Wednesday, September 30, 2009
Diverse news sources can help sort out media biases
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Diverse news sources can help sort out media biases
I have noticed letters by those complaining about why this paper does not cover (or appropriately cover) a certain story they believe is the most pressing news of the day. Those complaining often include a sneering accusation of bias and a threat to cancel their subscription. I wonder why these people, who obviously already have heard these stories from monster media machines like Fox News or CNN or Rush Limbaugh or NPR, need to see the story again in The Roanoke Times?
The Times is a small-town paper and, frankly, I read it for local news and events. I would be disappointed to see The Times devote all its pages to AP reports of news that I can get anywhere any time. A national story doesn't become more or less important by its presence (or absence) in The Times.
All media are biased. It is the consumer's job to ferret out the facts. If you demand that a news source tell you only what you want to hear, there is a good chance that you are the one who is biased. Seek diverse opinions and information, especially if it unsettles you, and then think critically about all of it.
Goodlatte poll was hardly fair
I listened in as Rep. Bob Goodlatte hosted an interesting town-hall phone meeting. Aside from the obvious conservative-leaning choices of where to accept calls from (predominately Salem and Vinton), the most biased part of the program was the wording of a highly touted survey question.
Since I cannot recall the exact wording of the question, I paraphrase: "Do you want to have a government bureaucrat make your health care choices for you?" Phrasing the question in this way caused a response rate somewhere close to 84 percent no and 16 percent yes.
I am sure this push-poll would have had a far different result had it been worded: "Do you want to have an insurance executive whose primary goal is making money for his company make your health care choices for you?" Of course that is how it works under the present, ineffective system.
I would rather have an elected official who answers directly to the public make these decisions than have some anonymous insurance company executive make them. Of course, far and away the best option is to have my doctor and myself make those decisions.
Boucher understands Internet needs
In the Sept. 24 news story "Boucher policies make him a bigger political target," Jeremiah Heaton, an announced candidate for Rep. Rick Boucher's 9th District seat in the next election, criticized Boucher for, among other things, Boucher's efforts to bring broadband Internet expansion to the district, noting that Boucher should instead focus more on preserving the manufacturing base of the area. Is Heaton that out of touch with technology and the needs of his potential constituents?
Perhaps no issue is of greater importance to Southwest Virginia residents than high-speed Internet availability for everyone who desires such service. What manufacturer wants to do business in an area without high-speed Internet?
As residents of the 9th District, our home-based business has been seriously hampered by the lack of high-speed Internet. We applaud Boucher for his continued work in this regard and strongly encourage him to do even more.
Deeds can work out needed solutions
Just saying no to health insurance reform in Washington or transportation needs in Virginia is not a solution. It will only lead to skyrocketing price tags on solving these needs in the future.
We need to eliminate greed in our corporate board rooms and government conference rooms with respect, compassion and, yes, compromise on these important issues.
Having served on a negotiating committee with my union in contract negotiations with my former employer on six different occasions, I can attest to the fact that you always come away with an agreement that is not 100 percent satisfactory to either party. It's called compromise.
Look at all the issues, not just one, when you make your decision when voting for a particular candidate for governor. I plan on voting for Creigh Deeds, a fellow Virginian, and a fellow resident of the Alleghany Highlands. Make your decision on the facts, not false innuendo.
Health care is in hands of large corporations
I was invited to the telephone conference call with Rep. Bob Goodlatte about health care reform. Participants were invited to respond to a question: "Do you want bureaucrats in Washington making decisions about your health care?" It was such a simplistic question. I hung up.
My doctor prescribed a medicine for me. The prescription service told me I would have to use another brand. The reason: It was more cost-effective for them.
My wife was given a prescription by her doctor for a smaller dosage of arthritis medicine to take twice a day. The prescription service would not allow it. Two pills a day was not cost-effective for them.
Bureaucrats have dictated our health care for a long time. Our health care is not in the hands of doctors and patients but of large corporations. The government is no more likely to mistreat us with health care than do the large corporations.
Health care is lost in the fighting and bickering among legislators. There is no reason our nation should not have the best health care system in the world. It will when health care is the center of focus.
If a South Roanoker thinks that's bad ...
Re: "Cowardly criticism fuels 'snob' perception," Sept. 27 column by Dan Casey:
Oh, to have neighbors like Kyle Frazier, who, from what we read, is a normal, well-mannered, respectable, hospitable person. I'd like to invite him to use my front yard/porch to host a cook-out anytime he wants.
I could only but dream of having neighbors around Southeast whose social ineptness was to have a civilized cook-out in the front yard. It would be a darned sight better than cars jacked up for repairs in the front yard while the city does not enforce its own codes, cars parked on and across sidewalks and cigarette butts thrown in the street every day, some of the activities one must be exposed to in Southeast.
This is, of course, due to the city's hypocritical stance of pretending to want to help our neighborhood, which is all talk and little action.
If a cook-out is the worst thing a resident is doing in South Roanoke, then consider yourself living in heaven compared to the hell of Southeast.
Students experienced plight of uninsured
John Long is right in his Sept. 21 column, "A run-in with French health care" -- about the experience of his students with France's universal health care system -- to say that "it is a bad practice to base policy decisions on anecdotal evidence alone."
My daughter studied at the University of Munich her junior year in college and required medical care on one occasion. Her care was superb and very affordable. The big problem we have under our health care system is that it is expensive and so many of our citizens are uninsured.
Long might have missed a teachable moment for his students to appreciate the plight of the uninsured. At least the most ill among his students were seen; whether it was at a hospital emergency room or a free-standing clinic, Long does not say. Those who were not seen had the experience of the uninsured.
We need more than free clinics to take care of these citizens who have no health coverage. Let's fund a plan that will insure everyone.
