Inaugural Controversy
There is controversy swirling around this weeks inauguration. On one side of the controversy you have emails like this floating around.
And the person who put this together has a small point. There were headlines like that criticizing the Bush Administration for excessive spending during a war as the January 2005 inaugural events were being planned....and then 4 years later the same people didn't say "boo" as the costs of the Obama inaugural soared during a a recession. However, as FactCheck.org points out (if you don't have them bookmarked YOU SHOULD) points out, these are not apples to apples comparisons.
The final security costs of the Obama inauguration have not yet come in so yes it could be much more, but we won't know for a month or more.
However, there is a lesson to be learned from this controversy. Take what the media tells you with a large grain of salt! I don't care who that media outlet is. Don't believe what they tell you without doing your own due diligence. They are selling a product. Contorversy sells and that is what the media is doing.
I have talked before about the book "Regret The Error" (Craig Silverman's excellent book on media mistakes) in the past and again the points he makes in the book resonate. What most people take to be bias in the media is nothing more than rank incompetence! A smart consumer does their research when going to buy a car - why shouldn't we do the same when consuming news?
Makes a difference who is in power, doesn't it. The News media can twist and spin information to try to get people to think their way instead of just reporting the news and let the individual think for themselves.
Headlines On This Date 4 Years Ago:
"Republicans spending $42 million on inauguration while troops Die in unarmored Humvees"
"Bush extravagance exceeds any reason during tough economic times"
"Fat cats get their $42 million inauguration party, Ordinary Americans get the shaft"
Headlines Today:
"Historic Obama Inauguration will cost only $120 million"
"Obama Spends $120 million on inauguration; America Needs A Big Party"
"Everyman Obama shows America=2 0how to celebrate"
"Citibank executives contribute $8 million to Obama Inauguration"
And the person who put this together has a small point. There were headlines like that criticizing the Bush Administration for excessive spending during a war as the January 2005 inaugural events were being planned....and then 4 years later the same people didn't say "boo" as the costs of the Obama inaugural soared during a a recession. However, as FactCheck.org points out (if you don't have them bookmarked YOU SHOULD) points out, these are not apples to apples comparisons.
Claims of a huge disparity are untrue. Actually, an apples-to-apples comparison shows that the two inaugurations likely cost about the same.
The final security costs of the Obama inauguration have not yet come in so yes it could be much more, but we won't know for a month or more.
However, there is a lesson to be learned from this controversy. Take what the media tells you with a large grain of salt! I don't care who that media outlet is. Don't believe what they tell you without doing your own due diligence. They are selling a product. Contorversy sells and that is what the media is doing.
I have talked before about the book "Regret The Error" (Craig Silverman's excellent book on media mistakes) in the past and again the points he makes in the book resonate. What most people take to be bias in the media is nothing more than rank incompetence! A smart consumer does their research when going to buy a car - why shouldn't we do the same when consuming news?
Labels: Journalists and Media
posted by The Lady Logician at
9:08 AM
2 Comments:
Bush's Inauguration may have gotten some flack but as a Democrat who read those original articles I dismissed as whining. With 1.8 million people attending the Inauguration one might see that Americans are excited about their new president and a new direction. One might also add that the money spent was nothing compared to the economic dollars that came to DC because of the Inauguration.
The fact is this is a none story, and trying to play the "Liberal Media Bias" victim is really getting old.
By
Anonymous, at 12:08 PM
Ben - did you even READ my remarks or did you just ASSume what I was going to say. It is not a matter of bias as much as it is a matter of media INCOMPETENCE.
LL
By
The Lady Logician, at 3:00 PM
Post a Comment
<< Home