American idiots: more slick work from Minnesota Public Radio

The short piece posted yesterday on  MPR's web site about Tim Walz's travel to the U.S.-Mexican border in Texas and New Mexico (Walz calls for tighter border security) left us scratching our head over its simple-minded reduction of the press call we'd taken part in a few hours before.

We reserve our raspberries for the photo caption:

Rep. Tim Walz, who represents Minnesota's 1st Congressional District, said Monday he's pleased the federal government denied a loan for the DM&E railroad expansion. (MPR Photo/Sea Stachura)

Okay then.  We waited a while to see if the crack teams at public radio would catch the goof, but it's still up there at 11:50 a.m. this morning. We've loaded a screenshot for our readers' enjoyment.  From the looks of it, the webmaster probably pulled the DM & E loan denial story page, slapped the news border security article in there, wrote a quick headline, and called it a day.

After all, a press call at 9:00 a.m. on a Saturday morning? What's wrong with those rubes down in the First?

Sadly, this isn't the first time we've seen MPR bollix a Walz story. On January 10, the site ran coverage of his travel in Afghanistan and Pakistan under the headline Rep. Walz returns from visit to Pakistan and Afghanistan. Reasonable readers might conclude that Walz had returned to the United States; in fact, those on the press call were told that the trip was not finished, but security reasons prevented the release of the remaining itinerary. Walz next traveled to Iraq and Germany.

The head was later changed to Rep. Walz concludes visit to Pakistan and Afghanistan,  but the confusion was sown.

So what's simplistic about the body of the article? Find out below the fold.

Some of the journalistic basics are simply missing. We don't learn the where (Texas and New Mexico), who (National Guard, as well as Customs and Border Patrol, nor the members of Congress who travelled with him--Nick Lampson of Texas, John Yarmuth of Kentucky, and Chris Murphy of Connecticut).

Let's take one paragraph:

Walz toured border fencing, K-9 training facilities and detention centers. He also spent time with U.S. Customs and Border Patrol agents.

In the press call, Walz said that Homeland Security personnel he had talked to about fencing the border universally said that while fences were helpful in some urban areas, they didn't recommend fencing the entire border, which would be a waste of resources.  Instead, strategic placement of high-tech cameras would be a better investment. He praised the work of National Guard members who  were staffing the cameras.

Mention of  K-9 forces without any additional context might summon Soviet-era images of border guards with Dobermans and German shepherds ready to pounce on hapless people crossing the desert or Rio Grande.  While some of the more panicked residents of Albert Lea and Owatonna might welcome that image, it's probably not the best way to deploy dogs for security. Nor is it what the Customs and Border Patrol Dogs are about.

In reality, the Customs and Border Patrol dogs--many of which are labs, golden retrievers and other suitable breeds rescued from animal shelters--aren't guard dogs, but specialists: detector dogs,  focused on the discovery of drugs, tainted money, other contraband, and people hidden in vehicles. Some are trained to rescue people who get lost in the desert (indeed, Walz mentioned that a five-year-old had been abandoned in the desert by smugglers and had to be rescued during the time of his trip).

The detection dogs reduce search time from an average of 20 to 5-6 minutes.  Their ability to sniff out tainted money nets more money than the cost of the program. More money for dogs and dog training? Less successful smuggling.

Walz's takeaway from the detention center was the need for increased cooperation among national and international law enforcement agencies.  Much of this involved improving databases and database access. He told the story of a Guatemalan national who was apprehended in his presence--unfortunately, there was a vehicle accident involved--whose records, pulled less than twenty minutes later, revealed that the individual had a record in Philadelphia.  Another story, related to Walz by Homeland Security personnel, involved a Polish national who was caught slipping across the US-Mexican border. Contact with Interpol revealed ten felonies in his native country.

Some strategies work and they can be improved and given more resources. Long lines at border crossings could be reduced by the presence of more agents and detector dogs. Border surveillance can be improved through the use of better cameras and increased use of National Guard members to monitor them, while more agents could detain those crossing the border illegally.

Moreover, Walz said, the Border Patrol personnel he spoke to thought that the situation would best be handled by professionals, rather than by groups like the Minutemen.  Left out completely from the MPR story is Walz's praise for the work that Customs and Border Patrol are doing, and their sense that the situation at the border isn't cause for panic and demogoguing.

The Congressman thought that improved biometric identification systems and education about them in home countries of undocumented workers would help deter illegal crossings.

Finally, the Congressman stressed the need to conduct the immigration policy reform discussion in a way that aimed to provide solutions rather than score political points, especially those generated by whipping up emotions. Humanity needs to be balanced with security (as the clip at KEYC-TV illustrates, Walz stressed that it's just one piece of the immigration policy question, though the tv segment suffers some of the same problems as the MPR squib).  Workforce needs should be discussed dispassionately. 

The write-up above is based on our notes, and should be attributed to BSP, rather than the congressman; we'll be capturing the recorded call and supplementing our notes with exact quotes.

Why does accurate reporting and page layout at MPR and other media outlets matter? The question should answer itself; listeners and readers expect value and professionalism from media outlets (more than, say, a talking heifer with a hick blog and a degree from the Ozarks Famous Writers School).

Moreover, there's the critique of the media (and indeed of a responsible citizenry itself) the title of this post takes from Green Day's song. When we hear the sound of hysteria, we must ask ourselves if that's what we would follow. Probably not. We hope that Congressman Walz and his colleagues--and challengers--bear that in mind.