Richard Roesler : ‘Real people’ often have real angle
For years, and with mixed results, reporters trying to make their stories relevant to average readers have struggled – sometimes as a result of news-chain editorial edict – to get “real people” into their stories.
Public relations firms long ago realized that they could capitalize on this trend – and improve the length and “play” of stories they’re pitching – by having a few real people on hand for reporters to call on their issue. In many cases, press releases today come with handy lists of (carefully vetted and often coached) real people to call and weigh in on the matter. They’re often photogenic or have particularly heart-rending tales.
Now comes a new trend, it seems. Some Washington lawmakers are issuing state-paid news releases that not only quote themselves, but also their friends – while mentioning those folks’ businesses.
Rep. John Ahern’s news release, for example, not only has him weighing in on the budget. It’s also got “Diana Wilhite, owner of Safeguard Business Printing and Promotional Products, and Mayor of Spokane Valley” expressing her concerns about unfunded mandates.
And there’s Curt Fackler, owner of U.S. Tax Credits (and Spokane County GOP chairman), questioning the priorities of the House budget. And Robin Ball, owner of the Sharp Shooting Indoor Range and Gun Shop – and former Spokane County GOP chairwoman – joining Ahern in slamming Democrats.
Ahern’s not unique in this new strategy. Yakima-area GOP Reps. Mary Skinner and Charles Ross also sent out a budget critique that incorporates local citizens who sound a lot like lawmakers already:
“Only government would get an 18 percent increase in its budget and still complain,” added H.E. “Jerry” Maggard, owner and broker of Advanced Real Estate in Yakima.
And this: “Skinner and Ross said they’re also concerned that the budget spends $2.2 billion on new policy additions, while Democrats do little to address public safety. It’s a concern echoed by Jar Arcand, owner of Santiago’s Gourmet Mexican Restaurant in Yakima.”
Never give up
Knowing that the amendments would fail, local Rep. Lynn Schindler, R-Otis Orchards, nonetheless tried to tack three changes onto the transportation budget:
“One would have essentially recycled the sales and use tax paid by highway projects, putting it into a new “One Washington Road Fund.” The resulting $1 billion would have been steered to five projects, including $250 million for the North Spokane Corridor (also known locally as the North-South Freeway) and U.S. Highway 2.
“The second would have “reprioritized” the billions of dollars slated for Seattle’s Alaskan Way Viaduct if no decision has been reached on how to replace it by the end of June.
“The third would have taken $200,000 and put it into a study for an interchange on Interstate 90 at Greenacres.
All were voted down.
Inflammatory rhetoric
One of the most vivid pieces of lobbying so far this year has been manufacturers’ pushback against an environmentalist-backed bill that would ban certain toxic flame retardants.
“You wouldn’t let your child PLAY WITH MATCHES,” reads a mailer from a group called Keep America Fire-Safe. “So why are lawmakers playing with FIRE?”
Pictured is a young boy in his pajamas, watching a cartoon. He’s surrounded by red plastic jugs filled with gasoline.
In broad strokes, House Bill 1024 would ban the sale, manufacture or distribution of products containing polybrominated diphenyl ethers by next January. (The bill makes distinctions between different formulations of PBDE and different products, and it phases in the ban based on some of those factors.)
Proponents say that PBDEs, in their worst forms, are a poison seeping into the earth and into us. Critics of the bill say that flame retardants are key to safety and that science doesn’t back up many of the claims about harmful health effects of the chemicals.