Arizona media in the news

by David Safier

Here are a few bits and pieces about recent handlings mishandling of the news by local and state newspapers.

• Brewer screwed up and appointed people to the new Rio Nuevo board who are supposed to be Tucson residents, but aren't. Here's the opening line of Rob O'Dell's article: "At least two of the state's first appointees to the new board overseeing the Rio Nuevo redevelopment district are ineligible to serve because they don't meet residency requirements." You have to read further to find out Brewer is responsible. Could be the City Council for all we know. The day before, O'Dell wrote an article about a proposed city increase in property taxes. Here's the opening line: "City property owners could soon see a big tax increase to start paying down an $18 million deficit in the city's self-insurance fund." The "big tax increase" begins at $2 a year on a $200,000 home, then goes up to $12 a year. O'Dell downplayed a Brewer screwup at Tucson's expense, then blew a tiny city tax hike out of proportion.
• The Arizona Education Network is a statewide organization, but its powerhouse is right here in Tucson. Its members broke the story about the abuse of tuition tax credits which got big play in the Republic and the East Valley Trib but got almost no coverage in the Star. They recently held a news conference in Phoenix about the educational voting records of state legislators. It was overlooked in the Star until today, when it was mentioned in a Star editorial. Tucson should be proud of this incredible effort by local folks to spotlight problems with education funding and seek solutions. Instead, Tucson's paper with its touted emphasis on local stories all but ignores their existence.
• At the Palin-McCain event in Mesa, there was some heckling. According to the Republic, one of the hecklers was throwing elbows and was removed, but the McCain campaign doesn't plan to press charges. The East Valley Trib tells a different story. It writes nothing about the hecklers throwing elbows. The first "was placed in a headlock and escorted out by McCain’s campaign volunteers." The second "was pulled by the hair and removed  after he shouted that Republicans had overspent on the war in Iraq." Here's a youtube video of one of the hecklers being held down outside the rally. It sounds like the police are asking the person holding the heckler down to let go. In another video, about 50 seconds in, you can see one of the hecklers being dragged out but no evidence he was throwing elbows beforehand.
• The Republic has an editorial, This has to stop – on both sides, talking about the heated rhetoric and violence lately. It pretty much blames both sides equally. It writes, "The most disturbingly violent act to date was a gunshot fired into the offices of Rep. Eric Cantor – a Republican. We pray it ends there." Eric Cantor himself, after claiming a bullet was shot at his office, later admitted the police say it was a random bullet fired into the air which came down and hit a window, either in Cantor's office or another window in the building. It wasn't intended to hit his, or any, office. Somehow, the people writing the editorial missed both the police report and Cantor's recanting of his original story.