Reading this morning’s KC Star on-line, two articles had paragraphs that need careful reading. Both caught my attention by the words that could easily be skipped yet need careful reading.
First, in the news article, “Where’s Gov. Greitens? Not with Trump this visit” (March 15, 2018, p.4), about one third the way down, after explaining that Greitens did not greet President Trump in St. Louis like he did on the other two Missouri stops, came two paragraphs:
“Trump instead was welcomed by Attorney General Josh Hawley, the state’s top law enforcement official and the Republican front runner to challenge U.S. Senator Claire McCaskill in the fall.”
This paragraph is a simple statement of the situation as a news report is designed to be, with the exception of one word “instead.”
That word becomes loaded with meaning when a news report last week stated that Trump asked certain state Republicans not be included—names not included.
In that previous news report, the comment was included that Hawley had not been invited to greet the president. The paragraph in today’s article implies that Hawley was invited to greet the President.
Hmmm. I would like a clarification, at least of when Hawley was included in the meet and greet.
The article continues with the next paragraph that is a quote from Trump:
“The state of Missouri was very good to me, I’ll tell you,” Trump said during a visit to Boeing. “And Josh, I think, is doing a fantastic job. I can tell you that. Just met him at the plane.”
Close reading of the President’s quote causes more concern for me as a reader.
First, the President said the state of Missouri was very good to me. The historic records can prove just how good when looking at the election results.
By going to the Secretary of State’s official website for the general election results of November 8, 2016 the results are posted:
Republican Trump/Pence took 56.772% or 1,594,511 votes
Democrat Clinton/Kaine took 38.135% or 1,071,068 votes
Libertarian Johnson/Weld took 3.466% or 97,359 votes
Additionally there were 45,667 votes cast for a total of 2,808,605 votes cast.
Yes, by the numbers, Missouri was good to Trump during the election.
But on with the President’s quote:
“And Josh, I think, is doing a fantastic job. I can tell you that. Just met him at the plane.”
Those short sentences are worth reflection. Look at the sentences in reverse order.
Trump just met him at the plane. Just? At? How much knowledge can one gain in that moment of meeting.
The middle sentence, “I can tell you that”, is clear enough as Trump is being quoted. But, look again at that first brief statement:
“And Josh, I think, is doing a fantastic job.” Even Trump’s own statement creates questions. He just met him. He thinks Hawley is doing a good job. But the qualifier ‘fantastic’ is Trump’s descriptor for what he thinks is the job Hawley is doing.
Where are the facts? Two small paragraphs in the first third of a news article is loaded with implicating statements. The reader has a responsibility to reflect on these words.
Journalism is reporting the news based on various elements such as timeliness, significance, proximity, prominence (i.e. name recognition) and human interest (as identified at http://www.pbs.org/now/classroom/lessonplan-05.html).
The active reader needs to be aware of these elements and to consider them as filters as to how a story is reported. Knowing this, the two paragraphs in this article are just part of the story, but need careful reflection by Missourians.
The second KC Star March 15, article to read carefully is in the Opinion section, “GOP’s Hawley launches campaign we don’t need” by Melinda Henneberger. Remember, this is an opinion or editorial.
Henneberger has an opinion, but she does develop that opinion with facts concerning candidate education and historical quotes. Yet, buried in the middle of the article is a paragraph for careful reading and reflection:
“Yet both there [out East] and here in the Midwest, where I grew up, blue and red bubbles are harder to penetrate because any news we don’t want to hear, we increasingly choose not to hear.”
Regardless of one’s political preference, referred to as ‘blue and red bubbles’, the message in Henneberger’s editorial is that we, the people, are making the conscious decision of what to hear or not to hear.
In casual conversations, opinions are voiced easily. The concern is how solid is one’s opinion based on facts, not hear say.
Read carefully.
Look for concrete support in an article.
Look beyond the headline grabbing attention.
Look at what is not being said.
Read carefully.
Do not just scan the headlines.
Take time to read the full story whether in print or on-line.
If you have questions, ask or look for answers.
Hennenberger’s article is an opinion, but read it carefully. Make the choice to know the facts. Do not choose to you do not want to hear.
The KC Star’s front page includes the teaser headline, but choose to ‘hear’ the story and turn to page 4. The headline develops into more than a story on Greitens non-appearance, but also a story about an election and the President’s knowledge.
Then choose to read on. Read others’ opinions and reflect.
Choose to read carefully.
Susandoodles Weblog 