Grey Satterfield wrote:
On 8/23/06 11:21 AM, in article
, "Jack Linthicum"
wrote:


Grey Satterfield wrote:
On 8/23/06 9:11 AM, in article
, "Jack Linthicum"
wrote:


Grey Satterfield wrote:
I could not help but note the puzzling headline in the linked piece,
"Lieberman and Lamont Tied in Connecticut," although the body of the piece
reveals that Lieberman still enjoys a two point lead, 44% to 42%. Even so,
it's an interesting report. It makes clear that the Republican candidate,
who has more baggage than a Skycap, is toast.

The theoretical margin of error for the total sample of 790 likely
voters is plus or minus 3.5 percentage points, 95% of the time, on
questions where opinion is evenly split. The theoretical margin of
error for the sample of 600 likely voters saying they always vote is
plus or minus 4 percentage points, 95% of the time, on questions where
opinion is evenly split.

Nope, it doesn't wash, it seems to me. If the report had been honest, its
headline would have said "Lamont and Lieberman in Statistical Tie," but it
didn't do that.

I can sense that you have never written a headline

Their may be something to the excuse Jack posits for the pollster's
headline, so let's try this. Suppose I should concede that the pollster
wrote the headline in good faith and that it was reasonably fair. Would
Jack then concede that ABC News's headline, "Kerry Calls Lieberman the New
Cheney," was also written in good faith and was also reasonably fair? I'll
bet I already know the answer.

Grey Satterfield

I said the last time that " I can sense that you have never written a
headline" There are a set of concepts that go into a headline that are
supposed to included the elements of the story below and not give it a
slant either way. Almost the only way you can tell a modern newspaper's
political slant, other than local stories, editorials and the "big"
papers, is by their headlines. Modern headlines are not "written in
good faith and reasonable fairness" they are written to fit the space
provided and reflect the character of the owner of the medium.

Several times I have pointed out how the same news wire story in one
paper appears to be a very conservative one while the same story in
another paper appears liberal. This is the headline talking. If you
can't recognize that you may not recognize the next item:


Now that amazing story of a guy driving all over the country in a fake
FEMA trailor just to meet the President and say he wishes he could
serve another four years. Usual Republican bull****. The guy is a
failed Republican politician -- a highly successful businessman in the
fast-food industry -- a Republican pol, having run unsuccessfully
under the GOP banner for a seat on the St. Bernard Parish commission
back in 1999. What a country!

http://www.attytood.com/archives/003647.html

"Rockey I": If it sounds too good to be true...

The good news is that CNN seems to have finally stop obsessing over
John Mark Karr. Instead, they've found a new soap opera to go ga-ga
over, Katrina survivor Rockey Vaccarella, who drove his FEMA trailer
from his home in ravaged St. Bernard Parish to Washington with "the
hope" of convincing President Bush to meet with him.

You can see why TV loves this story (the guy's named 'Rockey,' for
cryin' out loud!), because to those who pay casual attention, i.e., the
vast majority of viewers, the parallels to another news story are
striking.

It was exactly one year ago that the headlines were all about Bush, on
another lengthy vacation in Crawford, refusing to meet with an average
American who was devastated by a tragedy -- Cindy Sheehan, whose son
was killed in Iraq. It was a publicity bloodbath, and it rolled right
into the horrors of Katrina and a seemingly indifferent White House,
beginning the long slide in Bush's approval rating.

Now comes Rockey, a plain-talking character who lost it all in Katrina,
who nearly died in the hurricane, forced to hang onto a rope for four
hours (some of that was captured on film), and now wants to government
to do more for Katrina victims. And what a difference a year makes --
not only did Bush, not in Crawford but hard at work in the White House,
meet with this "average American," but check out the glowing praise our
president received in return.

First, here's the way that the media spun the meeting: A triumph for
the little guy:

CNN's RICK SANCHEZ: I don't know if you were watching a couple days
ago, but you might remember that we talked to a man named Rockey
Vaccarella. I got a lot of phone calls on this interview. He's a
Katrina victim who was driving to the White House with a FEMA trailer.
And he seemed to strike a nerve with people. He's there now. He's
actually been invited inside. He wanted to go and met with the
president. Well, guess what, the president has decided to meet with
him. Last night he met with Donald Powell (ph), the government's point
man for rebuilding the Gulf Coast. Told him just what he and his family
went through during Katrina.

