The big brouhaha in Prescott last week centered on a couple of city council members proposing that the town’s coffers could be boosted by imposing fees to use the public library. The comments in the on-line Courier pretty much came down to outrage, and an editorial a couple of days later took the same stance, calling it a “bonehead move.” The issue, of course, was the idea of paying for something we’re already paying for through taxes.
But that was nothing compared to what Tracy, California is doing: charging citizens for emergency response to the tune of $300 a pop — or else you can “subscribe” to e.r. service for $48 a year.
What’s interesting about this scenario isn’t so much the facts of the story as how it’s been reported. It came to national attention via Tom Friedman in his Sunday NYT column (which even showed up on Google News’ “fast flip” pages). He described the situation, as reported by Sacramento’s CBS affiliate, as having to “pay every time they call 911.” But there’s a subtle difference between being charged for a service and for the phone call that summons it. The Tracy newspaper makes no reference to 911 calls – this was just the TV news’ way of sensationalizing the story.
Subscribing to e.r. service isn’t unheard of. Our last house in Tucson was outside the city limits and we had to pay such a “subscription” for fire protection. It’s admittedly a tough thing to swallow if your taxes have paid for a service all along and it’s suddenly made subject to fee. But the CBS affiliate created the distinct impression that phones in Tracy are going to be charged for 911 calls.
Things are tough all over. But the news media should be a little more objective.
No comments:
Post a Comment