Heather Pusser - Public Interest

Heather Pusser

Intro to Journalism

Heather Chaplin

February 4, 2011

New Stories Within Public Interest

Story One: Source: www.nytimes.com Title: “Parents Seek More Action on PCBs in Schools” Author: Mireya Navarro

I chose this story because it is one that may be happening in New York City, but is still of public interest. It has been found that the fluorescent lights in over 800 out of the 1200 public schools in the city are leaking a carcinogen known as polychlorinated biphenyls. It is been said that this chemical has been linked to immune and reproductive function failures and even cancer. This is of public interest because it concerns thousands of families within the five boroughs about their children’s health. This is obviously an article that would catch the attention of anyone with a child whose heath could be at risk from these leaks.

This article also was a good example for skepticism versus cynicism. I thinks the journalist, Mireya Navarro, was skeptical about the research and the effort put into fixing the lighting leak. Instead of completely bashing the Bloomberg administration, the author mentions that they “disputed the urgency” because they estimated the new lighting to cost around $1 billion. Navarro’s sense of skepticism also shines through when she writes, “there is no immediate health risk” from this PCBs, however she still mentions that “the longer the exposure, the higher the risk.” Navarro stays neutral throughout the piece, but also has a nice balance between parents’ reactions and governmental responses.

Story Two Source: www.latimes.com Title: “Job growth remains sluggish through unemployment drops to 9%” Author: Don Lee

I chose this story for the obvious connection to the public interest. The recession has been touching us all since 2009; however, this story tries to give the reader some hope. Since November the unemployment rates have dropped .7%, something that millions of American’s have been waiting for. This evokes public interest because American’s have been out of work, and a drop in unemployment is a sparkle of hope to all of those who were laid off due to the recession. However, Lee offers an interesting opinion from Dean Baker, an economic researcher. Baker says that he doesn’t believe this drop in unemployment is real, but more of a statistical fluke. The author of this article is doing journalism. Yes, unemployment did drop but Lee makes it his point to tell his readers that economists are doubtful. This is important because he is showing his reader that he is on their side, and is giving them the knowledge they truly need.

As for skepticism, I think Lee did a decent job avoiding the line of cynicism. He does not tell his readers that there is no hope and that the government is full of crocks, telling us false information. No, instead he gingerly focuses on both sides of the story, interviewing enough economists to help the reader feel as if they have enough information to make up their own mind on the subject. Lee offers multiple statistics to help ground his reader for the discussion of unemployment, for those who do not play close attention. Lastly, Lee breaks the statistics down to explain figures such as “the economy added about 900,000 jobs for all of last year, picking up in the fourth quarter to about 128,000 a month.” Lee’s research helps his reader to understand the economic process without being educated in economics.