Journalism by Formula

email | By Craig J. Cantoni

[hsmomx3]

This may embarrass me.

Having read only the headline to a front-page story in today's Arizona Republic (February 24, 2003), I am going to guess, here and now, how the rest of the story was covered by the reporters. Then, I will read the story and let you know if I was right or wrong.

The headline to the story is this: "Deficit threatens adult ed: Legislative proposal to cut funding baffles some." The story was written by staff reporters Robbie Sherwood and Maggie Galehouse.

Based on the tired, predictable, boring and unbalanced formula that the establishment press uses to cover cuts in state spending and other socioeconomic issues, my educated guess is that the story follows these lines:

- The story says that the Republican legislature is proposing to cut adult education by some amount or in its entirety to help close the state's budget gap.

- Two or more people enrolled in adult education are portrayed as innocent victims and quoted about how unfair the cuts are. At least one is a minority.

- Some advocacy group or Democratic legislator is quoted about how unfair and shortsighted the cuts are.

- A Republican legislator is quoted about why the cuts are regrettable but necessary.

Here is what I predict the story does not cover:

- The story does not quote even one taxpayer who foots the bill, thinks that taxes are too high and favors cuts in spending. For sure, it does not say that the per-family cost of all levels of government is $24,000.

- The story does not ask the tax takers why they think they are entitled to other people's money. It accepts their excuses for their lot in life without any penetrating follow-up questions or investigation.

- It does not remind readers that public education is a great deal for poor people and recent immigrants -- that families can get $84,000 worth of K-12 education per child and pay very little in return. For a family of four, that comes out to $336,000. Certainly, the story does not question why anyone who drops out of school and passes up such a deal would feel entitled to a second chance at public expense.

Okay, now it's time for me to read the article and see if I should be embarrassed.

Well, well, it turns out that my educated guess about the story line was 100 percent correct. There is no reason for me to be embarrassed, but plenty of reason for the mainstream press to be embarrassed by its formalistic journalism.

Admittedly, the formula has made newspaper reading easy. Readers can simply read the headlines and skip the stories, because the stories are all the same. They always sympathize with those who take money and not with those who have their money taken.

___________

Mr. Cantoni is the founder of Honest Americans Against Legal Theft (HAALT).

[hsmomx3]

The AZ Liberal Rag is so predictable. It's also become much more slanted since Janet Napolitano became governor.

[NativeNewYorker]

Didn't you know? Reporters' computers now come with MadLib templates for standard stories such as this one, and all they have to do is fill in the name of the program being discussed (slashed), the names of the free loaders (innocent victims of greedy budget balancers), etc.

[southcarolina]

Most journalists either aren't smart enough to get beyond these superficial and silly arguments or refuse to do so because it doesn't allow them to push the essential point in their screwy agenda: raising taxes. They're convinced, afterall, that government can provide for people better than people themselves can.