The Oklahoman Stumbles Again
This article in The Oklahoman contains several mistakes, my colleague Trent England points out in the comments section, "all of which, oddly enough, skew in favor of the OEA."
- Wrong cost: It says the three-year cost is $1.4 billion. That is the one-year cost in the third year. The three-year cost is over $3.3 billion.
- Incomplete list of demands: The story claims to describe all of OEA's demands, but leaves out the price tag for health care agencies ($256 million in year three) and leaves out entirely the pay raise for other state employees ($213 million in year three).
- Lie by omission: The story mentions the Senate tax increase bill that failed, but fails to mention who killed it: the OEA. Senate Democrats had previously supported the measure, but they all flipped to oppose it after OEA told them to (and this was no secret, the OEA put it on Facebook and Twitter). In a story about the OEA, leaving out this fact is not just poor journalism, in my opinion it's a lie.
Trent discusses the article at the 7:49 mark here. He asked the reporter for a correction, but something tells me it's not forthcoming.
I don't think Ben Fedler is going to run a correction. In fact, he blocked me on Twitter. https://t.co/VxPHM0orBq— Trent England (@trentengland) March 22, 2018
