Tuning In Too Late

by Clark Hoyt
Published: September 26, 2009

http://www.nytimes.com/2009/09/27/opinion/27pubed.html?_r=1

The article that I am critiquing is, “Tuning in Too Late” by Clark Hoyt from The New York Times. Mr. Hoyt is the readers’ representative, he responds to complaints and comments from the public and monitors the paper’s journalistic practices. Since staring his journalistic carrier in 1966, Mr. Hoyt has worked for several newspapers and even shared the Pulitzer Prize for national reporting in 1973.

This article is concerning a video sting conducted on Acorn, in which a bogus pimp and prostitute who (were actually undercover conservative activists) went into one of the Acorn office and received counseling on how to set-up a brothel staffed by under-age girls, avoid detection and cheat on taxes. Apparently, the story ran for days on Fox News, YouTube and a new conservative website called BigGovernement.com yet The New York Times ran nothing on the story.

Mr. Hoyt says that some editors of The Times, told him that they were not immediately aware of the Acorn videos. Even after the Senate voted to cut off all federal funds to Acorn and the New York City Council froze all funding for Acorn and the Brooklyn district attorney opened a criminal investigation, there was still nothing from The New York Times. That to me is disturbing, as apparently it was to many readers.

I think that Mr. Hoyt agrees with the criticism, that The New York Times did not act fast enough to report the Acorn sting and when they did, it was a bias report. As is evident in his article when he states that finally, nearly a week after the first video was posted, The Times addressed the Acorn issue with its article under the headline, “Conservatives Draw Blood from Acorn, Favored Foe.” He clearly states that instead of addressing the issue of an organization with questionable ethics, that he thought politics was emphasized too much. He even quotes Albert Smith of Chatham, N.J. as saying, “A suspicious person might see an attempt to deflect criticism of Acorn by highlighting how those pesky conservatives are at it again.” Also the title of his article, “Tuning in Too Late,” is a clear indication that he also thought there was a slow response time from The Times.

I think that Mr. Hoyt's intended audience were conservatives, but I also think that any reasonable person would think it extremely odd that a story such as this was not immediately picked up by a national newspaper like The New York Times. I find it unbelievable that a national newspaper like The New York Times did not know about the Acorn sting. I agree with Mr. Hoyt, that there is a problem with The New York Times stressing politics instead of addressing the ethical issues concerning Acorn.

Last Year's Poverty Rate Was Highest in 12 Years

New York Times
http://www.nytimes.com/2009/09/11/us/11poverty.html

According to the annual report released on Thursday, September 10, 2009 by the Census Bureau, poverty rate increased from12.5 percent in 2007 to 13.2 percent in 2008. Unfortunately, these numbers are expected to increase dramatically in 2009. The report stated that in 2008, 39.8 million residents lived below the defined poverty line of $22,025 for a family of four.

Also, once inflation is factored, the median family income was lower than it had been a decade earlier. What does this mean for the typical American? It means that we’ve lost a decade of income growth.

Of course with the poverty rates being at it’s all time high and growing, this also means that there are more people without health insurance. According to the article 46.3 million residents are uninsured. While more children received health insurance, in 2008, thanks to the federal government’s efforts to insure low-income children, there was an increase in the number of adults aged 18-64 who did not have health insurance.

President Obama referred to the census survey, in his speech on Thursday, in an effort to try to promote his health care reform.

I happen to be one of those lucky enough to have health insurance, but I do have relatives who cannot afford health care insurance. In my opinion, affordable health care should not be a privilege, but a right.

I think this article is important because whatever views we have about politics we need to take a good look at our health care system and find a solution that will benefit all Americans.

by: Geneva Nannapaneni
September 12, 2009