06/11/08 - Breaking Non - News About The Teachers Aides Contract

When is David Warner, the new Greenwich Time editor going to crack down on the one sided and incomplete reporting that plagues the Greenwich Time.

Did David Warner, allow crappy reporting like this in The Rockford (Ill.) Register Star...

BOE says aides' contract reached

By Hoa Nguyen
Greenwich Time Staff writer

Article Launched: 06/11/2008 03:04:00 PM EDT

The Board of Education and teachers aides have negotiated a new contract that now goes to union membership and town panels for approval.

"We have reached an agreement on the contract so as of now, we are not going to arbitration," said Steven Anderson, a Board of Education member who participated in the negotiations.....

....Anderson would not comment on the details of the agreement, saying he has not briefed the full school board on the deal. Any agreement would need the approval of the board as well as the Representative Town Meeting before taking effect....

Please Read The Rest Of The Greenwich Time Story

In this incomplete story, the Greenwich Time only got a comment from a Board Of Education Board member and got nothing from Local 136.

Greenwich Time readers to this amateurish Greenwich Time report don't know if teachers aides will still have to contribute up to 15 percent of their salary toward health care premiums.

Greenwich Time readers don't know if school aides will still have a decrease in sick days from 15 days to five days.

Greenwich Time readers don't know if the school aides will still only have a single 30-minute unpaid lunch break.

The Greenwich Time reporters have repeatedly short changed the teacher's aides, by constantly taking Board of Education press releases and running them through the spell checker, before publication.

Hoa Nguyen's report is almost non-news.

Hopefully, this report will be updated later or a second more complete report will be submitted by Mr. Nguyen or a reporter more knowledgeable about the labor dispute.

How can David Warner, who has also been deputy metro editor of The Detroit News; editor of the Trentonian in Trenton, N.J.; city editor of the Philadelphia Daily News; editor of the Daily Local News in West Chester, Pa.; and city editor of the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette put up with such bad journalism?

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UPDATE: Thursday June 12, 2008
Hoa Nguyen Discovers
There Are Always At
Least Two Sides To A News Story

Hoa Resubmits His Story
To The Greenwich Time Readers
=======================

Board, union agree on contract

By Hoa Nguyen
Staff writer / Greenwich Time

Negotiators from the Board of Education and the Local 136 have agreed on a new contract for Greenwich instructional aides, officials said yesterday....

...The school board and union have been wrestling for months over a new contract for the town's 182 instructional aides. While the talks were officially called off in January so that an arbitrator could be called in, both sides continued to meet. Last month, they narrowed in on a compromise and on Tuesday the arbitration was called off when an agreement was reached, said Lynn Mason, the union's business manager.

"You never get what you want, but we reached what I feel is a very amenable contract," she said, adding that the union membership still must ratify the agreement next month. ...

...In ironing out the deal, negotiators focused on keeping insurance increases to a minimum, Mason said.

"There are some increases, but I think our members will be able to afford them," she said. "Of course, we would like to see more money because it's an underpaid profession, but they gave us a fair raise too."....

..."We're all grateful," Mason said. "It's heightened the awareness the crucial role that our instructional aides play."...

Please Read Hoa's Slightly Improved News Story Here

WOW, Hoa Lynn Mason, the union's business manager knows so much more about this story than School Board Member Steve Anderson who would not comment on the details of the agreement.

See, Hoa if you had talked to Ms. Mason yesterday you would have the beginings of a real news story and not a Non-News story of Mr. Anderson basically saying no comment.

Hoa, Yesterday's story made you look kind of like a reporter that was too lazy to pick up the phone to get all sides of a news story.

You know what they say Hoa...."Every story has at least three sides."

Hoa your second attempt at real reporting is much better, but it is still very incomplete. Maybe you could get some input and quotes from parents. That would really help round out the story.

Hoa, if you want to be a real reporter you need to talk to all the stakeholders in a news story.

Hoa a real reporter would get on the phone and call up some Representative Town Meeting members who must approve this deal between the Board Of Education and the teachers union.

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