A Simple Truth About
COPS, PHOTO RADAR & THE WINNIPEG FREE PRESS
If you just read the headlines, you've been conned

It seems to me that anybody with an ounce of integrity at the Winnipeg Free Press has either been fired or quit. We all know the obvious slant they took on the recent "Pay For The Garbage Pickup That You've Already Paid For" issue. For some reason, the brainiacs at the Free Press can't see that a lot of the garbage issues in Winnipeg are related to their paper directly. But yesterday, they reached a new low in "journalism".

Two headlines in Friday's paper state that 87% of the people in a recent survey approved of the use of photo radar. Two headlines! One on the front page telling the reader to see an article later in the paper. And one above the actual article. After reading the article I'm convinced that the morons who work at the Free Press are banking on people only reading the headlines.

Poll reveals city drivers want police to use photo radar
Fri, Feb 23, 2001
By Leah Janzen

WINNIPEG police are hoping public opinion coupled with statistics on speeding and traffic safety will bolster their argument for the need for photo radar in the city.

Yesterday, police released results of a survey conducted in Winnipeg last month.

The survey of 440 drivers revealed that 82 per cent of motorists had seen other drivers travelling at unsafe speeds on residential streets in the previous week.

And of those surveyed, 87 per cent said police should continue to explore new strategies aimed at curbing speeders.

Insp. Shelley Hart of the Winnipeg Police Service traffic division said speed was a factor in 25 per cent of fatal accidents in the city in 1999 and 2000.

In 1999, 24 people died behind the wheel in Winnipeg. Last year, 21 people were killed in traffic accidents in the city.

In the next couple of weeks, Hart said police will lay sensor pads down on streets in the city, which will provide information on how many cars pass over them and at what speed.

Hart said police will use that information to determine which areas of the city are trouble spots.

"The survey shows us people feel the need for and want us to use technology," she said. "With the pads we can show statistically where there's a problem with speeding and red-light running. It will help us build a case around whether or not we need photo radar."

Hart said the pads will also guide police to street that appear to be magnets for speeders.

The city has already given the green light to cameras that nab red-light runners, but the police had hoped to implement photo radar and the cameras at the same time.

However, the provincial government is still studying the issue and has yet to pass the legislation needed for police to purchase and start using the camera equipment.

Nowhere in the article does it say that 87% of the people surveyed want the police to use photo radar. It does say that these 87% want the police to explore new "strategies". A new strategy might be photo radar, but the survey does not qualify the responses as meaning this.

Over the years I've been involved with a couple of people who have been interviewed for the Free Press. In both of these situations the individuals had their statements twisted beyond belief. That experience along with my own when writing letters to the editor have shown me firsthand how inaccurate and biased the journalism is at the Free Press. Why can't they get simple stories straight? Is Winnipeg not a big enough centre to attract journalists with even an ounce of integrity?

I suppose the bigger question is what the Free Press stands to gain by using misleading headlines or from slanting articles to one side or the other. Or if the editors are just too lazy to actually read the article that they are creating headlines for. If these nuts at the Free Press don't start to get their act together, Winnipeg won't have to worry about the garbage problem that the newspaper causes much longer. Any sane people will have quit reading the Free Press and it will fade into the oblivion that it so richly deserves.

I know I've learned a lesson. Until yesterday, I only scanned the headlines looking for something interesting to read. From now on it's straight to the comics. At least there I get the truth.

As always, send me your suggestions for future columns on crang.com. Next time: Why 87% of all statistics are misinterpreted.

© February 24, 2001