sen. Rodney Ellis, D-Houston, said he will review the bill and monitor it closely.
So, of the legislators interviewed, none voiced support for the $AFEclear program as it currently stands, a majority (including Senator Whitmire) want to eliminate it, and several might support a mystical $AFEclear program that doesn't currently exist. Reactions to the current $AFEclear program don't seem so mixed after all.
And the bolded portion suggests the reporter approached the interview with Turner determined to push a point of view, instead of simply reporting the representative's view.
The Chronicle's initial reporting on this story was weaker than the reporting from every local television station that posted its stories on the web, and today's reporting seems determined to carry water for Mayor White. Three contributors (Ron Nissimov, Kristen Mack, and Harvey Rice) and however many editors responsible for this slanted reporting should be able to produce better work.
Posted by Kevin Whited @ 02/02/05 01:12 PM | Print |
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