I have watched CNN since its inception. In fact, I worked for a cable company in the middle 80's when it was known by insiders as the "Chicken Noodle Network" and got to watch it grow from that perspective. I even visited CNN in the early 90’s while on a speaking engagement in Atlanta and took the whole "tourist" tour of the network. I even made one of those "you sit in the anchor chair and read the news" videos that I still have to this day. So this is why I just don't understand what happened to the integrity the network had when it first used its tag line "the most trusted name in news".
The network that I got all of my news from now gives out information so erroneous that it isn’t laughable it’s pathetic. It has so shaken my trust in their fact checking that I can’t even watch the network anymore and have switched over to the BBC via the internet and radio for my news.
But what event could cause me to become so jaded about a news organization? Was it their call to war? Was it their not too subtle "leanings" in the field of politics? No actually those I can understand or even rationalize away. I am an intellegent woman who can see through the bull and propaganda. I just want to be certain the facts are right and I can make up my own mind. But when they give out basic information, get it wrong, and then refuse to correct the mistake when it is plainly pointed out to them, it really makes you wonder if anything they say can be trusted. They can't be the most trusted name in news if they can't get the basic facts right. Refusing to own up to a mistake of basic information doesn't make you the "most trusted name in news" that makes you Fox News.
Who or what was the offender that finally turned me off the network? Was it the racist ranting of Lou Dobbs? No. Was it the insidious droning of Wolf Blitzer? No. Actually the final straw was a non-prime time little show called Your Money hosted by a wannabe named Ali Velshi. Here’s what happened.
On the June 8th show the host, Mr. Ali Velshi and the guest expert on the show, Ms. Cynthia Shapiro discussed what to expect when you are laid off. During this discussion Ms. Shapiro was asked by Mr. Velshi "when you are laid off what do you have a right to?" Ms. Shapiro responded that there are certain things you’re always going to get. "You’re always going to get your vacation pay that you didn’t—or you know they didn’t pay." The host says "right, that yours. " Ms. Shapiro answers back "that’s yours". She stated that there are two things you are absolutely entitled to—unemployment and vacation pay.
Unfortunately for the viewers of CNN this information is completely wrong. For those of you who may not know my background I am an expert in payroll matters. I write technical manuals on wage and hour and employment tax law used by payroll departments across the country. I lecture on payroll compliance and I teach online training courses in over 400 universities and colleges on payroll regulations and compliance. I know of what I speak when it comes to something as basic as vacation payouts upon termination. When an employee is terminated, whether the employee quits or is layoff or fired, he or she is not automatically entitled to accrued vacation pay. I pointed this fact out to Mr. Velshi in the following e-mail I sent as soon as the address popped up on the screen at the end of the show:
Mr. Velshi: I just finished watching your show "Your $$$$$" on CNN. This is the first time I have viewed your program and found it interesting. However your expert, Cynthia Shapiro gave you and your viewers extremely inaccurate information. When you are terminated, whether the employee quits or is layoff or fired, you are not automatically entitled to your accrued vacation pay. Your expert stated that the employee was entitled to all vacation pay earned and on the books. That statement is incorrect. For that to be true there would have to be a federal law governing the payout of vacation pay. There is no federal requirement under the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA) that even addresses the topic of accrued vacation pay. Therefore it is left up to the individual states to address this issue. And they do not all make this a requirement of employers. California and Colorado require it as a matter of law. But Delaware, D.C., and Iowa to name just a few leave it up to the actual specifications in the employer’s policy. If the policy says it is not paid out then it is not paid out and the state will not act. Other states do not address the issue at all. These include Indiana and Ohio. I hope you will make a correction to the information your viewers received in error.
Did I get a message from Ali thanking me for the information? No. Did I get a response telling me to mind my own business? No. The only response I received was the following automated one:
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I waited three weeks for a reply or some kind of acknowledgment. I watched each week waiting for the correction to the information but nothing came of it. No mention of the error whatsoever. So in my naiveté I assumed that he needed more back up to the e-mail than just a few state examples.
I am the editor for the Payroll Manager’s Report (IOMA) which is a national newsletter for my profession. As editor it is my choice of article topics. So I picked this topic for my August issue which went to my managing editor at the end of June. I created a chart with all 50 states’ requirements for vacation payout and even referenced the CNN show. I sent a copy of the article to Mr. Velshi in an e-mail. I would include the response I got in this dairy but I already put it in earlier in this diary. It was the same automated response.
And as of today, no correction has ever been made on the show.
The sad thing about this is there are real people out there who may have heard that show. And they may be living in fear of losing their job. And they may be trying to grapple with the financial difficulties that lie ahead. And they may be thinking maybe I should skip taking my vacation so I can get the money instead. It would help me pay the mortgage for one more month or feed my kids until I get another job. But unfortunately they live in say...Washington state which doesn’t require employers to pay out vacation pay but instead the employee has to sue the employer to get the money if you feel you are entitled to it by reason of the company policy. So now they don’t get their vacation and they don’t get the money. Did CNN care about those people when it gave out the wrong information on a money specific news show during a discussion of planning for a layoff? NO, I don’t think so!
And who are these so-called "experts" that CNN is shoving on its viewers? This Ali Velshi person or as Jon Stewart calls him "The Hairless Prophet of Doom", is the host of a money show and a "senior business correspondent" as CNN bills him. Yet he doesn’t even have a degree in economics. His degree is in religion. The only reason he is the host of a money related show is he happen to cover the Enron story from the beginning. If that qualifies someone to be a senior business correspondent and to advise people on how to deal with the ups and downs of the U.S. Economy then I must be qualified to be Secretary of Labor. And I am actually more qualified since I have actually read the laws he is discussing and wrote a book on them. I doubt if he has even read them. At least Mr. Velshi has a college degree unlike Glenn Beck another CNN "personality" whose credentials include drugs, alcohol and rock and roll (actually talk radio).
My point is simple after so long a diary and I am grateful for those of you who stayed with me. If the so-called "experts" at CNN cannot get the right information out to its viewers that any 2nd year payroll clerk with a high school education knows then how can they be trusted to give the correct information on the major news stories? If they tell me that Obama is ahead in the latest poll how do I know the "correspondent" can even read the poll if they can’t bother to check a labor law website for one state. If they tell me the sub prime lending crisis is deepening how do I know they even know what the sub prime lending crisis is, if they don’t even know the basic laws of the land for a topic they are choosing to discuss as a segment of the show. Laws that can be found by a simple google search. You see I am not an expert in those fields I just mentioned so I would never know if they are right or wrong unless I actually researched it. So I have to take them at their word when they down play the latest McCain gaff as just an innocent mistake.
But not anymore. What’s that old saying...fool me once shame on you, fool me twice shame on me. Well I don’t think CNN is getting a second shot at me. I am doing just fine with the BBC and the Daily Mail (in addition to KO and the Daily Show). Besides I must find out what happens with the 10P tax and MACCA’s (that’s Paul MCCartney to you non-Daily Mail Readers) new romance. In otherwords I am getting news that I don’t really need from a country I don’t live in but it is still more reliable than CNN.