What a load of crap! With media bias this blatant, no wonder main stream media readership and subscribership is down.
Let's see just how bad of a job Mr. Paul Davenport of the Associated Press has failed to uphold the standards of his profession.
An 839 word article in which 479 words are devoted to Janet (57% of the total), 330 words for Len (39%) and a mere 12 words for Barry (1.4%). The sole mention being: "Libertarian Barry Hess also is on the Nov. 7 general election ballot.". What kind of crap is that. And this guy calls himself a journalist? No wonder the main stream media is in the state it is. Hell, this guy could work for the AZ Republic.
Barry IS the Libertarian nominee for Governor. One of THREE candidates on the ballot. On the ballot, in the voter guide, during the debates, he is one third of the people's options to earn their vote. Does Mr. Davenport care? Doesn't look like it.
Did Mr. Davenport contact Mr. Hess to inquire as to his position on education? NO! Did Mr. Davenport even attempt to research Barry's postion on education? Sure as heck doesn't look like it.
With reporting like this, it is understandable how one can only question the journalistic integrity of one Mr. Davenport and the AP for allowing reporting like this under their watch.
Here's the article, read it for yourself, let us know what you think.
Sharp differences on education for Napolitano, Munsil
PAUL DAVENPORT/Associated Press Writer
PHOENIX (AP) _ Janet Napolitano and Len Munsil would pick from different menus regarding ways to improve K-12 education in Arizona. Napolitano, a Democrat seeking a second-four-year term as governor, wants to focus on improving standard public schools. Her ideas include lowering the dropout age, giving students earlier access to algebra and improving the caliber of teachers in needy areas. Munsil, a Republican who formerly headed a conservative advocacy group, would focus on ``school choice'' initiatives such as increased funding for charter schools and tax credits and vouchers to promote private school attendance. Napolitano wants to build on a record that includes winning state funding for all-day kindergarten _ the state previously paid for only half-days _ and reaching agreement with lawmakers of additional funding for teacher pay raises. Napolitano said she awaits recommendations from a task force studying education proposals, but she's already told the group she likes the ideas of raising the dropout age to 18 from the current 16, requiring public schools to offer algebra in the eighth grade and increasing the supply of teachers in both underserved geographic areas and in subjects such as math, science and English learning. She said she also wants better alignment between high school curriculum and university entrance requirements. ``We're now turning to middle school and high school,'' she said during an interview. ``I think the whole issue of looking at a school system that produces not just kids that can pass the AIMS test but kids who can go on beyond high school and be competitive in a 21st Century economy is the educational focus.'' Munsil, meanwhile, argues that expanding charter and private school options for students and their parents would foster competition that spurs improvement in all segments of K-12 education. ``It makes everyone get better and I've seen it in public schools systems,'' he said. ``I think we ought to throw out all the old thinking and mindsets and be willing to look and say how are we best able to educate our kids and whatever that is, let's get the resources of the state of Arizona behind it.'' However, he said he's not calling for elimination of the current district system of public education. ``The public school system is and needs to be a part of the options that are available,'' he said. Though his campaign platform calls for private school vouchers _ public grants to pay for private school tuition _ and he said he supports them, Munsil acknowledged that they could run afoul of state constitutional prohibitions against public funding for religious or private schools. ``We can set what the aspiration is but how we get there may require some work in terms of what the best political approach is,'' he said. ``In the interim, I do support the tuition scholarship tax credit, making more money available.'' Munsil said he wants to expand the state's efforts to financially reward high-performing teachers and also get more money into the classroom, possibly by giving teachers a tax credit for purchases of school supplies. College student Chester Marks, a registered independent from Phoenix, liked Munsil's approach. ``It gives you more choices to get an education, while Janet Napolitano just wants to give you one choice, and that's the public education,'' Marks said. ``And a public education is not what it used to be maybe decades ago, maybe five years ago.'' Retired school librarian Margaret Wheeler felt otherwise. ``I'm just absolutely opposed to siphoning off taxpayer public money for private and parochial schools in the name of choice,'' said Wheeler, a registered Democrat. ``I think those resources should be devoted to improving our public schools if people have a problem with the public schools. It's not like we have a lot of tax dollars to spare.'' Napolitano this year reluctantly allowed several school-choice measures to become law. They included two small voucher programs this year for foster and disabled students, and creation of a new corporate income tax credit for businesses' donations for private school scholarships. Napolitano won praise from school-choice advocates but she made it clear in a recent interview that she's no friend of vouchers or similar initiatives. ``I don't like them,'' she said. ``I think we should be doing more by way of public schools where the vast majority of our children go and will go and where I think the public money should be invested.'' Napolitano said she accepted the voucher measures and the new tax credit only as negotiated trade-offs with legislative Republicans in return for spending that she wanted for her education initiatives and other areas. ``That's what we needed to do to get something out of the Legislature and move the state ahead,'' Napolitano said in June. She drew criticism from the Arizona Education Association, a teachers' union often allied with Napolitano on education issues. Its president, John Wright, in June said the new school-choice measures constituted ``a deliberate attack on public school funding.'' Nonetheless, the union has endorsed Napolitano for re-election. Libertarian Barry Hess also is on the Nov. 7 general election ballot.
Percentages do not add up to 100% as 18 words are shared between Janet and Len as an intro.
