Mr. Pweisdent . . Wou .. Would You Pwease Pwotect Hour Famiwies?
Posted on 07/28/2004 7:11:43 AM PDT by Maceman
The Metrowest Daily News sent a reporter to my daughter's summer day camp program for an article on kids' political views.
My daughter was was asked what she would tell the president, and is quoted in the article as telling him to "stop the bad guys from killing the fish," even though I'm told by the counselors that she actually told the president to "stop taking my daddy's money."
Here is the letter I wrote to the editor.
It appears you misquoted my 5-year-old daughter in your otherwise charming Sunday (7/25/04) article, “Taking the Political Pulse of Children.” Asked by your reporter what she would tell the president, you quote her as saying: “stop bad guys from killing fish.”
Adults who attended the event told me that she actually said: “Stop taking so much of my Daddy’s money.” I am also told that her remark elicited quite a bit of amusement among the adults present.
I think that accurately reporting her eminently sensible opinion would have provided refreshing balance to the rest of the article, which now reads as if the combined universal wisdom from the mouths of babes everywhere more or less entirely supports the Democratic Party agenda.
So I have to ask: was mischaracterizing my daughter’s words a case of reportorial error, or an example of media bias? I report, you decide.
You should have demanded they publish a correction.
The reporter inadvertently heard "stop the bad guys from killing the fish" when the child really said "stop taking so much of my daddy's money." It was an accident. /sarcasm
Sorry to see the Metrowest hasn't changed since I left the Bay State, but I'm not surprised. The Editorial board there is as socialist as they come.
Bravo!
They sort of set themselves up for this - ha ha!
LMAO! Looks like you've got a little Coulter on your hands.
Hey...it worked for Sandy Bergler...
But given the fact that your daughter's response was so contrary to other responses (thus contrary to the "theme" of the article), it had to have been intentional.
I hope you get a satisfactory response.
But did they print the letter?
I was interested to note that the link to your article showed Metroworst news to be under the aegis of the Boston Herald. While the Herald is far closer to the middle than their competitor ever is/was/will be, I'm not overly surprised that ANY newspaper in the People's Commonwealth of Massachusetts would show such left-leaning tendencies.
I am the reporter who quoted your daughter in the article in the Sunday MetroWest Daily News on children's advise to presidential candidates.
My notes record her saying the following:
1. "I want to ask (the new president) to tell the soldiers (in Iraq?) what to do.''
and the comment about fish.
I recall her saying something about "money'' and "my Daddy'' but I did not record it in my notebook because I thought it would be injudicious quoting a child that young on a subject as sensitive as parental finances.
I was trying to be discrete while interviwing nearly 10 children, several of whom were shy with a stranger. How could I tell if a child that young was talking about taxes or potentially other sensitive subjects.
If you think there was any hidden agenda or secret motive, you are simply reading too much into it.
As I recall, there were two other adult counselors there. No one else was taking notes.
If you question our sensitivity, ask the YMCA authorities who authorized the interviews whether we made prior inquiries if there were any special needs children who should not be interviewed, quoted or photographed. In fact, at the Civic League, that proved to be the case and a delightful photo of a group of older children was not used for that reason.
If you look at the article's structure, it should be clear, the young children at the YMCA had a very basic understanding of the election process. I decided to quote the children I did to show their spontaneity, innocence, good will, feelings about nature, etc.
The older children at the Civic League had a more sophisticated understanding and their quotes reflect that.
I believe the article reflects a fair and accurate effort to bring local children into what was initially an article about an innovative high-tech program at the Mary Baker Eddy library.
I regret that you seem to have interpreted the article in a way that does not accurately reflect the actual circumstances of its composition.
She races me up the stairs yelling: "Last one up is a DEMOCRAT!"
Yeah! They clearly sound virtually identical. < /sarcasm on top of sarcasm >
Ah, so it wasn't biased reporting.
You just 'misinterpreted' the article.
So if I call the reporter a "left-wing liberal hack who writes for a 2nd rate, DNC shill rag and he calls me on it, I can say he just "interpreted the article in a way that does not accurately reflect the actual circumstances of its composition."
I see.
If the other adults in the room were indeed amused by the comment, then they heard it correctly. Some reporter.
Thanks for posting the response. I appreciate it.
Accident is so Ted Kennedy -- the new fad is "it was just a case of sloppiness".
Tell him to go SHOVE IT.
It looks like this newspaper has a lot of sensitivity to 'special needs' situations.
In this case, it's the 'special needs' of the Demonrats.
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