It looks like plenty of fun things managed to happen yesterday despite the showers! A tip of the hat to event organizers throughout the county who had to decide how to deal with questionable forecasts. In Merriweather Park at Symphony Woods they had concerts going on all day - - impressive.
If you missed out, have no fear.
You can catch the Maryland Winds at the Chrysalis today at five pm and the weather is looking good. Here’s the Eventbrite link to register for your free tickets: Maryland Winds: A Stroll in the Park.
*****
Completely unrelated: I am so glad that I am not an elected official because I will never need to endure news articles which are misleading or just plain stupidly framed, nor the annoying comments they provoke.
Today’s example comes from the Baltimore Banner. Here’s what it looked like on Bluesky.
Above the photo:
Howard County Executive Calvin Ball wants more youths employed this summer, Lillian Reed
Below the photo:
Howard County wants more youths employed this summer
Wow. At first glance this sounds like the County Executive wants to round up young people against their will as though they are enjoying too much leisure. This is truly unfortunate framing of the actual story. And here come the kind of comments you get from that kind of careless headline.
Because it’s not enough that both parents have to work to pad the billionaires’ pockets?
And:
That’s less than 4k per child for an entire summer of employment …?these rich idiots want to normalize child labor. it’s not normal. no child should need to work. Also giving opportunities only to people who can afford it is giving another advantage to an already privileged class. 250000/75 =3,333
My head is exploding over here. This is a news story about expanding summer employment opportunities for young people. Why should they be expanded? Because the program has been successful and the number of applications show that many more people want to participate than the slots that are presently available.
The six-week program runs from July 1 to Aug. 9, and pairs young people with local businesses, nonprofits and government partners to practice job readiness skills and explore potential career opportunities in the county.
Is there no way that the Banner could have framed the story more accurately? Did they even try? How about: “Howard County Executive Calvin Ball looks to expand successful youth jobs program”? That’s a title based on the facts contained in the story itself.
I’m open to other suggestions. What do you think?
Of course I can’t blame the oddball comments entirely on the Banner but, honestly, their framing left the door open for these kinds of responses.
In the past, many of the best summer employment experiences for young people - - the kind that significantly contribute to future success - - were available only as unpaid internships. And unpaid internships are a barrier to anybody who legitimately needs to make money. Besides, they essentially provide an extra boost to kids who already have the financial advantage of not “needing” to work.
When the County gets involved in creating and funding a summer jobs program they are providing opportunities for young people who want them.
To the commenter who says that kids shouldn’t have to work, that sounds great to me. What’s your program for making that happen? I have to wonder if that sentiment holds until you see a group of teens hanging out someplace during the summer and assume they are “up to no good.”
I’m grateful that the Banner covers Howard County, really. I am. But is there no one who rereads titles like these and give that extra bit of thought? “What does this sound like?” “What do we really want to say here?”
Human beings can and should apply that kind of thought. That’s what separates us from ‘journalism’ churned out via AI. Please tell me it’s still possible.
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