take that, liberal media elite

to quote sarah palin... take that, you liberal media elite.

i should be sleeping but instead am writing over-due responses to the editors of the Houston Chronicle regarding inaccurate articles they recently printed about TFA. They have pulled the article from their website or I am completely computer illiterate, or both, but basically to sum up the article for you, on June 24 they ran a story highlighting the strengths of programs like Teach for America and the Peace Corps, and how several factors contributed to the giant increase of applicants for both programs. (40% and 15-18%, respectively, during the past school year.)

Well, they mentioned the economy but they also focused on my generation's dedication to service. The author rambled on about how Obama's new programs created this surge of interest in TFA, Peace Corps, and the like. Really? I applied in August and was accepted TWO MONTHS before Obama took the oath of office. His presidency had not begun before TFA had completed HALF of their admissions process for the 2009 year. Does this reporter own a calendar? did they simply not do their research?

I politely would like to call bullshit, oh Houston Chronicle staff. Obama has merely expanded programs that were put in place by dear Dubya. I can honestly say that I would be just as hot and bothered if the article had credited a new Republican president (say, John McCain) as the reason for all these qualified college graduates turning away from law school, med school, Wall Street, or Ernst & Young, and turning to teaching or serving abroad. Incorrect.

Can the media not give Bush any credit for the things he did well? How hard would it have been for the author to include ONE SENTENCCE regarding the former President's FreedomCorps initiative? Still not convinced?
http://georgewbush-whitehouse.archives.gov/infocus/bushrecord/factsheets/needs.html

I do not mean to rant on forever, but I find it infuriating that our mainstream reporters believe it is okay to present biases and opinions in places other than the "Opinion" section of our country's largest newspapers. Present all of the facts, or present none at all.

If you haven't already closed out of this blog, (and I wouldn't blame you if you had) please see my letter to the editors below. It had to be 250 words or less, which of course was a huge struggle for me.

As always, thanks for reading. Cheers to freedom of the press. -crob

To the Chronicle Editorial Team:

I am writing in response to Jennifer Latson’s June 26 article regarding the rise in Peace Corps and Teach for America applicants. Latson credited the Obama Administration as the primary motivation for the surge in applications to service organizations, and I feel such inaccurate statements cannot pass by without correction.

This reporter clearly did not do all of the necessary research nor chose not to report all of the facts. The Obama Administration began after Teach for America had completed half of their recruiting for their 2009 incoming group of teachers. How then can Latson credit Obama alone for the 40% rise in Teach for America applicants?

As a White House intern during spring 2008, I received a letter from then-President Bush that sits framed on my desk, and deeply influenced my decision to apply for Teach for America. One sentence from that letter sums up why I sought a job striving to make great changes in our world; the President encouraged us to “continue your efforts to become an active and involved citizen, and to demonstrate integrity and compassion.”

I do not mean to deny Obama’s emphasis on the importance of service, but your reporter should have acknowledged that he is simply continuing and expanding the efforts of previous presidents.

I hope that the Chronicle reporters will remove blatant bias from factual articles in the future, lest they join the mass of other media outlets that have fallen under the Obama spell.