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Spokane, Washington  Est. May 19, 1883

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Trib: Ed Dept Spinmeister Gets Jeer

Jeers ... to Melissa McGrath. To paraphrase former U.S. Supreme Court Justice Potter Stewart, we can't tell you what campaigning on the public dime looks like but we know it when we see it. And here's what we see: McGrath is paid $69,922 as a State Department of Education's public information officer. Last week, she got caught air-brushing her boss' Wikipedia vitae. It's one thing to remove inaccuracies. But McGrath omitted the fact Luna graduated from Thomas Edison State College in New Jersey - a last-minute addition to his resume qualifying him to seek the superintendent's office in the first place in 2002 - with an online degree.When the Idaho Statesman's Dan Popkey asked her why, she said "I don't remember removing that"/Marty Trillhaase, Lewiston Tribune. More Cheers & Jeers column here. (Idaho Press Club photo of Melissa McGrath)

Question: What do you think of the attempt by the Education Department spinmeister to tweek Tom Luna's Wikipedia info?



D.F. Oliveria
D.F. (Dave) Oliveria joined The Spokesman-Review in 1984. He currently is a columnist and compiles the Huckleberries Online blog and writes about North Idaho in his Huckleberries column.

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