Role Reversal - WWNY Comments

The media is often chasing people down for comments and then validating those comments for accuracy, so it is quite intriguing when media actually makes comments without any validity.

Case in point, WWNY TV 7 made a comment (two actually) in their coverage of Jefferson County's removal of the gas cap.

"By removing that cap, it would add a few cents to gas prices in the first quarter of 2009."

The county legislators have repeatedly told the media there is no way of tracking it and therefore no way of knowing whether or not the consumer is receiving the benefit from the tax break. How does TV 7 validate its own remark saying it would add a few cents to gas prices?

In addition to the written remark by WWNY, Ken Blankenbush was interviewed on the morning show and the morning anchor Jeff Cole said, "let's talk about the gas tax cap, which has been in effect and saving people in Jefferson County money as they pull up to the pump..." Again, this comment has no validity, and Blankenbush corrected him by saying essentially there is no way of knowing whether consumers are seeing the savings or not.

The day after the cap is lifted there is no way of knowing whether a price increase is a result of this decision or not.