Levicoff quoted in Seattle Times story

Wrangling candidates in 9th District share common ground

 

I'm curious if the reporter actually talked to Steve, or just "quoted" the book?

 

That was my thought exactly. It came across as more of just a quote from the book.




Tom Nixon

 

It did indeed sound like a quote, one which was designed to question the candidate's character. I know nothing of Southern Baptist School of Biblical Studies, which may or may not be a degree mill.

However, scores of ministers (pastors, evangelists, para-church administrators, etc.) have opted for studies at unaccredited institutions. Some denominations, for theological reasons, approve specific unaccredited institutions for the training of their ministers. These schools, while not RA, do offer substantive academic programs in ministry/theology/religious studies.

Name-it-Frame-it did an excellent job in exposing religious mills and creating an interest among many (myself included) in the field of religious distance education. Keep in mind, however, that the 1992 edition of NIFI is not the final word on a given school.

 

There is a Southern Baptist Institute of Biblical Studies I believe in Thompson Georgia. (Ron Drawdy?) How far they are from Jacksonville and if they are connected or not I am not sure of. IIRC the school in Thompson Georgia is under the ACI umbrella.

I agree it was only quoted to malign the canidate's charector. Now if he was using these degrees as a reason to "vote for him" then the nature of the degrees would be fair game.

 

The reporter actually talked to Steve.

Keith Ervin called me last week to inquire about the Southern Baptist Center in Jacksonville. I provided him with significant background material on the school, its accreditation claims, the autonomous structure of the Southern Baptist Convention (which allows the school to claim to be Southern Baptist), the Florida licensure exemption that allows the school to offer religious degrees through the doctoral level, and other information relevant to his inquiry. He cited me briefly, but accurately.

I think it's important to remember that a good reporter will make an extensive inquiry into an issue. Whether he or she uses all of the informtion received is not a concern, merely that the reporter took the time to validate an opinion and verify that it is not simply an off-the-wall comment.

Like John B., I'm sure, I have done many TV and radio interviews. When it comes to actual TV news programs, we might do 10-20 minutes of taping, and only 4-10 seconds of it may actually make the final feature. That's a given in broadcasting, as well as in print journalism. The important thing is that the subject has been thoroughly covered in the research phase and that the reporter has done his or her job.

Nonetheless, y'all have done the right thing by raising the question of whether the reporter actually contacted me. There have been times when I have been quoted without being contacted. This, however, is not one of them.

 

Good on ya, Steve.