Friday, November 18, 2005
What's wrong with this headline:
Alaska 'bridge to nowhere' funding gets nowhere
Lawmakers delete project after critics bestow derisive moniker
from yesterday's San Francisco Chronicle,
or this headline and opening sentence:
Two 'Bridges to Nowhere' Tumble Down in Congress
Republicans decided Wednesday to take a legislative wrecking ball to two Alaskan bridge projects that had demolished the party's reputation for fiscal austerity.
from yesterday's New York Times?
Sure seems like The Chronicle was right that " Fiscal conservatives in Congress won a rare victory Wednesday
until you get down to paragraph five:
Under a compromise transportation spending bill, Alaska would still get the federal dollars -- but the money would not be specifically designated for the two bridges. As a result, Alaskan lawmakers and other officials would decide where to spend the money .
Since a quick Google search showed that The Chronicle and The Times weren't alone repeating the RNC line, I decided to wait a day to see what the reaction would be.
Once again, the Times' Editors seemed to notice something that its reporters didn't:It won't actually save money because the funds will be shifted to Alaska's general transportation kitty for who-knows-what disposal.(Full editorial here)and a quick Google search showed that most newspapers starting to get the story right. There were a few headlines like this:Bridges get the budget ax, from Tennessee, but this from Florida, seemed to be more the norm.
I suppose it would be pretty typical: RNC puts out a certain spin on a story, media buys the spin, a day or two later media realizes its error and weakly corrects spins. Of course, the original spin usually reaches a bigger audience than the correction; almost certainly more people think Alaska gave up the bridges, than know that Alaska got the money. What's weird in this case is I haven't noticed it getting much attention on liberal sites. They must know how the Republicans are attempting to play it.
Alaska 'bridge to nowhere' funding gets nowhere
Lawmakers delete project after critics bestow derisive moniker
from yesterday's San Francisco Chronicle,
or this headline and opening sentence:
Two 'Bridges to Nowhere' Tumble Down in Congress
Republicans decided Wednesday to take a legislative wrecking ball to two Alaskan bridge projects that had demolished the party's reputation for fiscal austerity.
from yesterday's New York Times?
Sure seems like The Chronicle was right that " Fiscal conservatives in Congress won a rare victory Wednesday
until you get down to paragraph five:
Under a compromise transportation spending bill, Alaska would still get the federal dollars -- but the money would not be specifically designated for the two bridges. As a result, Alaskan lawmakers and other officials would decide where to spend the money .
Since a quick Google search showed that The Chronicle and The Times weren't alone repeating the RNC line, I decided to wait a day to see what the reaction would be.
Once again, the Times' Editors seemed to notice something that its reporters didn't:It won't actually save money because the funds will be shifted to Alaska's general transportation kitty for who-knows-what disposal.(Full editorial here)and a quick Google search showed that most newspapers starting to get the story right. There were a few headlines like this:Bridges get the budget ax, from Tennessee, but this from Florida, seemed to be more the norm.
I suppose it would be pretty typical: RNC puts out a certain spin on a story, media buys the spin, a day or two later media realizes its error and weakly corrects spins. Of course, the original spin usually reaches a bigger audience than the correction; almost certainly more people think Alaska gave up the bridges, than know that Alaska got the money. What's weird in this case is I haven't noticed it getting much attention on liberal sites. They must know how the Republicans are attempting to play it.
