Hideous Media part 2.

AP reporter Pauline Arrillagais at it again. This time, maybe not so much with the pathos, although she does refer to John's leg as "lifeless" when "paralyzed" might fit just fine, although it is far less(sniff) tragic and prize-winning that way, isn't it?

This time, though, I fault her for her unquestioning acceptance of the claims surrounding Project Walk, and brushing aside critics as "some quadriplegics in chat rooms" without quotes or attribution, or even names. Yeah, she's really interested in getting at both sides of that issue. While I would agree that it can be a mistake to frame every story in terms of "for-or-against", considering how "desperate" she admits some of these people are--the long distances they travel and whatnot, shouldn't she be watching more closely?

A lot of money is flowing into this center's coffers, often from people who don't really have it to spare. That raised big questions for me and I don't earn my daily bread as a reporter. What if you made good progress but ran out of funds? Where are the disatisfied customers/disgruntled employees? Weren't there any, or was Arrillaga so stoked about "freeing" quads from their chairs she didn't look? Journalistic principles shouldn't change because your interview subject is in a wheelchair.

Why did Project Walk switch from for-profit to non-profit? Maybe for tax advantages, or altruism...or maybe because they are trying to hide some of their books.(I don't mean to make them out as bad guys, but just because they're in the crip business doesn't make them good guys.)

Human beings are not like security cameras. It's practically impossible for a person to write something and not be affected by who they are, childhood memories, the chemistry between reporter and sources, and countless other variables.But that is all the more reason to be thorough. The Associated Press should examine the assumption that being up on two feet for tiny amounts of time(30 steps?) is worth giving up a year and a half and $100,000. Maybe it is, if it accomplishes some long-range independence for that person; I can't say. But I'd be more convinced of it if everything this reporter writes about sitting in a wheelchair was not filled with loathing and disgust.$100,000 would be life-altering for my family right now, even though I don't have the option of getting my wiring reconnected.

Has this reporter ever met a disabled person not caught up in the angst of a new diagnosis? Some of us actually enjoy things for whole minutes at a time. Maybe she ought to take some time and get to know some paraplegics who have done what she considers unthinkable and accepted(or, you know, began to accept) the facts of their injury.

Until then, she is operating on the basis of her own preconceptions and anxieties, which, considering the stakes, I find irresponsible and tragic.