Thursday, June 28, 2007
Posted by The Dean of Cincinnati
 Photo courtesy of here.
It seems The Enquirer’s editorial department—or at least the headline writer trying to keep his or her job—doesn’t know how to spin the accomplishment of the 20,000 signatures collected so far to place the imposed sales tax for a new jail on the November ballot. We’ve collected some web fingerprints of two different headlines for the same story, one more negative than the other. These show how deliberate is The Enquirer’s attempt to push their own agenda through their allegedly professional and objective “journalism.”
This first screenshot captures the more negative of the two versions:
==
Photo courtesy of .
==
Here is an alternative version of the same story (and by the way, who is that white guy in the background, top left corner?):
==
Photo courtesy of .
==
The first headline above negatively characterizes the volunteers working tirelessly to participate in a democratic process: “Anti-tax activists still far from goal.” The words characterize the activists as failing to live up to their expectations. The other headline, while still negative, is less offensive to all those who have volunteered their time: “Anti-sales tax petition needs lot of names.” That one does not characterize the “activists” in a particular way, but it still depicts the petitions themselves as lacking, which is still an attempt to minimize the effort of the volunteers and the overall effort.
The article itself, both versions, ends with writing that bolsters the above claims:
Among the speakers at Wednesday’s rally was Republican County Commissioner Pat DeWine, the only county commissioner who opposed the sales tax increase. In addition to COAST and the NAACP, the coalition includes the Green Party, the Libertarian Party, and Unite Cincinnati Political Action Committee.
But Portune and Pepper have some substantial supporters for their plan, including the Cincinnati USA Regional Chamber, the Cincinnati Area Board of Realtors, the Cincinnati Business Committee, the Community Action Agency, and the Cincinnati Citizens Police Association.
Here are all some things The Enquirer did not write, but could have were they not engaged in politicking for their preferred outcome.
Alternative headlines: “Over 20,000 support anti-tax petition drive so far,” or “Over 20,000 signed anti-tax petitions, more needed for ballot access.”
Alternative conclusions: “While Portune and Pepper have some powerful supporters for their plan, the anti-tax plan has a broad appeal among grassroots organizations across the political spectrum.”
I find it noteworthy that the adjective “substantial” is used to characterize Portune’s and Pepper’s support, but no adjectives are granted the anti-tax side. Instead, we get words like “only,” which depicts the effort as a fringe minority.
At The Cincinnati Beacon we do not purport to be “journalists,” and as “media activists” we do not hide our political bias. The problem is that neither does The Enquirer, though they pretend they are an organization of objective professionals who abide by journalistic standards.
• Share This Article!
 Listen to this article
Help The Cincinnati Beacon Grow! Participate in Social Networking!
Members
Register
Tell us what you think!
Anonymous comments are allowed, but you can log in above to stamp your name and to avoid typing the anti-spam code.
|