"They're trying to fool you. They're trying to scare you and they're not telling the truth," a fired-up Obama declared while campaigning in South Dakota. "But it's not going to work. Both Bush and McCain represent the failed foreign policy and fear mongering of the past," Obama said. "I believe the American people are ready to reject this approach and to choose the future."
9:16 PM | 
0 comments
A few years ago, I had the privilege of speaking to a gentleman who worked for the Gallup Organization. We had a substantive discussion about the business and standards of...
5:33 PM | 2 comments
Sen. John McCain secured millions in federal funds for a land acquisition program that provided a windfall for an Arizona developer whose executives were major campaign donors, public records show.
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Oscar Pistorius, a double-amputee sprinter known as the fastest man on no legs, will be allowed to compete at the Beijing Olympics after a ban on his prosthetic limbs...
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A spy in the audience of this Thursdays taping of the "Ellen DeGeneres Show" tells us that after Ellen mentioned the California Supreme Court ruling striking down the state's...
11:55 AM | 0 comments
Forget the engagement buzz. Not only are Kate Hudson and Owen Wilson not getting married, they're not even an item anymore. After reuniting less than two months ago, the...
11:46 AM | 0 comments
Thou shalt find the Ten Commandments up for bid this summer. A pair of faux granite tablets that Charlton Heston cradled in the 1956 biblical epic "The Ten Commandments"...
11:41 AM | 0 comments
Actress Anne Heche has blamed the cancellation of TV series Men In Trees for her inability to pay child support. The star was granted a reprieve in the monthly...
11:29 AM | 0 comments
More secret details of Angelina Jolie's pregnancy have been exposed by a Kung Fu Panda co-star - Dustin Hoffman has revealed the actress is due to give birth to...
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A new Friday the 13th has begun shooting. Brad Fuller, one of the film's producers, writes "In this movie you will see a feral, brutal Jason who is hell-bent...
10:15 AM | 0 comments
Comments (2)
Me thinks you're right.... (Below threshold)1. Posted by Boyd | April 29, 2004 10:45 AM | Score: 0 (0 votes cast)
Me thinks you're right.
1. Posted by Boyd | April 29, 2004 10:45 AM |
Score: 0 (0 votes cast)
Posted on April 29, 2004 10:45
2. Posted by Fritz | April 29, 2004 2:32 PM | Score: 0 (0 votes cast)
Of course, you realize that how these stories are written is often shaped by press releases.
I have worked in corporate communications long enough to know that reporters more often than not just regurgitate what is pitched to them by the PR department of an organization or agency.
If you go to the NHTSA Web site, you'll see their press release, DOT Releases Preliminary Estimates Of 2003 Highway Fatalities.
Here is the opening paragraph:
"Injuries from motor vehicle crashes declined slightly in 2003, to the lowest levels since such data have been kept, according to preliminary estimates from the U. S. Department of Transportation’s National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA). The report on fatalities is mixed, however, with 43,220 deaths overall on the nation’s highways in 2003, up slightly from 42,815 in 2002."
That's quite a different focus in the press release from, Public Citizen the group mentioned in the last paragraph:
Increase in Traffic Deaths Is Predictable Yet Preventable; Congress Must Require Life-Saving Vehicle Safety Improvements
Statement of Public Citizen President Joan Claybrook*
"The bad news from the government today – that traffic deaths on U.S. highways are up for the second year in a row – is tragically predictable. Automakers have the technology to make vehicles safer, particularly in rollover crashes, which dominate this increase. Yet the government has not required automakers to act, and people continue to die needlessly..."
Obviously, the reporter based the news story on the Public Citizen press release.
According to the NHTSA injuries are at an all time low, and deaths are up only slightly.
But, Public Citizen is using this data to promote their anti-SUV agenda.
If you're ever wondering about a story like this, go to the Web sites of the organizations mentioned and read their PR for yourself. You'll be a much better informed reader!
2. Posted by Fritz | April 29, 2004 2:32 PM |
Score: 0 (0 votes cast)
Posted on April 29, 2004 14:32