AP Misses Scoop on Pig Poop

[nosmokes]

original-new standard

*In the Doghouse*
February 22
AP Misses Scoop on Pig Poop

Every journalist fears getting the story wrong -- not just an inaccuracy, but burying or missing an important point. Of course, the way to reduce that concern is to always talk to the harshest critics of any perspective portrayed in your story. That's how you get it airtight.

Talking to any critics at all would have been a huge step up for AP reporter Jennifer Loven's recent article on a speech President Bush gave about alternative fuels in North Carolina today. For anyone wondering just what the deal is with the Prez Sez links on our front page, this is a perfect example. Rather than doing a story about alterative fuels that included expert sources with varying opinions, this article is just Bush quotes and paraphrases interspersed with contextual narrative that serves to uphold Bush's stance and lend an air of expertise to his rhetoric.

In stumping for alternative fuels, Bush touted the energy-producing potential of pig manure piling up and spilling over at factory farms (no, he didn't put it that way, and neither did the AP). It doesn't seem to be a coincidence that Bush is promoting the potential of pig-poop power in North Carolina. As we learned the day before, the ingenious folks at Smithfield have found a new way to squeeze profit out of their ecological horror shows they call CAFOs (confined animal feed operations).
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complete article including links to other sources here