Jackson Free Press

Wow. Check out the lede on this article in today's Metro section.

The American Civil Liberties Union, despised by many in this conservative state, is using an infusion of new funds to beef up its efforts on everything from overhauling Mississippi's public access system to informing the homeless of their rights.

Why was this written this way? After all, as Donna has pointed out with previous stories by the Clarion-Ledger, this is a *choice* on the part of the writer and/or editors overseeing the Metro section of the C-L. This story could have led just as easily this way...

"The American Civil Liberties Union, lauded by many in the state of Mississippi as a champion of individual civil rights for groups ranging from abortion-rights activists to the Ku Klux Klan, is using an infusion of..."

Read the rest of the story and you find something interesting -- nothing in reporter Julie Goodman's reporting supports the assertion that the ACLU is "despised by many in this conservative state." There isn't a single quote. Frankly, it doesn't even come up. It's just tacked on.

Why?

My guess? It's their version of "Fair and Balanced."

Previous Comments

ID

108622

Comment

Y'know, that said, I kind of like this article since it says what the ACLU actually does--and Nsombi and Brent came out sounding very sharp. Very well done. Cheers, TH

Author

Tom Head

Date

2006-12-03T16:13:49-06:00

ID

108623

Comment

("Very well done" being directed towards Nsombi and Brent, not necessarily the person writing the article...)

Author

Tom Head

Date

2006-12-03T16:14:58-06:00

ID

108624

Comment

Though I have to say: I didn't really dislike the piece. The ACLU is no doubt reviled by many conservatives in this state; I didn't question that assertion, and I'm kind of glad the article didn't spend more time on it than it did by backing up that assertion (because then that would have transformed the article into one of those "he said"/"she said" pieces on whether the ACLU is good or bad, rather than a basically celebratory piece on a local chapter of a major organization getting a considerable funding boost). Cheers, TH

Author

Tom Head

Date

2006-12-03T16:24:26-06:00

ID

108625

Comment

The one other thing I'd add--nitpicking here, but worth mentioning--is that in the print edition this was on the very front page of the main section, not in State/Metro. Cheers, TH

Author

Tom Head

Date

2006-12-03T17:33:56-06:00

ID

108626

Comment

The piece seemed fine; that's why having that in the lede is so bizarre and out of place. I'd almost bet money the editor added it in. It's classic sensationalism—and it presents the notion that the ACLU is some left-wing organization reviled by good conservatives, when in fact it got its bad rep in this state because it has dared to stand up for "radical" issues like, oh, integration. Truth is, the ACLU is one of the more daring and balanced organizations this country has ever seen—and that annoys radicals on both ends mightily. It's too bad that this story chooses a far-right side point from which to launch an otherwise-OK story. It also shows how ridiculous any notion from the Ledge that its news reporting isn't biased. This is a zinger.

Author

DonnaLadd

Date

2006-12-03T18:23:24-06:00

ID

108627

Comment

On a different not, The Ledger is doing a good job banging the drum for MAEP funding. I have a feeling this issue is going to reveal to many more people what Master Haley is really about.

Author

DonnaLadd

Date

2006-12-03T18:28:21-06:00

ID

108628

Comment

I dunno. There was only one time in its history when the ACLU was not perceived by right-wing nativists and social religious conservatives as a left-wing organization, and I consider that its darkest hour. The ACLU does defend liberals and conservatives alike, but its basic egalitarian, feminist, antiracist, anti-heterosexist, anti-nativist, and secular vision, i.e. its constitutional vision, means that it's going to be perceived as liberal by many folks in Mississippi, even independent of all the segregation and Southern Strategy stuff. I didn't find that statement negative at all. Personally, if I weren't reviled by some people, I'd be concerned that I'm just not trying hard enough! Cheers, TH

Author

Tom Head

Date

2006-12-03T18:30:07-06:00

ID

108629

Comment

Of course that's true, Tom. The point is that the daily newspaper, in the 21st century, should be smart enough not to be sucked into that ignorant narrative as the starting point for their article about the organization. If they felt like they needed to make the point, for some reason, that many right-wingers hate the ACLU, they could have at least said that. As it is, they are sending a message that sounds like something Trent Lott would begin his weekly column with—not a lede on the front page of a metropolitan daily newspaper. It was sloppy at best.

Author

DonnaLadd

Date

2006-12-03T18:40:20-06:00

ID

108630

Comment

I'll grant that it was a non sequitur, and I'm with you that it doesn't make a whole lot of sense to include that in the article. But I am kind of glad that the reporter didn't try to verify the statement, since that would have made the whole article read like a referendum on the ACLU. Cheers, TH

Author

Tom Head

Date

2006-12-03T18:46:20-06:00

ID

108631

Comment

Yeah, as it is, it just started out with an ignorant hit on the group and got better from there. It was bad writing and judgment, and a good editor would have cut it in two seconds' flat. It sounds more like something the Hederman Ledger would have written.

