Distortion Machine Set to Full Spin
A couple of days ago (Friday), I blogged on the Growth Management/CAO issue, talking about the vocal minority that is doing everything it can to outrageously frame the law and the government in the most negative way possible.
These people go out of their way to make noise - and it turns out staging media stunts is no exception. Yesterday, local TV stations were foolish enough to report on their latest stunt - showing up at Ron Sims' house to stage a "surprise protest".
Of course, the protestors assumed one key detail that didn't quite work out in their favor: they thought Ron would be besieged inside his home by their noisemaking. But Sims wasn't even home. So they left a bundle of weeds on his doorstep, apparently trying to symbolize their manufactured outrage - a stupid and meaningless gesture if I've ever heard of one.
While the issue is important, this ridiculous stunt isn't newsworthy at all. The stunt's entire purpose is to loudly articulate distortions and grand, wrongful assumptions about the Growth Management Act and the Critical Areas Ordinance - from the indignant "property rights" activists' point of view.
Even worse, one of the stations' report was biased - KOMO's report. It didn't feature any viewpoint from the other side. There's no criticism of these people in the report. Apparently nobody from Futurewise or another related organization was asked by KOMO for comment.
KING 5 did a better job with their report. We've included a couple excerpts:
All we hear is "me", "my", "I", and "us": The government won't let ME build on MY land. I should be able to do whatever I want with MY land. Pay US. Buy US out so we can go someplace else.
These people don't even seem to care about the point of the law - they're complaining and making all this noise because elected officials actually care enough to think about the health of the community and region as a whole.
Outcries like "They're taking our land!" are wild distortions, and they need to be refuted accordingly. And the media, especially KOMO TV, needs to be responsible enough to make sure that both points of view get covered - or choose not to cover a silly stunt like this at all.
These people go out of their way to make noise - and it turns out staging media stunts is no exception. Yesterday, local TV stations were foolish enough to report on their latest stunt - showing up at Ron Sims' house to stage a "surprise protest".
Of course, the protestors assumed one key detail that didn't quite work out in their favor: they thought Ron would be besieged inside his home by their noisemaking. But Sims wasn't even home. So they left a bundle of weeds on his doorstep, apparently trying to symbolize their manufactured outrage - a stupid and meaningless gesture if I've ever heard of one.
While the issue is important, this ridiculous stunt isn't newsworthy at all. The stunt's entire purpose is to loudly articulate distortions and grand, wrongful assumptions about the Growth Management Act and the Critical Areas Ordinance - from the indignant "property rights" activists' point of view.
Even worse, one of the stations' report was biased - KOMO's report. It didn't feature any viewpoint from the other side. There's no criticism of these people in the report. Apparently nobody from Futurewise or another related organization was asked by KOMO for comment.
KING 5 did a better job with their report. We've included a couple excerpts:
King County Executive Ron Sims was not home Saturday, but he recently told KING 5 News the rules seek to strike a legal balance to help maintain some of the county's rural character.We can't afford to let a vocal, angry, and obsessed minority frame this important issue. Their distortion machine is set to full spin - and their goal is to produce as much negative noise as they can. They don't seem to care about the community or the region as a whole.
"If you want to pasture your property, we say great, we want that. If you want forest, that's great. We say, if you want to maintain your lands, you can," he said.
Other landowners did not participate in Saturday's protest because they endorse the rules and even say the rules do not go far enough to protect the environment.
A King County judge recently ruled that growth management regulations cannot be overturned by a public vote. It's now in the hands of the state Supreme Court.
All we hear is "me", "my", "I", and "us": The government won't let ME build on MY land. I should be able to do whatever I want with MY land. Pay US. Buy US out so we can go someplace else.
These people don't even seem to care about the point of the law - they're complaining and making all this noise because elected officials actually care enough to think about the health of the community and region as a whole.
Outcries like "They're taking our land!" are wild distortions, and they need to be refuted accordingly. And the media, especially KOMO TV, needs to be responsible enough to make sure that both points of view get covered - or choose not to cover a silly stunt like this at all.
