…challenge responsible journalism and ignore the real issues.
Verbophobia: From Latin verbō (“word”) + -phobia: Ancient Greek φόβος (phobos, “fear”). 1. A fear of words.
This definition was recently one of 90 million daily tweets a few days ago. So what, right? Well, here’s the so in the what…
Actually, first, a few points up front:
- Anyone who goes on the defensive before there’s anything to be defensive about looks guilty, or suspicious at the least. Automatic red flag.
- Scrutiny against responsible and good journalists is usually considered a compliment to said journalists. Scrutinizing journalists who suck is a civic duty.
- Stories written by responsible journalists are often spurred by what we call “news.” That’s n-e-w-s…
While some media outlets have lost all sense of news judgment, such as airing a lengthy package on how Oklahoma bars are cheating beer lovers by not filling their mugs to the brim, some journalists* actually take their jobs and seriously.
Image courtesy report from the Office of the Inspector General of the U.S. Department of Education.
But whether news judgment is sound, some news can hurt when it hits too close to home.
News item: for-profit colleges have been facing investigation, and as a result, will be facing stricter regulations set forth by the U.S. Department of Education. Congress has longtime criticized some for-profit colleges for delivering less-than-quality educations and oh-crap-how-will-I-pay-these debts. And now our government is (trying) to take action.
This is actual news, especially when considering what a hot issue education was before, during and after the 2008 presidential election. Education is important. Duh.
Even NPR did a story on all of this. (Sorry, but by my book, if NPR considers it news, so do I.) Oh yea, so did the New York Times, the LA Times, the Philadelphia Inquirer, I could seriously be listing these all night long…
Just to pause for a moment — I’m not hating on for-profit or community colleges. Like in all aspects of life (and the education system as a whole), there is the good, there is the bad, and there is the ugly.
I don’t think this reporter was “out to get” for-profit and community colleges, either. (How can I be so sure, you ask? Oh, read on to find out!) It’s simple — there’s a government-issued regulation forthcoming on education, and this article is an exploration of why, and more importantly, it provides a local perspective and the concerns of real people.
So, as an interviewee selected for this story in the Tulsa World, the founder and CEO of Community Care College, Clary Sage College and Oklahoma Technical College has depicted the saga (in not one, not two, but three parts) of her journey being interviewed for and quoted in a published story about this educational issue.
But, there’s always more to the story, right? Right. Oh … sooooo much more.
1. One of this interviewee’s colleges, Community Care College, was actually audited by the U.S. Department of State, which documented misreporting, mistakes and fault by the college. Yet, the reporter didn’t include this piece of the puzzle in the article (hence, this is likely not an “attack” on anyone by any means).
2. If you want to tweet about lies and leaving out facts, then you might want to consider disclosing to the journalist that the person you recommended talking to for an alternative point of view is actually in fact your soon-to-be daughter-in-law. Especially before that recommended person goes on a tweeting-scarlet-letter-rampage for the sake of defending her future mom-in-law.
3. We are all entitled by the goodness and wholeness of our country to have a voice and use it, but if you want to blog about “pre-conceived agendas” or undisclosed “relationships,” or submit comments on articles that claim an article has “mistruths, half-truths or items that require clarification from the article,” make sure you do not have any pre-conceived agendas, undisclosed relationships, nor have uttered any mistruths, half-truths or items that require clarification from your end. Such as not disclosing that the people to whom you refer a journalist in order to gain a more balanced perspective is your son’s honey. (Just for example.)
4. “Interviews by PHONE” are not considered tragedies. The real tragedy is that newsrooms can’t afford to keep people on their staff, and they end up retaining only the best journalists whose reporting gets not one, but two stories slated for the front page of the newspaper … on the same day. Seriously, phone calls are about meeting deadlines when you are relying on your cat to be your assistant and copy editor (and personal pianist at times). Besides, the story had multiple sources quoted. Get. Real.
5. As a side note, readers of the Tulsa World can also be the same readers of the Tulsa Beacon. It’s not an either/or thing. Just sayin’…
6. I could go on with more sad details, but I’ll stop.
In conclusion:
This woman is entitled to her opinions. This reporter is entitled to write this story. For-profit and community colleges are entitled to operate as businesses.
Most of all, Americans are entitled to a good education that opens the door to successes and financially stable careers, and if our government wants to help see this reality come true, it is entitled to do so. After all, the government is represented by the people.
So, think before you rant, and do your research first (even and especially if it means using social networks as investigative tools).
And, hey, I’m not against challenging the media; just choose your challenges wisely, and you might not want to be verbophobic, especially when some words (printed, blogged, tweeted) don’t have an expiration date.
Truth Be Told 