Author

DonnaLadd

Date

2006-12-03T18:50:06-06:00

ID

108632

Comment

You know, on second reading, I see what you're talking about. "Despised by many in this conservative state," as a non sequitur, reads almost like a disclaimer--"We're covering this but we don't like it." Cheers, TH

Author

Tom Head

Date

2006-12-03T19:15:26-06:00

ID

108633

Comment

...and it clashes with the high quality of the rest of the article. I have no way of knowing, of course, but I'd find it easier to believe that an editor inserted that line than I would to believe that the reporter put it in. Cheers, TH

Author

Tom Head

Date

2006-12-03T19:16:23-06:00

ID

108634

Comment

I don't guess anyone took that to mean a hit on conservatives. How many times do you see CL refer to an organization as "despised by liberals"? I guess it depends if you see things half full or half empty. Liberals here will see it as conservative bias by the ledge, conservatives will see it as an example of liberal bias.

Author

Kingfish

Date

2006-12-03T19:46:40-06:00

ID

108635

Comment

In all fairness, Kingfish, it didn't say "despised by conservatives"; it said "despised by many in this conservative state." But you've made a good point. Cheers, TH

Author

Tom Head

Date

2006-12-03T19:57:07-06:00

ID

108636

Comment

C'est tres domage Monsieur Head.

Author

Kingfish

Date

2006-12-03T20:04:26-06:00

ID

108637

Comment

Hey Tom, I just checked back in on this. I agree that the rest of the article was straight reporting, and, quite frankly, it was interesting to see coverage of the money and people power that the ACLU has decided to put into Mississippi. One interesting question for an intrepid reporter/editor team in this scenario might be, "Why?" in the sense of...why is the national organization putting emphasis on Mississippi? What's the strategic goal? I don't just mean that there are more Katrina-related issues (unless that's really the driving force) -- it would have been interesting to ask Nashobi or someone within the national organization to answer the question "Why this focus on Mississippi?" Do they see an increase in civil liberties problems? Or do they see an opportunity in Mississippi to gain more members or educate more people about their civil rights? In fact, an attempt to answer questions like that would have been the only legitimate reason to have that line in the lede. The suggestion is that somehow the two are linked -- that the ACLU is increasing investment in Mississippi *because* the group is reviled in this "conservative state" -- if that's the case, then bring home the bacon, darlin'! Link it up! Tell me about it. Why galls me, though, is that as it stands, the lede seems to simply be a complete cop-out to some imagined constituency of the Clarion-Ledger, as if simply writing about the ACLU as straight news in offesive. That dependent clause has an exact analog in the notion that some people in Mississippi really respect the ACLU (which would also be inappropriate for a straight news story, unless you was gonna 'splain it later in the piece) which is why I point this out as a sort of Fox-ification of any notion of fairness. What if the line was: "Former President Bill Clinton, a man reviled by many in this conservative state, visited the campus of Millsaps College of Thursday to give an address." or "Music star Brittany Spears, a woman looked down upon as a lascivious symbol of pop-culture decadence by many in this conservative state, came to the campus of Millsaps College to perform from her latest album." Would that make any sense without something in the reporting to back it up? It's just damned odd that it's there in the first place, IMHO. I'm curious as to how it got there. Perhaps I'm among the few. :-P

Author

Todd Stauffer

Date

2006-12-03T20:10:16-06:00

ID

108638

Comment

Kingfish: To be honest, I don't see it as bias against liberals. (To split hairs, I don't really think of myself as a "liberal," just as you must not truly think of yourself as a full-blooded conservative if you're willing to type French in public. ;-) I just think it's some bizarre twist to the notion of "balance" that was injected into this story. It stood out like a sore thumb when I read it...seems almost weird enough to make the headlines on Leno. Oh...and someone mentioned it being a front-section story...it's filed under Metro/State on the Web site, so that's why I said it was in the Metro section. I never did get ahold of a dead-tree edition today. ;-)

Author

Todd Stauffer

Date

2006-12-03T20:17:43-06:00

ID

108639

Comment

I am from Louisiana and we were taught French in elementary school even though I've forgotten most of it.

Author

Kingfish

Date

2006-12-03T20:21:23-06:00

ID

108640

Comment

With the Saints playing the way they are, maybe we can all feel a little like we're from Louisiana...at least at heart. :-)

Author

Todd Stauffer

Date

2006-12-03T23:59:07-06:00

ID

108641

Comment

Todd, I think you're on to something. The more I think about it, the more it looks like something an editor might have tacked on, because it just doesn't make sense with the rest of the piece. Love the Britney Spears example, by the way...! Cheers, TH

Author

Tom Head

Date

2006-12-04T04:30:59-06:00