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The County Line
- Pre-Convention Issue 2005
News media often focuses attention on wrong story
The conflict between the news media and public officials is old, consistent and predictable. It is, most of the time, a painful but productive part of our governmental process.
"Most of the time," but not always.
During the last couple of months, the actions of many of my brothers and sisters in the news media (even though I left the news business two decades ago, I still feel their pain, from time to time) have caused me to bite my lip, real hard. With all of our problems in Alabama, it has been ridiculous that the news media has focused so much elbow grease and ink on the location of this year's annual convention of the National Association of Counties (NACo).
County officials in Alabama have been attending NACo conventions for as long as anyone can remember. And no one has ever suggested that the trips have not been beneficial to the Alabama taxpayer.
Officials who attend the meetings have ample opportunities to learn how to do their jobs more effectively and efficiently, they are apprised of changes on the federal level that impact counties and they are exposed to sources of revenue on the federal level that would otherwise go unnoticed. And that's just a quick scratch of the surface. Simply put, the attendance at these meetings is an investment in "continuing education."
Last year about this time, our counterparts around the country began to talk about the possibility of negative news coverage regarding attendance at the meeting. We quickly made a check of what we felt was the only REAL issue - the cost.
The hotel rooms in Hawaii, made available under a contract from NACo, were actually less expensive than the rooms from last year's convention in Arizona - a convention that went unreported by the Alabama news media. The cost of airfare was about 10 percent more than last year's travels to Arizona.
Not much of story, huh?
Unfortunately, the news media in Alabama, and around the country, chose to focus only on hula skirts and the Pacific Ocean. Many talk radio hosts in this state used the term "Aloha" for the first time, turning it into a way to ridicule local elected officials.
A television crew from Birmingham actually chased a county employee through the airport as he attempted to get on the airplane to the NACo convention. With all the other "news" that could have been reported by that camera crew, one can only shake one's head.
In Tuscaloosa, the newspaper there reported that the county commission would be wasting taxpayers' money going on a trip to Hawaii while the local schools could use the money. The headline in the newspaper announcing the trip was only slightly smaller than the headline used to report that the Japanese had surrendered to end World War II.
In all of this feeding frenzy, most of the reporters let real stories go unreported.
For example, during the last twelve months, the county officials in south Alabama have been in the "eye" of two hurricanes and have performed very well, protecting life and property. Over the last five years county officials and employees have completed the largest construction of public bridges in our lifetime - on time and under budget.
During last session of the Alabama Legislature, an act was passed allowing counties to establish local referendums on granting limited "home rule". Few, if any, local stories have been written on the local level regarding this important issue.
The list could go on and on, but the point is clear.
Rather than looking for stories that really describe and outline the impact county government is having on the lives of its citizens, the news media has turned its attention to the "easy" story. The kind of story that can stir up emotions with cries of "Aloha", but have no substance and seem to serve no purpose other than to create more conflict that can, then, be the subject of more news stories.
Such reporting of conflict for conflict's sake does little to enhance the relationship between the news media and elected officials. And, the reporters would likely be shocked to learn, such reporting also does little to enhance their reputation with the public they are supposed to serve.
Jimmy Breslin, a long-time columnist for Newsday, who retired about a year ago, provided some insight into the conflict that seems to apply as we look back at this unnecessary emphasis on a non-story. Breslin, himself a Pulitzer Prize winner and author of several novels, said:
"The conflict between the men who make and the men who report the news is as old as time. News may be true, but it is not the truth, and reporters and officials seldom see it the same way. In the old days, the reporters or couriers of bad news were often put to the gallows; now they are given the Pulitzer Prize, but the conflict goes on."
With all due respect to Mr. Breslin and a few reporters here in Alabama, the Pulitzer I learned about back in journalism school was made of much more than pineapple juice and palm trees.
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