MediaWatch: June 1997
Table of Contents:
Uninformed Utah and Job Training That Works
Uninformed Utah
When President Clinton stood at the edge of the Grand Canyon and dedicated the Grand Staircase-Escalante National Monument in Utah on September 18, 1996, it was a star-studded grand slam. ABC's Sam Donaldson portrayed Clinton as a savior: "While Interior Secretary Bruce Babbitt, actor Robert Redford and others looked on from behind a fence, the President explained why he is protecting 1.7 million acres of federal land in Utah from commercial exploitation."
What ABC didn't tell you, however, was that this was an underhanded, back-door federal land grab. Ted Koppel made this the topic of the May 15 Nightline, from Salt Lake City: "While Washington did consult with some Democratic Governors in the region, while it did talk to the Sierra Club and Robert Redford, Utah's Governor and its congressional delegation were kept in the dark."
Koppel pressed Interior Secretary Bruce Babbitt: "As the former Governor of Arizona, you've sat where Governor Leavitt is sitting now and I guess have cussed out the federal government yourself ....It does seem like a strange way of doing business and making friends." After Babbitt insisted that Congress debated the issue, Koppel shot back: "I suppose it wouldn't have been necessary to call the Governor of Colorado, either, or for that matter Robert Redford, but you did."
Job Training That Works
The May 4 60 Minutes devoted two whole segments to a successful private sector job training program in New York City called Strive. CBS's Lesley Stahl described it as "a program funded entirely with corporate and charitable donations that's part boot camp, part group therapy. It's not just for folks on welfare but for anyone who is poor and out of work. In the last twelve years, Strive has put more than 15,000 people into real jobs."
Strive's success seems to lie in their ability to break down bad work habits and bad attitudes. Stahl explained: "Many of these people see themselves as victims: victims of poverty. Sixty percent are on welfare. Victims of drug addiction, victims of racism. But the victim attitude isn't tolerated here."
Stahl pointed out that Strive finds work for 75 percent of its graduates, and of those "80 percent are still on the job two years later. That's partly because Strive follows up on them for two years." Strive Director Rob Carmona reported that the three- week program costs about $1,500 per person. Stahl added: "That's just a tiny fraction of what government job programs cost per person."
