Indy Digest: Feb. 8, 2024
A news story can sometimes be technically accurate—yet misleading, due to missing context.
Here are two recent examples of this, both from CNN, and both involving Nevada (a state I know well, because, for starters, I grew up there). .
First: “Nikki Haley will lose Nevada GOP primary to ‘none of these candidates’ as Biden notches Democratic win.” You’ve likely seen headlines claiming that Nikki Haley was embarrassed in the Nevada primary by finishing behind—WELL behind—the option for “none of these candidates.” This is technically accurate, but …
The context: The Republican side of this year’s Nevada presidential-primary process has been a complete and total train wreck. The primary, held on Tuesday, was mandated by a new state law—but the results on the Republican side are meaningless. The state’s Republican delegates are actually being awarded today, during caucuses held by the state Republican Party.
ABC News explains: “Nevada has long been a caucus state for both the Republican and Democratic parties, but the state law enacted two years ago mandated a primary if more than one candidate files—as happened in the 2024 race. The Democratic Party has since adopted the primary for 2024, with President Joe Biden and author and speaker Marianne Williamson both filing to compete. But the Nevada Republican Party decided to hold a caucus anyway, declaring that the caucus would be the only way for candidates to win delegates regardless of the outcome of the required primary. (State Republicans also unsuccessfully sought to stop the primary entirely, but the courts allowed them to restrict delegates only to the separate caucus.)”
In other words: While the state mandated that a primary be held, it’s the political parties who decide how delegates are awarded … and the Nevada Republican Party—which just so happens to be very, very pro-Trump—decided to disregard the primary and instead award delegates via a caucus. The state party then declared that candidates who entered the primary would be ineligible to get delegates via the caucuses.
Nonetheless, Haley (along with MIke Pence and Tim Scott, who have since dropped out of the race) filed to run in the primary. However, she did not campaign in the state, while Trump did, with some of his supporters telling people not to vote in the primary, and others—including Gov. Joe Lombardo—telling people who did vote in the primary to select “none of these candidates.”
So, yes, Haley got whomped by “none of these candidates”—albeit in a state where she didn’t campaign (because the process was stacked against her and everyone else not named “Trump”), and her opponent (who declined to participate in the primary) DID campaign. While some (but not all) of these elements can be found in the CNN story, its emphasis on Haley’s “embarrassing defeat” warps things a bit.
The second CNN piece’s headline: “Las Vegas mayor rebuffs Oakland A’s move to town—but then backtracks.”
Las Vegas Mayor Carolyn Goodman shocked a lot of people when she said, while being interviewed on Feb. 5 for a podcast, that the baseball team’s plans to move to the current site of the Tropicana hotel-casino didn’t make sense, and: “I personally think they’ve got to figure out a way to stay in Oakland.”
The CNN piece also mentions that Goodman criticized the team for rejecting a much-larger piece of land near the freeway interchange in favor of the Tropicana site: Goodman said: “I thought, ‘This doesn’t make sense. Here’s a great site, they get a great price on it because it’s owned by the city…”
Here’s the really important bit of context missing from this CNN piece: The Tropicana site the A’s are slated to occupy is not actually in the city of Las Vegas. Most of The Strip—including all of it south of Desert Inn Road—is actually in unincorporated Clark County.
In other words, Mayor Goodman has no jurisdiction over the place the Oakland A’s plan to call home—and she was expressing unhappiness over the fact the team picked the Tropicana site over land that was actually within her jurisdiction. The CNN headline, one could claim, is actually inaccurate, because the A’s are NOT planning to move “to town” at all.
Context matters, and on these two pieces (especially the Goodman-A’s one), CNN unintentionally deceived readers—because important context was missing.
—Jimmy Boegle
From the Independent
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More News
• From the “Big Yikes” Recall File: A California-based foods company has been linked to a listeria outbreak dating back to 2014. (Yes, 2014!) The Washington Post says: “California-based Rizo Lopez Foods has recalled dozens of its cheese and dairy products after federal health officials linked the company to a decade-long listeria outbreak that has led to two deaths and more than 20 hospitalizations across the country. The Food and Drug Administration advised consumers not to eat the recalled brands of cheese, sour cream or yogurt and to discard any such products they have purchased. It added that people or businesses that have bought the recalled products should clean and sanitize any surfaces or containers the products touched.” Eek. For what its worth, these foods include brands from Costco, Trader Joe’s and Whole Foods.
