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ChApTEr 27 Freedom of Information Laws and Ethics Hardly anything in American society can escape the influence of the media. This is especially true for those public officials and employees that work for local government. Newspapers assign reporters to spend hours at the many city and town halls, as well as the many government meetings that are held at them. Television stations may also send a camera crew to these meetings if there is an issue of critical importance. Many cities and towns tape and broadcast their public meetings on local-access public television channels or broadcast them live and show them over and over. Radio stations will often call people for comments, or a report on a particular topic or issue, but as a general rule, they do not send representatives to public meetings. The media spends a considerable amount of time and resources to be the eyes and ears of the public, although with the slumping economics of newspapers, this is decreasing dramatically. Several newspapers have filed for bankruptcy, and have significantly reduced staff and local live coverage. Newspapers still play a large role in influencing public opinion, both by the traditional hard-copy paper, but more and more, by the electronic versions. In addition, the introduction of websites by municipalities allows the dissemination of minutes and public information directly to whomever logs on, even if they are a thousand miles away! Newspapers and television stations sometimes seem to become as powerful as the elected or appointed officials that serve on the public agencies that set public policy. News articles and editorials all play a role. However, since the media is neither elected nor appointed, the significance of this role is often overlooked, except for those citizens and public officials who are in the public eye every day. While television and radio stations report on the local news, oftentimes their coverage of events is more statewide. Local newspapers, both hard copy and online, are more likely to be the best source for detailed information. Many people read the local news section of the paper more closely than the sports page or even the front page. The major newspapers in the state recognize this. The activities of city and town councils, planning and zoning boards, boards of education, and town meetings are closely followed and reported on. Larger cities typically will be serviced by a major newspaper, Freedom of Information Laws and Ethics 175 while in smaller towns a newspaper will likely cover news for a few contiguous communities or have just a weekly publication. Newspapers frequently use their front sections for the state, national, and international news, with separate sections for local news. There are also a number of weekly newspapers, whose function is to report only the local news, with an emphasis on the “soft” news. This includes write-ups on local citizens, school news, senior center news, local sporting events, activities of civic clubs, and the special achievements of its citizens. The life of a reporter can be rewarding but difficult. He or she might have to stay up late to attend an evening meeting, and then immediately write an article about the proceedings of that meeting. Reporters carry laptop computers that they use to write their articles as they sit in the public meetings that they are covering. They then electronically transmit their written story directly to their newspaper for editing and publication. Typically, a news story of the previous night’s meeting will be in the local newspaper the next morning for all to read. Once the story prepared by the reporter gets to the paper, it traditionally is edited and then given a headline created by someone other than the reporter. As a general rule, the reporter does not write his or her own headlines, which may account for the occasional headline that does not really reflect the body of the story. Budget-cutting reductions in staff have significantly lessened the number of people that traditionally would have reviewed the reporter’s story. The editor is also working against a deadline, which may affect the choice of words contained in the headline. Since newspapers have to sell copies to make money, headlines may often be more sensational than the story contained in the news article itself. Many people read the papers by scanning the headlines. If a headline captures their attention, they will then proceed to read the article, or at least the first few paragraphs of it. This is the nature of...

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