Disappointed With One Sided Story

    http://news.nationalpost.com/2010/12/31/downtown-library-branch-may-close-in-new-year/


In my opinion this type of article being run in a national newspaper is disappointing. The media should hold itself to a higher standard than this. The entire article is based on the comments of one source and is very light on facts.
     Questions I have after reading this: Why is library staff proposing this branch be closed? I'm sure it isn't random. What are the reasons for putting this particular branch forward for closure? What other options are being considered to deal with a smaller increase than the board wanted? It's important to note that's what this is. Not funding cuts but an INCREASE that is smaller than what the board wanted. The source for this article specifically cites inflation as one of the pressures that lead to the request for the 3.3% increase. The 2.2% would be essentially exactly the same increase as the rate of inflation in 2010. Why does the board require an increase greater than the rate of inflation? What are the financial pressures that lead to this request? The most important question I have is what is library usage? Is it up or down? Intuitively and based on other things I have read I suspect that the usage is down significantly. Am I wrong or is the library board asking for increased budgets to deal with a smaller customer base? What is the recent history of usage increases or decreases? What have the budget increases been in recent years?
      At a minimum tell us what the money is to be used for because it takes ten seconds on Google to find out that the 2.2% increase covers inflation? So why the extra? My point isn't whether the library budget should be raised 3.3% or 2.2%. My point is that it's disappointing that the media allows itself to be used as a mouthpiece to further an agenda without bothering to ask the questions that would make this article tell a complete story.Or does that not make a good headline? "Proposed Library Budget Increase Equal To Inflation Causes Library Staff to Propose Closing Branch" just doesn't have the same ring to it does it?