• An Arizona doctor is being charged with manslaughter after he allegedly helped a person dealing with chronic pain die via suicide in New York. NBC News reports: “Stephen P. Miller, of Tucson, Arizona, was arraigned Friday and pleaded not guilty to charges of second-degree manslaughter and first- and second-degree assault, court records show. The investigation started shortly before noon on Nov. 9, when police responded to a report about an unconscious and unresponsive person at a Super 8 on Washington Avenue in the city of Kingston, about 100 miles north of New York City, Kingston police said in a statement Friday. … (Miller’s attorney, Jeffrey) Lichtman, told The New York Times that it was a woman who died in the motel room that night and that she had contacted Miller through a national organization that advocates for the legalization of medical aid in dying. … Medical aid in dying has long been controversial. It is legal in 10 states—including California and New Jersey—and Washington, D.C., according to Death with Dignity, an end-of-life advocacy and policy reform organization. It is not legal in New York state, though it has been proposed—and has stalled—in the Legislature.”
• A state agency is considering a pretty serious cap on health care-cost increases. Our partners at CalMatters say: “A new state office charged with controlling the rising cost of health care in California is moving toward one of the most aggressive goals in the nation, aiming to cap cost increases to 3% a year. You might not notice right away if the Office of Health Care Affordability commits to the tentative goal it released last month and takes steps to enforce it. But, over time, experts say the cap on price increases could make a difference in how much Californians pay for health care. ‘A 3.0% target places California on the path of a more sustainable, affordable, and equitable health care system, slowing the trajectory of growth and improving affordability for all,’ the office wrote in its recommendation. The agency’s announcement immediately drew criticism from health care industry representatives who called it ‘unrealistic’ and ‘arbitrary.’ They contend it could harm patients by reducing access to care if health providers watching their spending end up reducing services.“
• And now for today’s recall news (that does not involve decade-long listeria outbreaks, yeesh). First up: Trader Joe’s frozen chicken pilaf! The Hill explains: “USDA’s Food Safety and Inspection Service announced Wednesday it received multiple complaints that the frozen ready-to-eat chicken, lentil and caramelized onion product from Trader Joe’s contained foreign material—’specifically rocks.’ One person said they had a dental injury from eating the product, though no other injuries were reported, the agency added. The product was produced between Nov. 1, 2023, and Jan. 19, and has been widely distributed at the grocery chain’s stores across the U.S. However, the product is no longer being sold at Trader Joe’s, according to the inspection service. Those with the product still in their freezer are urged to throw it away or return it to the store where it was purchased.”
• Next up: Hondas! NPR reports: “Honda is recalling more than 750,000 cars, SUVs, minivans and pickups over a defect that causes air bags to deploy when they should not. The recall includes models of the Honda Civic, Accord, CR-V, Fit, HR-V, Insight, Odyssey, Pilot, Passport, Ridgeline, as well as the Acura MDX, RDX and TLX, from model years between 2020 and 2022. Acura is owned by Honda. The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration said that because of the flaw, frontal and knee air bags could deploy in a crash when deployment should not happen. It could cause injuries to infants in car seats, children, and anyone smaller than 4 feet 11 inches, the agency said.”
• And finally … congrats to our friends at KGAY 106.5 for getting some ink in The New York Times. The headline on the piece, published online yesterday, is “At This California Radio Station, the Call Letters Say It All.” Key quote: “On a recent morning, (morning DJ John) Taylor cued songs and interviewed the musical comedy duo Deven & Ned from behind a control board inside the cozy broadcast studio. He played a station ID recorded by a famous local listener: Barry Manilow. Screens overhead displayed where KGAY’s listeners were in real time: Festus, Mo.; Andalusia, Spain; Surrey, British Columbia.”
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