newsobserver.com projects - Fact-checking Carla Babb's piece - Comments

Re: Fact-checking Carla Babb's piece

twoshadesofblue — Mon, 29 Oct 2007 17:09:40 -0400

Perhaps we should give Carla more credit? Perhaps she's brilliantly satirizing television journalism?

Because that's the only scenario in which I can imagine journalism professors defending this piece as high quality, balanced, or accurate.

If this is great journalism, or even passable student journalism, then what a truly low bar we've set.

Re: Fact-checking Carla Babb's piece

editaur — Mon, 29 Oct 2007 15:05:28 -0400

I, too, don't think the piece was unfair. But it was kind of silly, as it was based on a specious premise, and that's the reason it should have been graded down.

The fact that John Edwards has his campaign HQ in Chapel Hill signifies nothing. Most of the presidential contenders have campaign headquarters in the cities where they (ostensibly) live. Romney's is in Boston -- where it was burglarized last month, in fact -- Giuliani's is in New York City, Biden's is in Wilmington DE, Thompson's is in Nashville, and Obama's is in Chicago. Clinton's is unusual in that it's in suburban DC.

Before making any kind of assumption about the "meaning" of Edwards' location, Babb should have checked the common practice among candidates.

That's silly . . . and irrelevant

Anglico — Mon, 29 Oct 2007 14:56:57 -0400

The story was factually wrong. And the entire premise of the story was based on a factual error.

Re: Fact-checking Carla Babb's piece

ryanteaguebeckwith — Mon, 29 Oct 2007 14:10:58 -0400

Poetic, maybe, but poets are a bit more versatile.

Case in point: "Diamonds from Sierra Leone."

Kanye West raps about conflict diamonds, civil strife in Africa, his conflicted feelings about bling, etc.

And then Jay-Z takes the mic and raps about ... how he used to sell drugs.

Was he even listening to Kanye?

— RTB

Re: Fact-checking Carla Babb's piece

Forget_not_the_children — Mon, 29 Oct 2007 13:54:07 -0400

Just because Million dollars homes are not currently on the market in Southern Village does not mean that there are not million dollar homes in Southern Village--it just means that the folks that own them are not selling them.

Averages are averages and Southern Village is a development with multiple levels of housing price levels located in it...thus the lower average.

Southern Village might not be the most affluent, but it is glitsy, well designed and innovative.

Well that speaks volumes

Anglico — Mon, 29 Oct 2007 13:45:09 -0400

Searching for "balance" in the face of factual inaccuracy! Pretty darn sad.

Re: Fact-checking Carla Babb's piece

greenlamp — Mon, 29 Oct 2007 13:34:51 -0400

Jay-Z is definitly a poet....

Re: Fact-checking Carla Babb's piece

kjel — Mon, 29 Oct 2007 13:21:20 -0400

Thanks to Dr. Meyer for pointing out what anybody who has been house-hunting in Chapel Hill already knows: that it's laughable to call Southern Village "the most affluent area" in town.

A quick check of the Triangle Area Residential Realty report (easily findable online) shows the average selling price of Southern Village homes for the first six months of 2007 was $374,415 - above the citywide average of $330,369 - but well below such neighborhoods as Meadowmont ($897,537), Lake Hogan Farms ($548,570), Lakespur ($660,937), and Ironwoods ($461,345).

Was this error noticed by the professors who "stand by" the student's report? And why haven't the journalists who've written about this controversy in the N&O, the New York Times, and elsewhere pointed out that the premise of the student's report is flawed?

Re: Fact-checking Carla Babb's piece

ryanteaguebeckwith — Mon, 29 Oct 2007 13:21:00 -0400

Also, Jay-Z is not technically "a poet."

Nas, maybe.

— RTB

Re: Fact-checking Carla Babb's piece

ryanteaguebeckwith — Mon, 29 Oct 2007 13:20:15 -0400

One of Dome's colleagues asked about this, so we'll tackle it here.

In his e-mail, Meyer said he was defining Chapel Hill by U.S. Postal Service addresses, not by town limits. Under that definition, Governor's Club is part of Chapel Hill.

Hope that helps.

— RTB

Re: Taking lessons from Carla?

ryanteaguebeckwith — Mon, 29 Oct 2007 13:16:26 -0400

Babb's professor, C.A. Tuggle, backs her, as does Leroy Towns. Tuggle said he showed the piece to several of his colleagues and none of them thought it was unbalanced.

— RTB

Re: Fact-checking Carla Babb's piece

chloe03 — Mon, 29 Oct 2007 13:02:00 -0400

Another example of Phil Meyer doing what he does best: crunching numbers and crushing students' egos.

Taking lessons from Carla?

Anglico — Mon, 29 Oct 2007 12:51:45 -0400

As Phil Meyer points out, the sensational story is grounded on a factual error that should have triggered an automatic F if this piece were part of classwork

How on earth can you open a posting here with a claim like "journalism professors stand by . . ." without naming which faculty members you're referring to?

Sheesh.

Fact-checking Carla Babb's piece

ryanteaguebeckwith — Mon, 29 Oct 2007 12:22:34 -0400

Journalism professors stand by Carla Babb's decision to hold her ground.

But at least one pointed out that her Carolina Week piece on John Edwards' campaign headquarters was not entirely accurate, either.

In an e-mail to Dome, UNC-Chapel Hill professor Phil Meyer noted that it's not accurate to say that Southern Village is "the most affluent area in Chapel Hill."

Based on a quick review of million-dollar homes for sale, he argues that the Governor's Club neighborhood (nine), Meadowmont (six) and the downtown (five) are the most affluent.

"The number of million-dollar homes offered in Southern Village? Zero," he wrote.

Meyer notes that there are 86 properties listed for over a million dollars in Chapel Hill.

"Perhaps his student critics could develop a mapping algorithm that would identify all available office spaces with no million-dollar homes within walking distance, say 4,000 feet," he writes. "While they are at it, they could also make sure there are no upscale shopping centers nearby."