Let's play "Spot the Bias"

If there’s one thing this election year has shown, it’s the blatant bias of the media coverage of the candidates. And not just at the national level, but more specifically in The Roanoke Times. Let’s do a little comparison.

First things first, if you weren’t aware of it, Gov. Sarah Palin will be visiting the Roanoke Valley today, speaking at the Salem Football Stadium. More information, including obtaining the necessary tickets, can be found at here. The event was originally scheduled to be at the Salem Civic Center, but because organizers have had such an overwhelming response, the event has been moved to the Salem Football Stadium.

So what’s this about The Roanoke Times being biased? Glad you asked. Before we get to that, let’s go back in time a few weeks to October 17, 2008. Barack Obama was coming to the Roanoke Civic Center to speak to a crowd of over 8,000. In preparation, The Roanoke Times included on its front page a little blurb about the candidate along with a very nice bulleted list of the details of the event – where to go, when to go, admission (free), what to do about parking, where to catch a shuttle bus, etc. All at the top of the page or, as they say in the newspaper industry, “above the fold.” (“Above the fold” is important since coin operated racks have a folded copy in the door and anything below that fold cannot be seen, and thus will not be likely to drive sales).

Fast forward to today. You’re walking down the street and, hearing that Palin is coming, you want some information. Ah, look, there’s a Roanoke Times rack. Surely the newspaper would have some information on it, right? Before plopping your $0.50 in, you glance at the front page. Hmm, there’s nothing there about Palin! Just some article about local high school sports teams dealing with tough travel schedules. Surely, with such a huge event (estimated to draw a crowd larger than the Obama rally!), the Times would want to capitalize on the need for information, right? After all, their stated purpose is to be the leader in local information, right? [deafening silence]

Okay, well, you decide to purchase the paper anyway. Oh look, at the bottom of the page, there actually is a small piece about Palin’s visit. It says to check in the Virginia section (the middle section of the paper). Nothing about what time, where to park or anything on the front page. Turning to the Virginia section, you finally find the necessary information. Well, almost. There’s an article about all the prep work needed for moving the event to the stadium, with an underlying hint that the article is more about pointing out the inconvenience to all the vendors for having it moved than anything else. Oh and the local Democrats have to have their say that “Palin’s visit ‘is too little, too late.’” So where’s the event information?!? Oh wait, there it is. “If you go: A shuttle bus to take people to the Salem Stadium for the Sarah Palin rally will begin running at 10 a.m. today at the Plaza of Roanoke-Salem at 4100 Melrose Ave in Northwest Roanoke. Parking also is available at the stadium and at the Salem Civic Center. The gates open at 3:30 p.m. The even begins at 5:30 p.m.”

That’s it.

No mention of the fact that tickets are needed and where they can be obtained. No nicely bulleted, easy-to-read list. No blurb about the candidate. Even WSLS has better information.

Hmm, nope, no bias here.

I can’t wait to see the newspaper’s coverage (or lack of) tomorrow.

Power corrupts

The last time I checked, city governments are supposed to be run by mature, level-headed adults. Then along comes the Roanoke City’s Architectural Review Board and the city council to prove me wrong. Thankfully, there are babysitters for this type of inane behavior, someone who can slap the wrists of immature minds and provide some decent decision making.

Last October, Aubrey Hicks needed to replace the roof on his house in the historic Old Southwest district. As if replacing a roof wasn’t costly enough, Hicks faced the prospect of having to shell out even more for a tin roof simply to satisfy the city’s desire to preserve the neighborhood’s “historical character.” (Now, how putting a shingle roof on a house destroys the historical character is beyond me. I drive through Old Southwest everyday and I haven’t once had to stop my truck in utter dismay as I glance at a shingled-roof house, thinking that the city is now going to pot. But I digress.) Not having the funds to put a tin roof up, Hicks decided to go ahead with a shingled roof. The City Board got wind of it and got the panties in a wad because *gasp* - Hicks didn’t get permission to fix (his own) roof! Oh the horror! So what does the city do? They order Hicks to stop work on his roof, preventing him from finishing the roof or even putting the old one back up, and even threaten him with jail time. All for not getting their approval.

“Ok, everyone out of the pool”

Hicks had requested permission to finish the roof, the board turned it down. Hick’s appealed and the city board rejected his appeal, “not because of the house’s needs but because Hicks didn’t follow proper procedures.” (Roanoke Times) So from October 2006 to August 2007, Hicks’ house has not had a finished roof simply because a power-hungry city council wanted to prove a point.

Thankfully, Judge William Broadhurst has stepped into the fray like a teacher reprimanding a schoolyard bully. He has ordered the city council to allow Hicks to finish his roof, saying the board’s and council’s refusal to grant authorization was “arbitrary and capricious.” Naturally, much whining ensued from both the board and the council saying that this would send the wrong message to other residents and encourage them to circumvent the review board’s authority. Honestly, I hope this is exactly what happens, subsequently making the Architectural Review Board (in this issue, at least) obsolete. Considering that the majority of the residents (NOT businesses) of the Old Southwest area are not exactly in the best place financially to put up a tin roof on a 100-year old building, this issue of needing permission for replacing a roof needs to go the way of the dodo. If the argument is made that, if gone through the right channels, a shingled-roof would be permitted, I would ask why in the world would someone need to go through the hassle of applying for permission in the first place?

Power and immaturity never go well together. For proof, just look at the Roanoke City Council.

Victim Thievery

I’m heartless. Stone-cold hearted, at least. Either that or I just don’t qualify to be a bleeding heart liberal.

I had to do a double-take when I read today’s front page article in the Roanoke Times. There were two articles under the title of “Dance with the devil,” a phrase that utility workers use in describing the dangerous practice of attempting to steal copper wiring due to its value. One article details several of the numerous deaths of people attempting this “dance” and the laws that have been proposed to prohibit such thefts. Just last week, two men in Radford were electrocuted while trying to steal copper wiring, one of whom has died and the other in serious condition.

But what really caught my attention was the other article. It showed the human side of the two Radford men’s lives. Like a eulogy, it detailed the caring side of the men and how they did what they could to provide for their family. In painting the most sympathetic picture possible, the article made the men out to be victims in this tragic affair. The first lines of the article summarize the article quite well: “To D_ B_, her oldest son didn’t die trying to steal copper wire from the Radford Foundry. Instead, she said, he died while doing his best to provide for his family, something he had done since he was a teenager.”

There’s just one problem.

The entire article glosses over the fact that the man died while committing a crime. He was breaking the law and knowingly putting his life at risk. Even the caption under the front page picture of the foundry tries to cast doubt, saying that the men were “allegedly” trying to steal the wire (even though later in the same article, D.B. is said to have known their plans.) Certainly, our hearts go out to this family that has lost a son and brother and friend. Yes, it is terrible that these men felt they had no other option to provide for their family. But these two men broke in (crime #1) with the intent to damage property (crime #2) and to steal wiring (crime #3). This is a textbook case of our current thinking in society of making everyone the victim. No one is guilty and everyone is a victim of our society or oppression. This was evident in news stories earlier in the year about how different individuals, while running from the police, was either injured or killed. Nobody seemed to remember that these individuals were breaking the law, but instead they chose to cry outrage over the fact that the police were doing their job.

Oh wait, there is a possible scapegoat here - high prices of copper. The closing statement of one of the articles is a quote from a scrap dealer: “As long as the prices are high, this is going to happen.” There you go. It’s all the economy’s fault. Or perhaps the foundry’s fault. Maybe it’s Bush’s fault.