"Puff and spin" journalism is alive and well in Gasconade County. And I'm getting tired of it!
We used to call it "yellow journalism". The really great journalists of America have been able to avoid employing the "yellow journalism" or "puff and spin" journalism tactics. The really good journalists rely instead upon hard work and talented writing.
I really hate "puff and spin" journalism! Henceforth every time our staff here at 'Hermann Hearsay' runs across it, we will point it out to you, our loyal readers. You deserve to know the truth, the whole truth and nothing but the truth when we report local stories to you. And if some reporters are twisting the story, puffing one particular aspect of the story or spinning the story in order to lead the readers to draw a conclusion they want readers to draw rather than presenting factual information so the readers can draw their own conclusion, then we will point this out to our readers. Over the course of time, "puff and spin" reporters will fall by the wayside. They will lose readership and fade into the dust bin of history along with all the rest of the "puff and spin" reporters.
There are, of course, some professional, fair and balanced journalists in Gasconade County. They work very hard and they try extremely hard to report the local news accurately, fairly and without personal bias. Unfortunately, there will always be some who will pretend to report the news while putting their own "puff and spin" on the stories they cover. For whatever reason, they will favor one side of the story over the others. Because of their personal biases, their ideologies and their alliances with the story-makers they cover, they will "spin" the story so as to make certain people look "good" and at the same time make others look "bad". This crap is going on right here in Gasconade County! Our readers need to know about it!
I want to illustrate what I'm talking about by asking you to read and critically analyze two reports on the very same local story. The following links will take you to reports published by Anna Wiegenstein, a young reporter at 'Hermann News' (http://www.ngnn.com/) and by Jeff Noedel, publisher and owner of 'County News LIVE' (http://www.countynewslive.com/). In addition, I have included a link to the Official Minutes of the 5/27 County Commission Meeting (written by County Clerk Lesa Lietzow) and pulished on 6/4 by 'Hermann News' (http://www.ngnn.com/).
- 5/27 Gasconade County Commission Meeting (Anna Wiegenstein, Hermann News @ http://www.ngnn.com/): http://www.ngnn.com/65041/content/2010/may/27/heated-debate-closes-commissioners-meeting
- 5/27 Gasconade County Commission Meeting (Jeff Noedel, County News LIVE @ http://www.countynewslive.com/): http://countynewslive.com/content/2010/jun/03/better-late-never-last-weeks-gasconade-county-commission-report
- Official Minutes of the 5/27 County Commission Meeting (written by County Clerk Lesa Lietzow): http://www.ngnn.com/65041/content/2010/jun/04/gasconade-county-commission-minutes
- Which report on the 5/27 Gasconade County Commission Meeting is fair and balanced?
- Which report comes closest to covering everything which was discussed in the County Commission Meeting as summarized by Clerk Lietzow's Official Minutes?
- Which report seems to interject personal bias?
- Which report is most factual and informative?
- Which reporter seeks to "spin" the story without regard to the facts of the story?
- Which reporter will you trust in the future to bring you all sides of an important local story?
- Anna Wiegenstein's report seems more fair and balanced to me.
- Neither report covers the County Commission Meeting as thoroughly and completely as does the Official Minutes of the meeting.
- Jeff Noedel's report reveals his personal biases.
- Anna Wiegenstein's report is more thorough and it includes more factual information.
- Jeff Noedel is "spinning" in such a way as to favor Commissioners Jost and Lairmore over Commissioner Penning. Why he does this has continued to be a puzzlement to me!
- I will trust Anna Wiegenstein to give me fair, balanced and factual reports on future Gasconade County Commission Meetings. I will trust Ms. Wiegenstein to put her personal biases and opinions aside in order to report all sides of a story fairly.
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