Comments on: Race to the Top coverage leaves questions unanswered http://kosu.org/2012/11/race-to-the-top-decision-coverage-leaves-questions-unanswered/ The State's Public Radio Mon, 13 May 2013 04:05:53 +0000 hourly 1 http://wordpress.org/?v=3.4.1 By: Hugh C. http://kosu.org/2012/11/race-to-the-top-decision-coverage-leaves-questions-unanswered/comment-page-1/#comment-123095 Hugh C. Thu, 29 Nov 2012 15:07:35 +0000 http://kosu.org/?p=116412#comment-123095 Nice job on this, Ben! You are certainly correct, great journalism requires clear efforts to allow equivalent voice to all key perspectives. This, of course, is not easy to accomplish. Good, even-handed journalism is the cornerstone of democracy. The presentation of information in an unbiased manner is key to our freedom. I am grateful to KOSU and NPR for presenting news and information with true journalistic integrity. Without such good work, all we are left with is journalism under commercial pressure, so eloquently described by Tom Stoppard: "The whole notion of journalism being an institution whose fundamental purpose is to educate and inform and even, one might say, elevate, has altered under commercial pressure, perhaps, into a different kind of purpose, which is to divert and distract and entertain." Tom Stoppard Nice job on this, Ben! You are certainly correct, great journalism requires clear efforts to allow equivalent voice to all key perspectives. This, of course, is not easy to accomplish. Good, even-handed journalism is the cornerstone of democracy. The presentation of information in an unbiased manner is key to our freedom. I am grateful to KOSU and NPR for presenting news and information with true journalistic integrity.

Without such good work, all we are left with is journalism under commercial pressure, so eloquently described by Tom Stoppard:

"The whole notion of journalism being an institution whose fundamental purpose is to educate and inform and even, one might say, elevate, has altered under commercial pressure, perhaps, into a different kind of purpose, which is to divert and distract and entertain."
Tom Stoppard

]]> By: Nance Cunningham http://kosu.org/2012/11/race-to-the-top-decision-coverage-leaves-questions-unanswered/comment-page-1/#comment-123094 Nance Cunningham Thu, 29 Nov 2012 14:35:52 +0000 http://kosu.org/?p=116412#comment-123094 It should be possible to find out if those who did not receive Race to the Top funds actually received any evaluations along the way or at the end. It should also be possible to find out what the requirements of the grant were and what Oklahoma groups' submissions looked like--did they match the requirements? Another possibility is that the financing may have required the State Department of Education to match some funding in future. If Gov. Fallin thinks federal money is dirty in some way, or if she actually did not accept the federal money to enlarge the Medicaid enrollment because she did not want the state to pay a share in the future, then the Race to the Top evaluators may have declined to award Oklahoma the money because they didn't trust Oklahoma to follow through. It should be possible to find out if those who did not receive Race to the Top funds actually received any evaluations along the way or at the end. It should also be possible to find out what the requirements of the grant were and what Oklahoma groups' submissions looked like–did they match the requirements? Another possibility is that the financing may have required the State Department of Education to match some funding in future. If Gov. Fallin thinks federal money is dirty in some way, or if she actually did not accept the federal money to enlarge the Medicaid enrollment because she did not want the state to pay a share in the future, then the Race to the Top evaluators may have declined to award Oklahoma the money because they didn't trust Oklahoma to follow through.

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