Reporting the news vs. shaping the story
Jury selection in the trial of the News Sentinel's lawsuit against Knox County Commission hasn't even started yet, and the News Sentinel's coverage of the trial already seems to have some problems.
Yesterday, I commented on the paper's coverage of some preliminary motions in the case, noting what I felt were gratuitous comparisons and mischaracterizations. At the time, I hoped those were mere anomalies.
Today, I'm beginning to wonder.
On Monday, the court interviewed those prospective jurors who were seeking an exemption; they also held an orientation session for the 180 people in the pool of prospective jurors. Two local TV stations ran stories on their websites regarding the orientation session, the 17-page juror questionnaire, and the fact that many County Commissioners may end up on the witness stand.
Both WATE and WBIR told the story of the day as straight news. Neither TV station made any attempt to color or favor either side of the trial. One would hope the daily paper would aspire to the same objectivity, especially in this case, but that just doesn't seem to be happening.
This morning's paper includes a story on page B1 about yesterday's proceedings, and it bears no resemblance whatsoever to the story told by the two TV stations. The News Sentinel story focuses instead on one minor issue plucked from what must have surely been a chaotic day in the City County Building. Here's how it opens:
The jury pool is what it is, and Chancellor Daryl Fansler insists he isn’t tinkering with it.
Knox County Law Director John Owings and Deputy Law Director Mary Ann Stackhouse complained Monday that the pool of potential jurors in the News Sentinel’s lawsuit against Knox County Commission is light on residents from the predominantly black 1st District, which includes East Knoxville.
Neither TV station made any mention of this particular issue, which implies to me that it was something minor that was probably dealt with quickly. Yet it's the entire focus of the one News Sentinel article about yesterday's proceedings.
Owings and Stackhouse are representing County Commission in the suit. The News Sentinel article includes three sentences which paraphrase (but never directly quote) their remarks. Those three sentences use the verbs "complained" (twice) and "fretted" to characterize arguments made by Owings and Stackhouse. However, when quoting the paper's attorney, Richard Hollow, the article uses the neutral verb "said" (twice). Chancellor Daryl Fansler, who's hearing the case, is quoted using the word "said" (twice) and "noted" (twice).
The impression is that Owings and Stackhouse are merely whining ("fretting" and "complaining"), while trying to use the race card to boot. Given the fact that neither WATE nor WBIR saw fit to include this interlude in their stories, it strikes me as likely that this racial makeup argument was merely a sideline to the day. The fact that local TV news did not sensationalize the issue seems quite telling to me.
I really wish the News Sentinel would start reporting the straight news of this story; that would be a refreshing change from what appears to be an emerging attempt to shape the story rather than report it.
[UPDATE 9/30/2007]: I have been informed that the reason the two TV stations didn't report the hearing on the racial makeup issue is because neither TV station assigned a reporter to cover it. Apparently, the News Sentinel reporter was the only member of the media to attend the hearing. That part of my critique is therefore withdrawn, since I was mistaken in my inference about the coverage. The remainder of the critique (the part about the language) remains in place.