Earlier in New Media we do a little bit on the differences and similarities between the digital and paper newspaper. Sometimes the differences are subtle, such as in this Hartford Courant article on a recent AP poll on parental involvement in gameplay with children titled Games Poll: Parents Aren’t playing.
The paper version includes a graphic representation of two question/answer elements:
1. Do you (parents) ever play: Yes = 57% and No 43%
2. How many average hours: Less than an hour = 30; More than an hour = 70% (meaning: of the 57 yessers above)
These two data elements would serve to contradict the title of the article, which includes even fuzzier interpretation in the text. These numbers, moreover, are not included in the online version of the article, which alters both the context and the meaning of the article.
The article leads with Jesse Lackman of North Dakota:
Jesse Lackman says his son spends a dozen hours a week waging medieval combat across the dreary dreamscapes of computer games. Just don’t expect to find Lackman sitting beside him battling ogres and dragons.
“It’s just such a waste of time,” said Lackman, 47, a power plant operator from Center, N.D. “I tell him, ‘Do something that has some lasting value.’”
Lackman’s avoidance of the digital diversions that captivate his 15-year-old son, Tyrus, is shared by many parents. More than four in 10, or 43 percent, of those whose young children play video or computer games never play along with them, according to an Associated Press-AOL Games poll released recently.
Here’s another way to read the final paragraph: Lackman’s “disinterest” . . . is not shared by a majority. Here’s where the article gets it all wrong:
While experts debate whether electronic gaming is bad news or a blessing for children and their families, many parents are voicing their preference by never — or seldom — joining their kids when it’s time to slay cyber scoundrels.
Besides those who simply don’t play the games with their children, another 30 percent say they spend less than an hour a week doing so. All told, about three in four parents of young gamers never or hardly ever touch the stuff.
What does the writer mean by parents “voicing their preference by never–or seldom . . . “? Rather than “Many parents are voicing,” another way of putting would be “A majority are engaged.” The final bit of the paragraph concludes with an element not included in either the numbers or the study as a whole that “three in four parents . . . hardly ever.”
The true thrust of the article should be: Parents Claim to Hate what They Encourage in Children
“I don’t think it’s good for them, the violence, the obsession,” said Karen Kimball, 55, of Hale, Minn., a nonplayer who says her son, 17, plays 25 hours weekly.
Update
After posting this response, I clicked on the Sphere Related Content widget below and found this CNN article titled “Poll:Parents and Video Games Don’t Mix,” a false-impression headline as well. The reprint in the Hartford Courant is a lift from the CNN piece which is fed from local news sources. Technically, this is plagiarism, given that the Courant doesn’t attribute back to Associated Press.
So, one form of news informs the other in both cases.