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Complaisant Megaphone for the State by Rick Gee Conventional wisdom holds that the mainstream media exhibit a left-liberal bias in their putatively balanced coverage of the news. Polls that consistently reveal that over 90% of journalists vote Democrat would seem to support such a conclusion. Not everyone agrees with this, of course. Bill Press, your “from the left” co-host of CNN’s Crossfire, denies such a bias exists at his network, though he is exempt because he is paid not to be a dispassionate reporter, but rather a passionate proponent of leftist big government. One socialist talk radio host that I have heard often has said, presumably with a straight face, that the major media start at right-center and move to the right from there. Even if the exact placement of the dominant media on the left-right continuum is a matter of some debate, there can be no disputing this fact: the major media are fervent cheerleaders for the state. This is a shame, because the media are in a perfect position to be watchdogs over the encroaching Leviathan, to be a voice for individual liberty. Alas, such is not the case. An illustration of Big Media bias toward Big Government is a recent segment on ABC’s 20/20 Downtown, which originally aired on October 23, 2000 and was rebroadcast on July 26, 2001. The segment tells the story of Thomas Lavery of Akron, Ohio, who was driven to help his five children excel in academics and athletics. The children include Mary, 22, a superb writer who was nearly perfect on her SAT test while earning a full scholarship to the University of Akron. Thomas, 20, also nearly perfect on his SAT test, earned a trip to the National Spelling Bee six years ago. He's now studying to be a priest in Nebraska. Margie, 19, surpassed her siblings when she finished second in the National Spelling Bee four years ago. She is now working her way through the University of Akron, hoping to be a teacher some day. Johnny, 18, is an engineering whiz kid who reads calculator manuals for fun, excelled in Little League baseball, and who won the National Lego Building Championship last year. Kathleen, 15, is also an outstanding speller and a straight-A student who shines as a softball pitcher. Thomas Lavery’s methods for spurring his kids to achieve were called into question last year when Margie and Kathleen accused their father of mental and physical abuse. The alleged abuse, according to the two daughters, included not being allowed to eat and sleep, not being allowed to go to the bathroom until they wet themselves, and being forced to lick spilled milk off the floor. Lavery was also accused of physically beating his kids for years. Ultimately, only the members of the Lavery family know the veracity of these allegations. Watching the segment, I found Margie to be a credible witness testifying to the camera about her father’s pattern of domination and abuse. Also, Thomas Lavery answered many questions in the evasive manner of a politician on Meet The Press, complete with shifty eyes and nervous hands. That, however, is merely the impression of one observer. Facing nine counts of child endangerment, Lavery rejected several plea bargain agreements from prosecutors, saying “How can I plead to something I didn't do?” But despite the support of his wife and three other children, on the day his trial was to begin with Margie and Kathleen testifying against him in open court, Lavery pleaded guilty to two counts of child endangerment and was sentenced to three years probation. He told reporters he pleaded guilty to end the media attention that had followed his family for 11 months, and to spare his daughters from testifying. Is this just another case of an overbearing, abusive father? Not exactly. The first clue is the title of the segment: Obsessed With Victory. No reference to child abuse can be discerned from such a title. The problem, according to the underlying message of the 20/20 segment, is that the Lavery kids were homeschooled. Jami Floyd, the ABC reporter on the case, could scarcely mask her contempt for homeschooling. “One of the most remarkable aspects of Margie’s success is that she, like her four brothers and sisters, was homeschooled and their teacher was their father,” intoned Floyd. What is so remarkable about that? Is it really so hard to believe that kids can excel outside of the government warehouse-prisons disguised as schools? Is it so astonishing that a father could be the primary teacher while the mother works outside the home to support the family financially? Apparently, it’s OK for Mom to work, but only if Dad also works and the kids are safely ensconced in the bosom of the state while she’s bringing home the bacon. Floyd again: “Why did you even start thinking about homeschooling?” In other words, don’t you know that public education is the standard in this country and that without it, your kids will become social misfits? When Floyd says in her report, “ … the man many once considered a model of homeschooling success was indicted for child abuse,” her clear intention is to link abuse with homeschooling in the minds of the viewers. Child and other domestic abuse transcend race, religion, occupation and socioeconomic status. It happens in nuclear families, single-parent families and “it takes a village” families. It happens to those attending government schools, religious and other private schools, and homeschools. Abuse is abuse, wherever and whenever it occurs, but to hear ABC tell it, homeschooling is a special haven for abusers. Despite all the benefits of homeschooling—the flexibility to learn at one’s own pace; the ability to teach or not teach religious beliefs; the advantages of one-on-one tutoring; positive socialization; avoiding the obsolete one-size-fits-all paradigm; superior academic achievement; and many more—the state and the subservient press will denigrate it ad infinitum. The reason for ABC and 20/20 Downtown to take such a tack in this story should be obvious: the rapidly growing homeschool movement is perceived as a real threat to the government education monopoly. Remember, Microsoft monopoly: bad! Government monopoly: good! The underlying message is, as homeschool advocate Brad Edmonds says, “(f)orget homeschooling. Submit your children to us." Don’t listen to ABC and 20/20 Downtown and their parroting of the state. Homeschool your children. August 20, 2001 Rick
Gee [send him mail] resides in
paradise, also known as Santa Fe, New Mexico. He writes about liberty, sports,
film and other topics for The Valley
News. In addition to being a Root
Striker, he is a columnist at anti-state.com
and a commentator at LewRockwell.com. |