Taking Responsibility: Matt Drew for City Council

Finally, after a couple weeks, one newspaper in the Triangle gets it right – or at least, half right.  The Herald-Sun, on the other hand, slips back into mediocrity with barely a mention of the real source of the “gains” at the end of the story.  Both newspapers do not mention the numerous school board and school district press releases praising the improved results, and the Herald-Sun even has direct quotes from Terri Mozingo:

“We are extremely proud of the academic progress in our schools,” said DPS Chief Academic Officer Terri Mozingo.”

What exactly are you extremely proud of, Mr. Mozingo? As I’ve established here and as the News & Observer helpfully pointed out, the score increases are due to the statistical reporting change. Because of that change, one cannot even make a valid comparison between last year and this year. Why don’t you release the statistics as they would have been calculated last year?  Is there really something to be proud of, or are you taking credit for something that didn’t actually happen?

You know, when people say that newspapers are declining, this is what they mean. This is not a problem with funding. This is not a problem with headcount, or editorial bias. This is a basic problem with bad reporting.  Reporters are supposed to be skeptical and find out what is really going on.  They are not supposed to be stenographers, dutifully reporting what government officials have to say without question.  The Herald-Sun editors should be ashamed of this story, and the N & O editors should not be far behind them.