BCT Editorial – 9/20/07

This page was last updated on September 23, 2007.

Changes; Editorial; Beaver County Times; September 20, 2007.

Below is a detailed critique of the subject editorial.

“Some major provisions of the Reservists Access to Justice Act (as provided by U.S. Rep. Jason Altmire’s office) cited above are:

· Protects Guardsmen and reservists’ access to the courts, preserves their right to gather evidence to prove their claims, and prevents employers from exploiting arbitration agreements to avoid responsibility for discrimination.

· Creates strong economic incentives for employers not to discriminate against servicemen and women by providing for liquidated damages up to $20,000 and for punitive damages in appropriate cases.

· Requires courts to step in early, examine the facts and, when appropriate, order employers to take corrective action (such as reinstatement or promotion) without forcing the employee to wait years for the resolution of his/her lawsuit.”

[RWC] I don’t know if it represents a trend yet, but we now have at least two examples of the Times being fed by Mr. Altmire’s office.

Back in June, J.D. Prose (“White House turns back on local Gold Star mom”) accepted as fact the claims of Mr. Altmire’s office regarding a Gold Star mom. Now we read an editorial telling us the provisions of a bill as provided by Mr. Altmire’s office. Why didn’t the Times do as I did and obtain the details directly from the bill as recorded on The Library of Congress website and provide its own assessment? The bill’s been on the LoC website since early August.

In neither case did it appear the Times attempted to verify the info by checking other sources. Is it just me, or does it seem unprofessional for a newspaper to accept potentially self-serving information from political staffers without verification? Maybe it’s because I’m not a journalist, but I always attempt to verify info provided to me. If I can’t verify the info using another credible source, I tend not to use the info.