Did you know 85 percent of all college graduates have moved back home with mom and dad, thus earning the name "boomerang generation"?

Of course you absorbed this information if you're a hard-charging news consumer; the figure has been reported by Time, CNN, HuffPost, New York Post, NBC and many other media outlets as if it is gospel. But when it showed up in a recent political ad, PolitiFact dug in and got at the truth. The story of the real percentage -- 21 percent is accurate -- and the backstory was on NPR this morning.

First, a bit on PolitiFact -- check out the website:

http://www.politifact.com/

It's a service provided by the Tampa Bay Times newspaper "in which reporters and editors from the Times and affiliated media outlets 'fact-check statements by members of Congress, the White House, lobbyists and interest groups...They publish original statements and their evaluations on the PolitiFact.com website, and assign each a 'Truth-O-Meter' rating. The ratings range from 'True' for completely accurate statements to 'Pants on Fire' (from the taunt 'Liar, liar, pants on fire') for outright lies." That's from Wiki.

Thank God, someone in journalism is doing something right.

NPR picked up on PolitiFact's digging into the 85 percent figure, Apparently the original source is some group that no longer exists. When PolitiFact contacted the former head of the group, he acknowledged he had no idea who came up with the 85 percent number.

NPR interviewed Kim Parker of the Pew Research Center to get at the truth. She cited Census data and other research to come up with 21 percent of people aged 25-34 who are college graduates are now living back at home.

As someone pointed out to me, 85 percent is a huge figure, and anytime you have 85 percent of anything, you might want to question how accurate or truthful that could be. But obviously, none of our esteemed mainstream news sources already cited did so, with the exception of The Tampa Times' sterling little enterprise. With thanks to NPR for reporting honestly on that story and exposing the falsehood.

Now to bookmark politifact.

Thanks to Gary Welsh of Advance Indiana for providing that headline. His reference was to last week's loaded and somewhat sensationalized story printed by the Washington Post about Mitt Romney being a gay-basher and a naughty prankster, all rolled into one, during prep school. 

The inaccuracies and tone set in the Post's story were exposed by Ben Shapiro, writing in Big Journalism/Breitbart, which dubbed the Romney story a "hit piece" in its headline.

Forget the political angles; what is of deeper concern is the poor and prejudicial reporting that passes for news these days --- at least until some "citizen journalists" or blogger calls out MSM. Yes. Seriously. (other examples to follow in subsequent posts...)

The Post went so far as to place a former student from the school at the scene of the alleged prank, in which Romney was said to have shaved the head of a gay student. That former student, Stu Phillips, now a public school teacher, told ABC News in the aftermath of publication that he simply never witnessed the incident.

Furthermore, the sisters of the guy whose head was shaved, the late John Lauber, distanced themselves from the Post's reporting (even though they were quoted in the story).

Here's what they said after the Post published its piece, as reported by ABC News: “The family of John Lauber is releasing a statement saying the portrayal of John is factually incorrect and we are aggrieved that he would be used to further a political agenda. There will be no more comments from the family."

The problem here is agenda reporting, which is when journalists attack a story with their own bias clearly on display. Today's Indianapolis Star contains two letters to the editor, one downing political reporter Mary Beth Schneider for her one-sided political reporting (guess what? She unabashadly favors Dems) and another criticizing columnist Erika D. Smith for dismissing the belief systems of religious folks out of hand. Both these writers have a clear liberal bent, altho Smith's is not problematic in the sense that she is paid to write opinion pieces.

By the same token, the Star continues to promote -- and that is really the correct word -- the unfortunate story of "Dynasty" Young, who in truth was gay-bashed for wearing necklaces to high school and carrying purses -- but who then chose to also carry (and fire) a stun gun rather than drop the pearls. Now, we have yet "another incident" in which Young was "attacked at Circle Centre Mall" which only adds to his "anguish," according to the headline.

I can live without the anguish angle. I, for one, would appreciate some "straight" reporting on gay issues. But it probably won't happen.

Here is the email that went out from Bobby King, president of the Indianapolis Newspaper Guild, regarding more changes coming for the Indy Star. I've heard online content will no longer be free as of June.

