Real journalism tells real stories, not fables about money

from Dan WaltersCalMatters

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YouTube and other Internet media sites are full of videos in which self-proclaimed truth-tellers claim to have uncovered some startling facts that mainstream journalists have either ignored or deliberately concealed.

They’ll, for example, pull out one of the hundreds of bills introduced each year in the state legislature, present it as something that’s already passed, not just proposed, and warn viewers of its supposed devastating effect on their personal finances.

Unsurprisingly, the videos often end with a plea for donations to help further investigations into criminal conspiracy.

They are fables masquerading as journalism, just the kind of propaganda disinformation their purveyors pretend to expose.

Meanwhile, real journalists are reporting real stories about real situations that official authorities are really trying to cover up or minimize, as several recent examples show.

We’ll start with nearly a year of reporting from CalMatters.org about the state Department of Motor Vehicles’ shameful failure to revoke the licenses of “dangerous drivers with horrific stories” who have had multiple crashes, some fatal, or been arrested for drunken driving.

The series is called “Licensed to Kill” and describes, case by case, how the DMV routinely allows such threats to continue driving. The series spurred legislative efforts to tighten an apparently unsustainable system. But this week, when DMV Director Steve Gordon appeared at a hearing on the matter, his answers were evasive — reflecting his reluctance to speak with CalMatters reporters.

Abridged, the fledgling website in Sacramento started by public television station KVIE, had a similar experience with another state agency, the Department of Transportation.

Briefly found that Caltrans has is keeping the reason for the two-year delay a secret in the completion of a project to improve Highway 50, one of the busiest highways in Saramento.

After receiving and reviewing 2,000 pages of reports and emails, plus court documents, Abridged found that “concrete mix used for new HOV lanes and concrete replacement on the 50 Freeway did not meet Caltrans’ strength standards, resulting in the reconstruction of a section of the freeway in East Sacramento and delays in the completion of construction.”

Instead of telling the public why the project was delayed, “the transportation agency blamed the delays on heavy winter rains, freeway crashes and the discovery that the existing concrete on the 50 Freeway was in worse shape than expected.”

Locally, school districts and counties have paid billions of dollars to settle child abuse claims under a state law that allows alleged victims to cite decades-old cases. But the Los Angeles Times “found a practice of payment for claimants among a murky web of vendors who refer people desperate for money to a law firm that can profit handsomely from their business.

In other words, local government officials could have done what the Times reporters did, but they were duped, wanted to erase the shame, and failed to investigate the allegations carefully.

Back in Sacramento, while the state budget oozes red ink, the Legislature is spending hundreds of millions of dollars, perhaps more than $1 billion, to build a new addition to the state Capitol and being ultra-secretive about the details, even requiring confidentiality agreements to avoid leaks.

However, one television reporter, KCRA’s Ashley Zavala, has been constantly pestering officials, including Gov. Gavin Newsom, about what goes on behind the fences, how much is spent and what is being bought and had broadcast a series of reports on his findings. Her report finally broke the wall of secrecy, and legislative officials released a brief summary of the project.

These are examples of real journalism, not fake YouTube videos, and the public needs to understand and appreciate the difference.

This article was originally published on CalMatters and is republished under Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-No Derivatives license.