Arizona’s taxpayers fund $4.2M in fake news

Taxpayers in Arizona are funding $4.2 million in fake news each year. How do we know this? According to The Arizona Republic’s

Craig Harris, the number of high-level public information officers has risen dramatically under Gov. Doug Ducey. There are said to be 57 of them these days, an increase of 24 percent.

With this army of PR flacks came a boost in the cost to taxpayers of 29 percent, to nearly $4.2 million. (In the meantime, the overall number of government employees went way down. And there is the abysmal state of teacher pay. It goes on.)

Now, according to the purveyors of government “information,” they are simply passing along what the governor and others are doing so that citizens might be properly informed.

If that is so, why would an opinionated newspaper hack like me call it fake news?

Because the information providers who work for politicians are not paid to keep you informed. They are paid — a lot — to put the best possible spin on the actions and behavior of their bosses or their departments. Does that including lying?

No.

Not usually.

Because it’s not always necessary. It’s all a matter of how one presents the facts.

For example, a writing instructor I had in college decided one day to explain the difference between working in public relations and working in journalism. He used this example:

Let’s say a man, John Smith, has passed away, and the time has come to publicly explain the circumstances of his death.

Each description must be accurate and truthful.

One is written by a PR professional hired by the family, and the other is written by a journalist.

Public-relations version: Mr. Smith met his untimely demise during a large public ceremony when the platform upon which he was standing suddenly collapsed.

Reporter’s version: Mr. Smith was hanged.

The Republic’s Harris used a search of public records to get the figures on the high cost to taxpayers of politically motivated public relations.

One of Ducey’s spokesmen, Patrick Ptak, told Harris, “The role of a public information and communication position is to communicate with the public, the very individuals we serve. An open and accessible government is a priori-

It’s all a matter of how one presents the facts.

ty of this administration. As we continue to expand our efforts related to this priority, we increased the responsibilities of the professionals in these jobs.”

Here’s the thing.

Ptak and others like him do not serve the public. The public is not their boss.

Instead, they serve at the pleasure and under the direction of the elected official who hired them.

Voters can hire or fire politicians when they go to the polls. But once elected, the politician decides how many public-relations professionals he or she needs and how much he or she will pay them.

Given that, I’d say when a PR person working for a politician speaks of the general public as “the very individuals we serve,” it’s fake news.