Subject: A note about more changes

Friends,

I wanted to write to you now because we are on the cusp of more dramatic changes in the months ahead and it’s important that you understand everything that’s going on. We’re about to get a new editor, a new organizational chart, a new page design operation and even a new newsroom. If all that wasn’t enough, last week you heard Star Publisher Karen Crotchfelt describe our new business model – one that means, for our web audience, the free lunch is about over. 

In the simplest terms, this is a make-or-break moment for The Indianapolis Star. It’s crunch time. If we fail, our business and the jobs we love may not be here much longer. If we succeed, we might just have dug ourselves out of this hole our industry has been in for several years.

So, you might be wondering, what’s my task in this crucial hour? To put it bluntly, it is to be ready to change and adapt and evolve yet again. Your viability as an employee here depends on it. And I’m not just talking in the global sense of we all sink or swim together. I’m talking about whether you as an individual will remain as a part of The Star in the coming months and years. 

The fact is that there are so few of us left to do this important work that every person must be a vital and able contributor. The publisher is looking up and down our operation to see who is up to the challenges in front of us and who is not – that includes both management and rank-and-file staff. Expect to see more managerial changes in the months ahead. Expect, too, to see that some from our own ranks will be pushed to improve or shown the exit. It is my belief that the next job cuts won’t be for cost reduction purposes. It is my belief they will be pinpoint terminations, made as the publisher decides that certain people aren’t up to the task.

As we move ahead, if you are asked to learn a different skill set, do it. If you are asked to rethink how you’ve always done things, do it. If you see gaps in your own skill set or areas where you’re weak, ask for the training that will help you master them. If there’s a training session being offered, attend it. 

The Guild has been pressing the point to management that most of you are willing to adapt, but that it is management’s role to make the appropriate training available. Just as important, it’s important that they communicate to us when training is available. Some opportunities get missed simply because we’re not aware of them. If there’s training that you need but haven’t seen available, ask for it. Both Todd Moore (ext. 6219) and Alvie Lindsay (ext. 6385) assure me they’re willing to help find the training opportunities you need. 

Through all of this, we will be here to ensure that your rights under the contract are protected and respected. But, given our depleted numbers, we need capable people in every position. Our survival – and thus our ability to continue producing good journalism -- depends on it.

It’s crucial too that you listen to what your supervisors are telling you about how your job must evolve. Copy editors must be willing to dive in and edit online copy. Sportswriters must continue moving toward analysis and personality profiles rather than traditional game stories. All of us must go beyond getting comfortable with social media. We’ve got to be sophisticated in how we use it.

All of this sounds a bit ominous and a bit challenging. But it’s the reality of the times in which we work. Anyone who isn’t willing to keep up should honestly reconsider your future prospects in this business. That’s just tough love. 

Already we are seeing examples of people adapting and evolving.  Mike Wells’ work covering the Pacers -- moving more into game analysis than game retelling -- is one example. Chris Sims’ growth from a paraprofessional into an online editor is another. Matt Detrich’s willingness to grow from an award-winning still photographer to someone who just made heart-wrenching video about the Southern Indiana tornado is another. And there are many, many more. 

There is another reason to be hopeful. This new content subscription model is risky, yes. But its key element – asking people to pay for what we provide them – makes some sense in ways that many of Gannett’s previous cure-alls have not. It is the biggest step yet toward moving us away from our dependence on the dodgy world of print advertising. Our publisher tells us that the early returns from our sister papers have been hopeful.  

We must not only hope that the new model works here, we’ve got to do our part to see that it does. The main thing is that we have to be open to learning, taking risks and, yes, making mistakes. With some luck, we may find that we have found the future of good journalism.

Best regards,

Bobby

Guild President

This reflection is from my friend Richard Sutton, an activist on behalf of gay civil rights.

"Hollabird readers are very likely following the strange and sad tale of the Tech High School gay student who was suspended for carrying a taser to school for protection. Here’s some back-story.

Cross-file it under two categories:

“'Desperate moms' and 'sad reality.'

