DENNIS MYERS Against the Grain Advertisement

Last month in this space I wrote about the problem in journalism of reporters who serve as stenographers for newsmakers instead of scrutinizing the claims and policies of those newsmakers. My reference at that time was two rare reporters in Las Vegas who had actually analyzed the policies of Nevada higher education chancellor James Rogers.

Stenography in journalism has become one of the most serious problems the profession faces, often dealt with by publications like the Columbia Journalism Review, which once reported on the life and death consequences of reporters who fail to do their jobs: "In a disgraceful piece of stenography, [New York Times reporters] Michael Gordon and Judith Miller inflated an administration leak into something resembling imminent Armageddon: 'More than a decade after Saddam Hussein agreed to give up weapons of mass destruction, Iraq has stepped up its quest for nuclear weapons and has embarked on a worldwide hunt for materials to make an atomic bomb, Bush administration officials said today'."

In March 1986, a Newsweek reporter got a quote from the operator of a drug hotline that described cocaine as causing "almost instantaneous addiction." The magazine didn't bother to check out the false claim before publishing it and soon coverage "instantly addicting" cocaine was sweeping through newsrooms and causing a hysteria that drove the enactment of foolish new laws.

After state attorneys general negotiated a lawsuit settlement with the tobacco companies, they then claimed that it was legally required that the money earned from the settlement be used for health care, which was untrue. Few reporters bothered to read the settlement before writing and soon legislatures all over the country were starving other worthy programs and the health care lobby was hijacking much of the new funding.

At the local level, the problem of stenography is even worse, particularly in television. Media analyst Todd Gitlin has said that "most local TV journalists are little more than stenographers."

But there are occasional sterling exceptions. To the good example set by the two Review Journal reporters can be added that of the Ely Times. There, reporter Rudy Herndon has closely examined U.S. Senator Harry Reid's battle against coal burning power plants in eastern Nevada.

Reid's stance has received attention around the world and given hope to those trying to stop global warming. But little of that coverage has taken a close look at Reid's reasons and claims. Herndon and his editor Kent Harper have.

Herndon has given both sides their say. When Reid claimed that Utah supported his position, Herndon made some calls to Salt Lake City and determined that Utah has taken no such stance. When Reid claimed that only a percent of California's power supply originates with coal plants, Herndon learned that the actual figure is 15.7 percent.

In a commentary, Harper argued that as a federal official, Reid should be concentrating on federal policies, not interfering in local disputes. The fate of all coal burning power plants would be a proper concern of a U.S. senator, Harper wrote. But the fate of three particular coal plants is outside Reid's proper role.

Harper also argued that the senator is ill served by his staff, who he believes has failed to brief Reid well, resulting in his making statements about Sierra Pacific Power and other matters that were inaccurate.

Policymakers probably don't like such scrutiny, but it serves the needs of others -- members of the public. When journalists fail to do their jobs, uncooked legislation frequently gets into the law books. Good journalism is an essential part of the lawmaking and policymaking process.