In December 2014 the Fort Bend Star published a story with claims from Fort Bend County Judge Bob Hebert and State Representative Ron Reynolds regarding the Failure To Attend School (FTSA) laws in Fort Bend ISD. Despite the fact this story was Part I in a two-part series about truancy in Fort Bend County, the Fort Bend Star ran the story omitting key details about the enabling legislation that created the appointment of a magistrate to hear school attendance violations.
Of course they did.
During the 82nd Legislative session, State Representative Ron Reynolds authored and then State Senator Glenn Hegar sponsored HB 2132 relating to the creation of magistrates in Fort Bend to hear school attendance violations.
Read the Fort Bend Star article and tell me where specific mention of the bill number and Hegar’s role is reported.
Guess what other little detail was omitted from the article?
The fact that Judge Kenneth Cannata, Justice of the Peace Precinct 3 registered to testify FOR the bill and four people registered FOR but did not testify on the bill.
Those four men were: Fort Bend County Juvenile Probation employees William Carter, Mike Meade, Brad Slater and Fort Bend County lobbyist Jim Short.
Bottom line: we cannot allow local media to escape accountability for their Failure To Report Germain Facts and take their reporting as gospel when the facts are so readily available and accessible.
Don’t they have Internet access over at the Fort Bend Star?