"Dynasty Young is a 17-year old junior at Tech. He is loudly and proudly gay. His mom and his five siblings proudly embrace Dynasty. His twin brother joined him in a stark and poignant video that accompanied an IndyStar article on the boy’s plight:

http://www.indystar.com/article/20120502/LOCAL/205020317/Bullied- student-faces-expulsion-fired-stun-gun-mom-gave-him?odyssey=tab|topnews|img|IndyStar.com

"So much information, so little space.

"Some up-front qualifiers: I am the president of Indiana Equality Action, the state’s largest LGBT civil rights group. We worked hard on Indiana anti-bullying legislation, only to see it killed because some right-wing senators didn’t want to infringe on the free-speech rights of students who might spew hate.

"And I served on a school board where Dr. Eugene White was superintendent. He’s properly passionate about many things, but in my experience, he’ll back a school principal beyond all reason. Dr. White’s IPS tenure isn’t the issue here, even though it could fill a blog.

"Also: the recent movie 'Bully' is an over-shadowing presence. No one in America knows the reality of 'Bully' more than the gay community. It’s so painful I couldn’t even watch it. Mainstreet America has no idea how real that movie is.

"The issues here boil down to just a few.

"First: this child’s mother was Urban Desperate. Unemployed, mother of six, seeing her son bullied repeatedly at school. She made the requisite trips and calls to the school, only to be told, as the principal in the Star article notes, the following, which is Problem Two:

"School to gay student: butch up. boy, and then we can protect you. Otherwise, 'kids will be kids.'

"Which led to Problem Three:

"Mom buys son a taser for protection. When confronted again, son pulls out the taser and fires it in the air. It momentarily worked.

"Problem Four: Dynasty is suspended, and recommended for expulsion, because he carried a weapon to school and discharged it, albeit in the air, and not on another person.

"Almost all school policies are firm on the weapons issue. As they should be. Dynasty’s family is ready to accept the 5-day suspension for that infraction. But IPS went the extra mile, and will recommend expulsion. That sad case is still winding its way through administrative channels (three appeal venues are allowed: building level, superintendent, and school board). Then, a student’s family can seek court action if they’re unsatisfied.

"We all lose here. No clear-cut answers, no crystal-clear remedies. So we have to do some Gray Area Pondering on much of this case.

"Vigilante justice cannot be taught or tolerated. But if you could hear the cases offered up to LGBT activists, of bullied and abandoned students statewide, your hearts would break. Kids are attempting suicide a record levels—and too many are successful. They feel voiceless, left out and their youthful minds cannot imagine life beyond their miserable existences. Most do not tell their parents.

"Here’s what needs to be said:

"The Young family recognizes the error of their ways. They want Dynasty’s education continued—he wants to continue to college to become a choreographer. This bright young man has a supportive parent—not all gay kids have that. He says he has a clean school record otherwise—and that’s important. Not a trouble-maker.

"When a school principal in 2012 is allowed to comment publicly about a pending disciplinary case, we should demand action. It’s a symptom of severely-broken priorities.

"Think what you will about Dynasty’s IPS future. I’ve heard it all in the last few days, from inside and outside the gay community.

"But this principal’s loud and obnoxious comments sent a stunning message to bullies: green light.

"The principal should be severely disciplined for making public comments while his office is directly in the appeal path. It’s completely improper, prejudicial to the likely appeal, and our tax dollars cannot be spent on that kind of ignorance.

"In today’s IPS, administrators get more cover and tolerance than federal law demands for student expression (See Title 9, US Code). There is no room in any school district for this attitude.

"The final straw: Dynasty’s family confirmed to me that his main 'non-butch' expression was: jewelry. You see, Tech students wear uniforms -- khaki pants and polo shirts.

"So this kid is threatened because he’s got individual style?

"And finally: THIS is what occurs in a school district out of control. It won’t get better until we demand our administrators behave like, well….adults.

"Boil it all down, desired outcome: suspension served. Dynasty’s family apologizes for taser. Principal disciplined. Tech attitudes change. Dynastys everywhere feel more safe. IPS refuses (LOUDLY) to give Safe Harbor to bullies.

"And of course, pigs fly."

at the Indianapolis Star.

There was some speculation that veteran op-ed columnist/pisser-in-the-wind/poetic soul writer Dan Carpenter would take the bait, but he will stay. Or so it seems, based on his poignant Facebook posting: