Well, the lottery is here. The scratching began at around 6 this morning. The world still looks pretty much the same. I was surprised that there didn’t seem to be that much pent-up demand for playing, no huge lines, etc. I guess folks who like scratchoffs have been playing them for a while, just going to Virginia to do it.
Afternoon update: My crack lottery sources say there are lines in some places, and that there is frustration that the lottery is a cash-only enterprise. No debit cards, tacking on a ticket on a gas fill-up etc.
For newspapers, our coverage offers an interesting case study in the separation between the news and editorial pages. Our editorial pages said the lottery was bad public policy and a bad idea. The newsroom --which operates independently of the opinion pages—doesn’t have a position. We just cover what is news, and the start of the lottery is a big news event. It can seem a little promotional, but it’s difficult to tell folks about something big starting without telling them that something big is starting.
The challenge for the N.C. Lottery moving forward is going to be to deliver the revenue it has promised to the state, and to figure out how to market the games within the confines of the restrictive legislation.
I appreciate everybody’s civil and interesting comments on immigration. Good discussion.
Your host is Ken Otterbourg, the managing editor at the Winston-Salem Journal. It's a forum to discuss the media, from
My opinion is I hate the lottery and plan to exercise my right not to participate. I think using gambling money for education sends a message that our children might get more (supplies, teachers, equipment, books, etc,) if only people gamble more. I do find it interesting that the lottery is cash only proposition. This, at least, means we eliminate the impulse to gamble. But as far as the line between news and editorial stories, it is grayer than one might think. The decision as to what is and isn’t newsworthy is not factual, it is a judgment call by a writer or an editor. “Just the facts” comes down to “just which facts?”.
But then, is the lottery “big.” Probably.
But then again, maybe not. No one else posted. Maybe they’re still busy being mad about the encroaching, free-loading “aliens.”
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