This week there has been quite a bit of turmoil regarding the support staff strike that was scheduled for Monday the 29th, but cancelled this Friday, as the Board and the Wissahickon support staff group WEA agreed to continue to negotiate. This article gave some of the details behind the decisions of both sides to continue negotiations. Leann Pettit, the editor of Patch.com, which g updates on Montgomery County news, has worked at a small Phoenixvilla, PA newspaper as well as her current job at the Patch.
The Patch prides itself on "report[ing] the facts as objectively as possible and otherwise adher[ing] to the principles of good journalism." However, this article seemed slightly biased towards the opinions of the Board against the increased salaries and benefits, and did not quote any of the WEA leaders or the support staff themselves.
The article, which comes almost directly from the school district, uses logos as its prime appeal in an otherwise mostly informative report. Pettit quotes chief negotiator Jeffrey Sultanik, "The union continues to push for a plan which provides full-time benefits to employees who only work 4-hours a day. It is an incredibly costly plan that Wissahickon and its taxpayers cannot entertain." By not offering the opinions of the support staff, the article subtly persuades its readers towards the School Board's side in the situation.
Before reading this article, I was in complete support of the support staff's fight to gain better living conditions and benefits. This article, however, offered me the opposing side's position on the matter, and made me realize that almost no conflict has a "right" and "wrong" side. The balance is probably somewhere in the middle.
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