Letter to the editor, ABQ Journal, Nov. 25, 2009

Today’s headline in the ABQ Journal makes this dramatic declaration — “911 Caller: Boat Drivers for Governor Were Drunk.” This indeed might merit headline coverage, if substantive facts were involved. However, when the careful reader takes the time to dig beneath your garish headline (which, unfortunately, many readers may not do), we discover that it is contrived, misleading, based on innuendo and outright shoddy reporting.

Gov. Richardson and his staff, accompanied by two state police escorts, were guests on a houseboat owned by Leon Fay which was involved in a minor accident at Elephant Butte. The governor’s chief of staff, Brian Condit, was piloting the houseboat while the governor himself was reportedly taking a nap at the time. An anonymous woman called 911 and asserted that “the people who are driving [the boat] are drunk.” When she was asked how she knew this, she admitted it was “an assumption” on her part, and she declined to give any further information. The 911 operator didn’t report that call because it was an “accusation” and not a “fact.” The investigating rangers have the responsibility to issue an objective report “based on evidence and witnesses at the scene,” not on anonymous and unsubstantiated calls. Leon Fay, the boat owner, stayed at the scene of the accident for about one hour to provide details to the rangers, while the governor and his staff left for dinner. The ranger’s report apparently attributed the accident to operator error, and no mention was made about alcohol (I say “apparently” because the ABQ Journal report, rather curiously, does not focus on the details in the report, but rather on the over-the-top and unsubstantiated charge in the telephone call).

Now, an objective reader would be puzzled at this point, wondering why the ABQ Journal chose the garish headline, “Boat Drivers Drunk,” rather than qualifying it with less inflammatory rhetoric. Indeed, that is rather thin ice for the ABQ Journal to be skating on for such dramatic headlines. All the responsible parties involved — the 911 operator, the investigating rangers, and the boat owner — followed standard operating procedures. The ABQ Journal has no grounds for faulting the 911 operator for “failure” to report the wild charges about alcohol usage made by someone who was not on the boat, nor in a position to observe what was going on there. The ABQ Journal’s report focuses on the unsubstantiated telephone call, and seems to give it more credence than the officer’s objective accident report. Surely all standards for responsible, unbiased, and ethical journalism require that the report should focus on the documentation in the case, not on irresponsible allegations!

Unfortunately the ABQ Journal has a track record of such over-the-top smears. It doesn’t just report the news, it acts as judge, jury, and executioner, mustering shaky cases based on rumor, innuendo, and outright politically biased spin. Today’s headline story should be taken in the context of the earlier ABQ Journal report at the time of the accident, in which it was charged that the governor had “left the scene of an accident,” and this was further conflated into the mind-boggling conclusion that this “says something about the governor’s decision-making.” It merits repeating here that the governor was only a guest on the boat, he was not steering it, and he was taking a nap at the time. Only in the convoluted and feverishly biased minds of the editors of the ABQ Journal can this be distorted into a negative referendum on the governor's decision-making skills!

Why, precisely, has the ABQ Journal been trying to make political hay out of this incident? The answer lies buried near the end of today’s article, which reports that “Republican gubernatorial candidate Susana Martinez…has questioned the administration’s legal interpretation …[of the procedures followed in this accident].” Keep in mind that a couple weeks ago the ABQ Journal revealed it hand when it tried to place Diane Denish, our Lieutenant Governor and the heir-apparent Democrat candidate for governor, in its cross-hairs by attempting to inflate a $700 expense into a major ethics violation . Taken in context, what we are witnessing is another example in a long litany of cases in which the ABQ Journal – like FOX news — is acting as a venue for the Republican party. The ABQ Journal flatters itself as an “independent” newspaper, yet this is belied by its prominent choice of right-wing columnists such as George Will, Cal Thomas (his bizarre tidbit today was: “Liberal Coup = Socialist Control of Our Lives”), various scholars at the Hoover Institute (a notorious right-wing think-tank), and the relentlessly biased cartoons of John Trever. The current state of pervasive political bias in the ABQ Journal – especially given the absence of a counter-balancing spectrum of opinion from the now defunct Albuquerque Tribune — is a sad state of affairs for the residents of the Albuquerque area.

