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An article appearing in the Martinsburg Journal today by Naomi Smoot, "Officials: PATH not without benefits", quotes a single power company official touting the benefits of building one large transmission line compared to "30 lines at 138 kilovolts each."
This is like a mad doctor saying, don't complain about your healthy arm I'm about to amputate--just be happy I'm going to cut it off with one swipe of an axe instead of taking thirty slices with a meat cleaver.
From everything we've learned recently about the Martinsburg Journal corporate editorial stance, I don't know if it is fair to blame Naomi Smoot for how bad this article is. Whomever is responsible, it is clear example of how poorly a job much of the media in this state does of informing citizens.
What went wrong
Why did this story appear on this day in the paper? Best I can tell, it is because American Electric Power and Allegheny Power scheduled a media day--complete with helicopter rides--to showcase their PaTH joint venture. A paper with a better editor would use the media day as a launching pad for a much bigger picture on the project.
Does the story, as reported, have news value? No. The article is indistinguishable from a corporate press release. It only quotes a single source, an official from American Electric Power. It doesn't meet the Wikipedia standards for a neutral point of view. This article is much closer to advertisement copy than a newspaper story.
What would a news story on PaTH look like? There's a strong clue right there in the story:
The line has prompted concern for area residents and county officials. In all, 120 citizens, businesses and governmental agencies in Jefferson County have filed as interveners in the West Virginia Public Service Commission case to determine whether the line should be approved.
But, this paragraph raises more questions than it answers (Is 120 a lot or a little? Why are they concerned?). The article says nothing else about what the concerns are.
The entire remainder of the article are about benefits of building the transmission lines. Unstated is, inasmuch as those benefits even exist, they are almost exclusively benefits to the electrical utilities, not to residents of the newspaper's reading area!
The real news is the unprecedented number of "citizens, businesses and governmental agencies in Jefferson County [who] have filed as interveners." I bet there's never been more than a handful from Jefferson County before in any case at the PSC. Just imagine how many papers you could sell if you started telling the stories of these engaged local citizens.
Reader reaction
There is one small silver lining today. With 120 petitioned interveners in Jefferson County, the newspaper has an increasingly well informed audience. (With no thanks to the paper.)
The reader responses are priceless. Here's a flavor of the negative responses:
JournalReader - 07-30-09 6:04 AM
Why does the Journal roll over and play fetch for AEP? This reporter consistently is a mouthpiece for any corporate propaganda -- never seen her apply critical thinking skills to any story. In the age of shrinking newspaper revenues, the purchase of full page ads by AEP/PATH must be like manna.
FERCYOU - 07-30-09 6:34 AM
Lies. 1. This power will not be used in the eastern panhandle. PATH's own maps prove this. 2. Who cares how many 138kV lines it would take to equal PATH? If the east coast provides its own renewable power, we won't need ANY new transmission lines (AKA extension cords). 3. Height of towers. I guess they didn't bother looking at their own application to the PSC. Tower heights are much higher in the application. 4. Nothing can "blend" 180 foot towers into the landscape. Get real! 5. Cost = over $1.8 billion, with 14.3% profit for Allegheny and AEP paid for by you. 6. 140 intervenors from Jefferson Co. 7. These lines are creating a new 275 foot right of way adjacent to existing lines, hardly "a couple of feet". 8. PATH land agents are busy in Jefferson Co. trying to swindle folks out of their land for a song. Just say NO.
jbchris - 07-30-09 8:41 AM
ChEwNo, you are exactly right about the extension cord concept, that is precisely what PATH is, a huge extension cord supplying dirty coal fired electricity to the eastern seaboard where they don't want it, does that make sense to you? Renewable energy systems both large and small will solve our nations energy needs now and into the future. Why invest millions in an obsolete technology? We should build renewable systems that are clean alternatives and wait for the smart grid technology to be instituted in order to plan for the nations future electrical needs. Don't be fooled by fear and free advertising as reported in the Journal, use your mind and embrace the future of electrical generation.
Sesame - 07-30-09 4:04 PM
First: I have documented all comments by Mr. Allen Staggers, Allegheny Energy Spokesperson, stated in past Journal Articles. Now I will update/add Mr. Gogol's comments. In the near future I will publicly address the comments.
Second. PATH representatives are telling on one side of the story,not the whole story, which equates to lying,is very poor business ethics and is not within any code of conduct I have ever worked under either in private or government industry.
Examples of half truth or one side of the story. Mr. Gogol states that they are in Jefferson County simply asking for rights to survey. He fails to mention surveying/taking core samples requires bringing heavy equipment onto the property and drilling down as much as 30 feet. Huge disruption to the property and homeowner. Running tandem to the existing 500 and 138 volt lines is considered as of no consequence, when in fact it now increases the electric field to 1403 kilo-volts of electricity. No Issues?
houner - 07-30-09 6:06 PM
The so-called "fact box" (actually a xerox of a power company press release) contains the statement that "80 percent Amount of the project that will parallel existing 500 kilovolt power lines." Besides making absolutely no sense grammatically, this statement is not a "fact". Very little of the PATH line will parallel existing lines. I all cases where that happens, the PATH line will require an additional 200 right of way. There is at least one lie in the "fact box." Many more in the quotes from power company hacks.
Maybe it's time to update that old saying by Mark Twain: "If you don't read the newspaper, you're uninformed. If you read the newspaper, you're mis-informed." If you read newspaper Internet comments, you're un-mis-informed.
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