Uneasy Rhetoric

I don’t get involved much in the hype over media “bias,” in part because I believe that if you are still breathing, you’re biased toward something or away from something. If you don’t like a writer’s bias, learn to read more critically.

Still, I think this pair of articles from November 1st about Los Angeles’ red-light cameras was interesting. Both articles are reporting on the same action by the Los Angeles City Council.

In the first (Red-Light Cameras Come to a Full Stop), the Los Angeles Times leads off with a lengthy report on why the city’s red light cameras have been turned off since summer. At the end of the report, they mention that the city has approved spending substantial funding which will double the number of red-light cameras.

In the second (Red-light cameras may double), the Los Angeles Examiner leads off with a report that the city expects to double the number of red-light cameras in the next year. The article mentions, in passing, that the current cameras have been non-operational.