Sleight-of-hand

by Paul Giacobbe

Were it not for the ongoing issue of immigrant workers who have entered this country in violation of certain immigration regulations, and sometimes in violation of the law, I’d be concerned that no one was watching the news at all.  I vowed after a recent posting to avoid the issue, if possible, but a recent email from Anthony Fascitelli, compels me to return once again, albeit with a different focus.

Almost all who write to me about “illegal” immigration coverage do so to complain that the station’s coverage fails to emphasize what these viewers feel is the terrible burden the immigrant workers put on the state’s resources and that they are, in fact, here in violation of our laws.  NBC10 does not, they complain, emphasize that enough in its reports.

Mr. Fascitelli writes to suggest the opposite:  That in a recent news story NBC10 exaggerated “the scope and effect of illegal immigration in the state.”

This reinforces my belief that if both sides complain, coverage is as balanced as it can get.

(Actually, the story wasn’t so recent, but Mr. Fascitelli says he complained in December, when the story ran, but that I never responded.  He writes again now, Mr.  Fascitelli says, in light of the recent NBC10 apology as a result of the tourism story (see previous posting.)

“On one hand,” Mr. Fascitelli writes, “you have a newly hired reporter falsifying facts about restaurants in the area, while the station makes a big to-do about apologizing.”

“On the other hand,” he says, “you have an established reporter (who did the immigration story he objects to) exaggerating the scope and effects of illegal immigration in the state and you and your handlers say nothing.” 

In fact, Mr. Fascitelli suggests, the station’s apology in connection with the tourism stories was simply an attempt to distract viewers from other, more important issues.

“How insulting to your viewers to engage in this sleight-of-hand, distracting us from your gross errors by groveling over your minor ones,” he wrote.

The story Mr. Fascitelli didn’t like involved the coverage of a proposal by two General Assembly members which included some statistics, which Mr. Fascitelli maintained were inaccurate, and a comment by one of the General Assembly members that “radicals” were trying to establish Rhode Island as a sanctuary state.

Reporters relay to viewers what they see and hear, including statements made by public officials.  They have an obligation to present opposing positions, but sometimes that’s not always possible to do in the same story.  With respect to a complicated, ongoing issue, the judgment as to whether coverage is fair, accurate and balanced must be viewed over a period of time, not in light of a single story. 

Many viewers complained after coverage of the New Bedford factory raids, for example, that the stories emphasized the hardships for the families of the workers taken into custody.  The stories, they said, did not reflect the burdens illegal immigrant workers put on our system.  Mr. Fascitelli’s complaint was the opposite:  That the December story

the burdens on the system.

Coverage of a political campaign must be viewed over the course of many months, not as the result of a single story.  So it is with issues as complex as immigration.
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My handlers at NBC10 provide this space, but the opinions are mine alone. Really.—Paul Giacobbe