I’m not sure Cory’s comment button is working at his KELOLAND Madville Times page but I wanted to make sure I got the point across about accusations that KELOLAND had misreported the number of SD Highway Patrol troopers on duty for Christmas story.

Cory:

The original story saying the cuts were due to 2008 budget cuts was sourced to the SDHP.  So, KELOLAND, it appears, accurately reported what it was told.  Whether that was actually the case was another thing.  But typically you depend upon governmental spokespeople to be honest.  The irony in this case is that Rounds’ own SDHP appears to be at odds with Gov. Rounds on the cuts.

Here’s the quote from the original story: “… and a spokesperson for South Dakota’s Department of Public Safety says the reason more troopers were not working was because of the proposed budget cuts.:

Having worked in several newsrooms, I can tell you that there is no conspiracy in these sorts of things.  Just journalists trying to get out as many facts as they can under deadline.

Todd

I’m also not criticizing Steve Sibson at Sibby Online (Steve, I’ve added your feed back in at right).  I think he made a valid observation.  But KELOLAND simply reported what the SDSP originally told it as to why there were so few troopers working over Christmas.  Further, KELOLAND ran a follow-up story with “clarification” from the head of the SDHP.  This was responsible reporting.  I don’t see any journalistic sins here.

Technorati Tags: South Dakota, KELOLAND, Sibby Online, Steve Sibson, Cory Heidelberger, South Dakota Higway Patrol, highway safety, reporting, journalism

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