Write and Run: Will poor and misleading journalism have an impact on our young recreational marijuana industry? Seattle recreational marijuana source

Komonews.com just published something with words in it and a number. The so called article is titled, “District: Pot to blame for most school discipline in Seattle. Of course, the article starts off by stating: “A disturbing trend has been identified in Seattle public schools.” Then is states: “Between the start of the school year and January 7, marijuana made up 77 percent of all disciplinary actions taken against students.” And that’s about it. The rest of the article is a bunch of filler with nothing of value to back up the above statements.

All we know from the writer Joel Moreno is that there is a disturbing trend and 77% of all disciplinary actions against students involve pot. That’s it. Without knowing the actual number of disciplinary actions, how can anyone come up with strong opinion about whether or not it is a disturbing trend? Thanks to the writer, we didn’t have to. He made the opinion for us – on a news article.

In addition, there are over 100 comments on the article but the writer is nowhere to be found in the discussion. He did his job. Wrote an article leaving out all pertinent information except for the info that would attract the masses. He started a fire and ran.

Here’s the thing. We have ventured into a brand new industry. So brand new that we are only two states in the entire nation that have an operating recreational marijuana industry. And while there are a good amount of us that are trying to shape the industry for the best, by creating a culture that is responsible, there are other organizations outside the industry that are more concerned about other things such as how much money they are making off of it. And that’s it.

What kind of impact will poor and misleading journalism have on our young industry? This is tough to say but at the very least, it may delay public perception and acceptance of an industry still trying to find a foothold and thrive.

What kind of impact do you think poor and misleading journalism have on our young industry?

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