A minute later:

SANCHEZ: And amazing his persistence because he was originally told
that the president was just busy. Look, he's not going to be able to
meet with you.
SOLEDAD O'BRIEN: He's like, that's all right. I'm still going.
SANCHEZ: I'm going to hang out there.
O'BRIEN: I've driven all this way.
SANCHEZ: He was confident when he told us that the president would come
out and find a way to talk to him.

Here's so here's what Rockey told the nation just now on TV:

You know, it's really amazing when a small man like me from St. Bernard
Parish can meet the President of the United States. The President is a
people person. I knew that from the beginning. I was confident that I
could meet President Bush.

And my mission was very simple. I wanted to thank President Bush for
the millions of FEMA trailers that were brought down there. They gave
roofs over people's head. People had the chance to have baths, air
condition. We have TV, we have toiletry, we have things that are
necessities that we can live upon.

But now, I wanted to remind the President that the job's not done, and
he knows that. And I just don't want the government and President Bush
to forget about us. And I just wish the President could have another
term in Washington.

This guy is a symbol of the misery that so many people in Louisiana and
Mississippi? If we didn't know any better, this couldn't have been more
of home run for Bush if the whole thing had been set up by Karl Rove.

Hmmmmm...

In fact, we had a hunch -- that maybe, just maybe, Rockey Vaccarella
had a background himself in GOP politics.

And, whaddya know? Turns out that the earthy Vaccarella -- a highly
successful businessman in the fast-food industry -- is indeed a
Republican pol, having run unsuccessfully under the GOP banner for a
seat on the St. Bernard Parish commission back in 1999. We don't have a
good link, but here (via Nexis) is part of his bio that ran in the New
Orleans Times-Picayune on Oct. 15, 1999:

ROCKEY VACCARELLA
PERSONAL
Republican
35. Born in New Orleans. Grew up in Arabi and Chalmette. Lived 11 years
in
Meraux.
Married, two children.
Graduated from Chalmette High, 1982. Attended St. Bernard Community
College.
Director of operations, Lundy Enterprises, as manager of 31 Pizza Hut
restaurants and 450 employees. Former general restaurant manager of
Popeye's Chicken & Biscuits on East Judge Perez Drive in Chalmette.

And in fact, Vaccarella seemed very confident that he would be meeting
with Bush when he left home, to the point where he had a date scheduled
and everything:

Dinner with the President is planned for the evening of August 22nd.

As it turned out, dinner last night was with the White House aide
running Katrina relief, and he met Bush at the White House today. Close
enough. Before he left Louisiana earlier this month, Vaccarella made it
clear that he's no Cindy Sheehan:

"We want to thank President Bush and the American people for everything
they have done so far for south Louisiana and the Gulf Coast region
but, to remind everyone that the job is not complete and to please do
whatever is possible to help clean-up and re-build so our people can
return home."

Shouldn't the media be a tad more skeptical about events like these?
And isn't the fact that Vaccarella was once a Republican candidate for
office a relevant fact that should be mentioned, to help viewers place
his effusive, nationally televised praise in context. With Vaccarella
the "Katrina soundbite" of the day, TV is not reporting this:

The job of clearing debris left by the storm remains unfinished, and
has been plagued by accusations of fraud and price gouging. Tens of
thousands of families still live in trailers or mobile homes, with no
indication of when or how they will be able to obtain permanent
housing. Important decisions about rebuilding and improving flood
defenses have been delayed. And little if anything has been done to
ensure the welfare of the poor in a rebuilt New Orleans.

This is a White House that has pledged, as you recall, "create our own
reality," and they're doing it again. How many times we will in the
media act as Charlie Brown, kicking with futility at the phony football
that Rove and this White House hold out for us, again and again and
again.

Posted on August 23, 2006 12:05 PM