Remember that elementary school game where you sit in a circle and you whisper something to the person next to you, and they whisper it to the person next to them, and by the time it makes it around the circle back to you, it’s a completely different story?
Well, you wouldn’t think that professional journalists would be playing that game in 2018, especially with all the criticism about fake news, but they are.
Some news reports around the state over the past few days about a new Florida law have been incomplete, misleading, and – in some cases – downright inflammatory.
First Place
Commentary writing
2018
That used to be called muckraking – taking the most controversial position about an issue to get the most response.
Some TV stations even bragged about their Facebook statistics, saying thousands of people were outraged that they would no longer be able to walk on some Florida beaches.
The outrage would be justified, if it were true.
From a Tampa TV station: “Starting July 1 you can walk on the beach as long as you’re on the wet sand. But you can’t walk along dry sand near private property. The owners can ask you to leave.”
From a Miami newspaper: “Florida’s beaches have long belonged to the public thanks to the state’s “customary use” policy. Beginning July 1, house bill 631 will allow property owners, including hotel, condo and home owners, the option to ask people to leave.”
From a real estate website, quoting a Jacksonville TV station: “A new state law will give property owners the ability to kick the public off of their beaches.”
It seems that news organizations have been reading each other’s websites and rephrasing the reports.
That used to be called plagiarism.
The law does not mention giving beachfront property owners the right to kick beachgoers off their beach. It requires cities and counties to get a court ruling declaring that the public has a “customary use” right to enjoy a privately-owned beach before they can pass or keep an ordinance to that effect.
Admittedly, the law could have many unintended consequences. For example, if judges in the state start ruling in favor of beachfront property owners in most of the cases that might be filed by municipalities under the new law, some outrage would be appropriate.
But no case has been brought under the new law yet. The law isn’t even in effect until July. So far, if you can believe the reports, it was designed to and affects only one ordinance in Walton County.
Get the facts, get them first and get them right, Joe Berta Bullock used to tell the fortunate journalism students at Manatee High School’s Macohi newspaper.
To see the facts about the law, read The Sun’s story in this week’s edition.
Like our Facebook mission says: “I don’t put anything in the paper until I’ve heard it twice and seen it three times.”
That’s from an old movie, “Somewhere I’ll Find You.” Clark Gable said it, and we’ve seen it three times.