Oh, as long as we’re bagging on Vermont journalism, let’s address another common shortcoming of the contemporary news media: stenography instead of reporting.
Case in point: Vince Illuzzi’s plan to prevent timesheet fraud by state workers, and Doug Hoffer’s assertion that much of Illuzzi’s proposal is already in effect. The back-and-forth was covered by the Freeploid and VTDigger; and in each story, the reporter dutifully recorded Illuzzi’s thrust and Hoffer’s riposte.
And made absolutely no effort to determine who was right.
I don’t know if this is a matter of time (and I sympathize with anyone trying to be a reporter in these financially-restricted times) or a misguided effort to be “fair and balanced” by not taking sides. But it seems to me that this is a simple thing to check.
Instead, both stories leave it up in the air. This kind of thing is all too common in the media nowadays, and it’s a profound disservice to news consumers and the greater cause of Truth. Which is supposed to be the point, after all.
vtdigger posted a link to the manual, which I supplied. This allows readers to check the source. And vtdigger also posted the quotes from the manual that I provided in my statement.
Presumably, vtdigger checked one or more of the quotes and was satisfied that they were accurate and then let the facts speak for themselves.
The Ombudsman for the NYTimes was shocked – SHOCKED! – to hear that NYTimes readers thought that media was supposed to tell the truth and point out when someone was brazenly lying!
The Ombudsman said on two successive weeks that their readers were all wrong! No America journalist has any duty to the truth, that American media’s sole purpose is to allow Serious People to lie to the American Public without repercussion. And if any journalist dares tell the truth to their media consumers they will be fired immediately!
I expect Gannett’s ‘Free’ Press to lie to us, that is what they do. But I had thought VT Digger to be better than that. But I guess that blackballing journalists that tell the truth has affected VTDigger, too.