Media Myth: Taxation with Misrepresentation

Networks call administration actions ‘taxpayer-funded’
while liberal priorities often treated as ‘government-funded’

“When it’s taxpayer money, the taxpayers must ultimately decide if it’s worth it.”
– Brian Williams, “NBC Nightly News,” March 7, 2006

“Taxpayers are obviously very concerned about where their money’s going.”
– Tim Russert, NBC’s “Meet the Press,” Feb. 19, 2006

By Amy Menefee
Free Market Project

When is a dollar a taxpayer dollar?

A. When it’s paying for stem cell research.
B. When it’s going to the military in Iraq.
C. When it’s supporting public education.
D. When it’s aiding sick and hungry Africans.
E. All of the above.

The correct answer, of course, is E. but that wasn’t how broadcast journalists answered in the last year. They treated taxpayer dollars unequally – claiming many were “government funding” or “federal funding.”

Viewers’ ears are likely to perk up when their tax dollars are mentioned, especially when they’re told those dollars are going to waste. On the other hand, the government’s funding yet another study isn’t exactly the most exciting of reports. The difference between the two is all in how journalists frame the story. Read more....