Letter to the editor, ABQ Journal, Nov. 25, 2009

Today’s headline in the ABQ Journal makes this dramatic declaration — “911 Caller: Boat Drivers for Governor Were Drunk.” This indeed might merit headline coverage, if substantive facts were involved. However, when the careful reader takes the time to dig beneath your garish headline (which, unfortunately, many readers may not do), we discover that it is contrived, misleading, based on innuendo and outright shoddy reporting.

Gov. Richardson and his staff, accompanied by two state police escorts, were guests on a houseboat owned by Leon Fay which was involved in a minor accident at Elephant Butte. The governor’s chief of staff, Brian Condit, was piloting the houseboat while the governor himself was reportedly taking a nap at the time. An anonymous woman called 911 and asserted that “the people who are driving [the boat] are drunk.” When she was asked how she knew this, she admitted it was “an assumption” on her part, and she declined to give any further information. The 911 operator didn’t report that call because it was an “accusation” and not a “fact.” The investigating rangers have the responsibility to issue an objective report “based on evidence and witnesses at the scene,” not on anonymous and unsubstantiated calls. Leon Fay, the boat owner, stayed at the scene of the accident for about one hour to provide details to the rangers, while the governor and his staff left for dinner. The ranger’s report apparently attributed the accident to operator error, and no mention was made about alcohol (I say “apparently” because the ABQ Journal report, rather curiously, does not focus on the details in the report, but rather on the over-the-top and unsubstantiated charge in the telephone call).

Now, an objective reader would be puzzled at this point, wondering why the ABQ Journal chose the garish headline, “Boat Drivers Drunk,” rather than qualifying it with less inflammatory rhetoric. Indeed, that is rather thin ice for the ABQ Journal to be skating on for such dramatic headlines. All the responsible parties involved — the 911 operator, the investigating rangers, and the boat owner — followed standard operating procedures. The ABQ Journal has no grounds for faulting the 911 operator for “failure” to report the wild charges about alcohol usage made by someone who was not on the boat, nor in a position to observe what was going on there. The ABQ Journal’s report focuses on the unsubstantiated telephone call, and seems to give it more credence than the officer’s objective accident report. Surely all standards for responsible, unbiased, and ethical journalism require that the report should focus on the documentation in the case, not on irresponsible allegations!

Unfortunately the ABQ Journal has a track record of such over-the-top smears. It doesn’t just report the news, it acts as judge, jury, and executioner, mustering shaky cases based on rumor, innuendo, and outright politically biased spin. Today’s headline story should be taken in the context of the earlier ABQ Journal report at the time of the accident, in which it was charged that the governor had “left the scene of an accident,” and this was further conflated into the mind-boggling conclusion that this “says something about the governor’s decision-making.” It merits repeating here that the governor was only a guest on the boat, he was not steering it, and he was taking a nap at the time. Only in the convoluted and feverishly biased minds of the editors of the ABQ Journal can this be distorted into a negative referendum on the governor's decision-making skills!

Why, precisely, has the ABQ Journal been trying to make political hay out of this incident? The answer lies buried near the end of today’s article, which reports that “Republican gubernatorial candidate Susana Martinez…has questioned the administration’s legal interpretation …[of the procedures followed in this accident].” Keep in mind that a couple weeks ago the ABQ Journal revealed it hand when it tried to place Diane Denish, our Lieutenant Governor and the heir-apparent Democrat candidate for governor, in its cross-hairs by attempting to inflate a $700 expense into a major ethics violation . Taken in context, what we are witnessing is another example in a long litany of cases in which the ABQ Journal – like FOX news — is acting as a venue for the Republican party. The ABQ Journal flatters itself as an “independent” newspaper, yet this is belied by its prominent choice of right-wing columnists such as George Will, Cal Thomas (his bizarre tidbit today was: “Liberal Coup = Socialist Control of Our Lives”), various scholars at the Hoover Institute (a notorious right-wing think-tank), and the relentlessly biased cartoons of John Trever. The current state of pervasive political bias in the ABQ Journal – especially given the absence of a counter-balancing spectrum of opinion from the now defunct Albuquerque Tribune — is a sad state of affairs for the residents of the Albuquerque area.

Letter to the editor, ABQ Journal, Nov. 25, 2009

Today’s headline in the ABQ Journal makes this dramatic declaration — “911 Caller: Boat Drivers for Governor Were Drunk.” This indeed might merit headline coverage, if substantive facts were involved. However, when the careful reader takes the time to dig beneath your garish headline (which, unfortunately, many readers may not do), we discover that it is contrived, misleading, based on innuendo and outright shoddy reporting.

