Let’s start with a news story that regards an effort by CAIR-OK that was released in, of all places, Mississippi, even though the story by Yahoo news lists it as Oklahoma City. The first reported sighting of the story was out of state. (CAIR is Council on American Islamic Relations.)
CAIR-OK Launches Call-In Campaign on Anti-Sharia Bill
OKLAHOMA CITY, March 18, 2011 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- The Oklahoma chapter of the Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR-OK) today announced a call-in campaign to state senators urging them to vote against Rep. Sally Kern's House Bill 1552 (HB 1552) that was written in support of the failed and unconstitutional "Save Our State Amendment" (SQ 755), which was blocked last year by a federal judge.
The rest of the story is here:
http://news.yahoo.com/s/usnw/20110318/pl_usnw/DC67732_1
The first paragraph of the news story above, released by PRNewswire, gets an important fact wrong. The bolded part refers to Oklahoma State Question 755 that was passed with an overwhelming majority by the citizens of Oklahoma. Yet PRNewswire chose to say that the question was failed and unconstitutional. However, State Question 755 passed with just over 70% of the people voting for it. Would you call that “failed?” Also, Judge Vicki Miles-LaGrange merely invoked an injunction against the measure; she did NOT rule it unconstitutional.
By the way, HB1552 makes no mention of Sharia Law, which is what CAIR is concerned about.
Now, this is brought to your attention to show that PRNewswire obviously biased their report with the comment of “failed and unconstitutional.” Where this line of reasoning is going is to show the bias of PRNewswire may be elsewhere in their writings.
On an RV forum, the subject was brought up about the new 2011 Dodge 3500 truck and its increased weight capabilities. One of the posters to that thread provided a link to a PRNewswire news story about the new Dodge 3500. Some of the participants on that forum decided that the truck MUST be better based solely on that news report.
Here is the link to that PRNewswire story:
So, the question is, “Did the PRNewswire write that story with a bias as well?” I pointed out in the forum that Dodge’s own brochure for the 2011 models made no mention of that increased capacity in the 3500. Now, I recognize that a manufacturer can change their models in mid-year. I just want people to realize that just because a news release “says something” doesn’t necessarily mean that what they “say” is true.
If you are considering a Dodge 3500 for 2011 and beyond, take special precautions to verify that any truck you are considering is capable of what they claim it to be. That news release referred to a “Max Tow” package, which to me indicates something that needs to be added in order to get the increased weight capacity. Thus, those considering the Dodge need to make sure they get one with that package.
The above example from PR Newswire demonstrates that the media cannot be trusted to write a factual story, so get your information from various sources, and make sure your alternative sources don’t get their information from the original news story.
One participant in the RV forum even said that Dodge would gain nothing with a false news release. Well, other than trying to “polish up” their tarnished name and reputation, I would say they would also gain if they could deceive their customers, thus gaining more sales.
In fairness, here is a link to the thread at RV Dreams:
http://www.activeboard.com/forum.spark?aBID=91511&p=3&topicID=41070400
While I have stated numerous times, I hope that Dodge and GM can get their companies in order because we all gain with good competition. I definitely have a preference for Ford, but I also recognize that others have their preferences as well. Let’s just make sure we all make knowledgeable decisions based on factual, not-biased information.
So, don’t let this happen to you……
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