By Gladys C. Wood
High school and college journalism instructors have had excellent material available in recent issues of the Saratoga News for class discussions and writing assignments on slander, libel, "glittering generalization," and inaccurate reporting.
Please, don't misunderstand me! The Saratoga News staffers produce a professional newspaper, responsible, interesting and helpful. I have thoroughly enjoyed reading the publication since we moved to Saratoga in 1955.
This great source material for journalism classes has appeared in Letters to the Editor, Commentary, and a political advertisement recommending "No on G."
City Attorney Michael Riback, for instance, could be asked under what possible circumstances, under Measure G, an additional bedroom or a patio extension could require voter approval. The reporter also could query Mayor Paul Jacobs for proof that G would mean a "dream of a pool, patio or addition would be subjected to the whim of thousands of strangers."
Fact: Measure G will not change the way in which additions such as pools, patios, bedrooms, etc., will be reviewed or approved.
Vice Mayor Gillian Moran is quoted in the ad: "Measure G replaces a system that's working with one that can't be changed until the year 2026."
Fact: Measure G provides for change if voters so desire. Moran is a former political science instructor.
The League of Women Voters (the board--there was not a total membership vote) declares "Measure G is an unacceptable limitation on the ability of our elected officials to respond to changing conditions."
Fact: Napa voters--72 percent--passed the same type of initiative as Measure G, which will be coming up for a vote in Saratoga. The opponents asked the state Supreme Court for a ruling, and the court found in favor of the initiative. The Napa planning director says the initiative gives a clearer picture to city officials as to voters' wishes. It makes it easier for them to implement the city's own blueprint for growth.
Instructors who teach units on making surveys can find useful class material from those letters to the editor describing the telephone messages from the Pleasanton firm and from Saratogans. For instance, if a telephone survey caller provides misleading or false information to the individual answering his telephone, can the responses be considered a legitimate survey of a situation? Of course not!
My teaching friends in the field of journalism will enjoy the materials I am currently collecting for them and their students.
Gladys C. Wood lives on
Douglass Lane.
This article appeared in the Saratoga News, March 13, 1996.
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