Gov. Richardson and his staff, accompanied by two state police escorts, were guests on a houseboat owned by Leon Fay which was involved in a minor accident at Elephant Butte. The governor’s chief of staff, Brian Condit, was piloting the houseboat while the governor himself was reportedly taking a nap at the time. An anonymous woman called 911 and asserted that “the people who are driving [the boat] are drunk.” When she was asked how she knew this, she admitted it was “an assumption” on her part, and she declined to give any further information. The 911 operator didn’t report that call because it was an “accusation” and not a “fact.” The investigating rangers have the responsibility to issue an objective report “based on evidence and witnesses at the scene,” not on anonymous and unsubstantiated calls. Leon Fay, the boat owner, stayed at the scene of the accident for about one hour to provide details to the rangers, while the governor and his staff left for dinner. The ranger’s report apparently attributed the accident to operator error, and no mention was made about alcohol (I say “apparently” because the ABQ Journal report, rather curiously, does not focus on the details in the report, but rather on the over-the-top and unsubstantiated charge in the telephone call).

Now, an objective reader would be puzzled at this point, wondering why the ABQ Journal chose the garish headline, “Boat Drivers Drunk,” rather than qualifying it with less inflammatory rhetoric. Indeed, that is rather thin ice for the ABQ Journal to be skating on for such dramatic headlines. All the responsible parties involved — the 911 operator, the investigating rangers, and the boat owner — followed standard operating procedures. The ABQ Journal has no grounds for faulting the 911 operator for “failure” to report the wild charges about alcohol usage made by someone who was not on the boat, nor in a position to observe what was going on there. The ABQ Journal’s report focuses on the unsubstantiated telephone call, and seems to give it more credence than the officer’s objective accident report. Surely all standards for responsible, unbiased, and ethical journalism require that the report should focus on the documentation in the case, not on irresponsible allegations!

Unfortunately the ABQ Journal has a track record of such over-the-top smears. It doesn’t just report the news, it acts as judge, jury, and executioner, mustering shaky cases based on rumor, innuendo, and outright politically biased spin. Today’s headline story should be taken in the context of the earlier ABQ Journal report at the time of the accident, in which it was charged that the governor had “left the scene of an accident,” and this was further conflated into the mind-boggling conclusion that this “says something about the governor’s decision-making.” It merits repeating here that the governor was only a guest on the boat, he was not steering it, and he was taking a nap at the time. Only in the convoluted and feverishly biased minds of the editors of the ABQ Journal can this be distorted into a negative referendum on the governor's decision-making skills!

Why, precisely, has the ABQ Journal been trying to make political hay out of this incident? The answer lies buried near the end of today’s article, which reports that “Republican gubernatorial candidate Susana Martinez…has questioned the administration’s legal interpretation …[of the procedures followed in this accident].” Keep in mind that a couple weeks ago the ABQ Journal revealed it hand when it tried to place Diane Denish, our Lieutenant Governor and the heir-apparent Democrat candidate for governor, in its cross-hairs by attempting to inflate a $700 expense into a major ethics violation . Taken in context, what we are witnessing is another example in a long litany of cases in which the ABQ Journal – like FOX news — is acting as a venue for the Republican party. The ABQ Journal flatters itself as an “independent” newspaper, yet this is belied by its prominent choice of right-wing columnists such as George Will, Cal Thomas (his bizarre tidbit today was: “Liberal Coup = Socialist Control of Our Lives”), various scholars at the Hoover Institute (a notorious right-wing think-tank), and the relentlessly biased cartoons of John Trever. The current state of pervasive political bias in the ABQ Journal – especially given the absence of a counter-balancing spectrum of opinion from the now defunct Albuquerque Tribune — is a sad state of affairs for the residents of the Albuquerque area.

I actually prefer to use the term, honesty, than fairness. Fox News deliberately coined “fair and balanced” as a means of obfiscation. If I am a reporter who reports that Tom accused Fred of killing Tom's dog, and that Fred denied the charge, I can toot my horn and say I am being fair and balanced. But if I actcually know that Tom's dog is alive and kicking, then I am being dishonest by witholding information which gives the story the appearance of being open ended. A journalist would report on Tom's accusation, Fred's denial and the dog's actual status.