Compared local news coverage vs blocked reports on a water contamination story

I live in Flint and saw how the local paper buried the lead about lead levels back in 2014. Meanwhile, a researcher from Virginia Tech posted the real numbers online and it got blocked by the city's website within 48 hours. Has anyone else dealt with official sources hiding data while outsiders had to expose it?

2 comments

2 Comments

smith.jordan5d ago

The city of Flint spent over 400 million dollars on water infrastructure upgrades by 2017, and local news ran 47 stories about those upgrades in one month. That same paper ran maybe 3 stories about the lead testing issues before Virginia Tech stepped in. But here's the thing - the city was following EPA guidelines at the time, which said you only test from certain homes that don't have lead pipes. So technically the data they published was correct for the sample they took, just not for the whole system. The Virginia Tech guy was using different testing methods and a different sample set, and the city blocked his results because they didn't match the official testing protocol. I'm not saying that's right or wrong, but it explains why one side got blocked and the other didn't.

ryan7195d ago

Wait, are we talking about the time I tried to report a pothole and the city website asked me to fill out a six-page form while the mayor's car got a fresh alignment the next day?

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