HOW BIG MASS MEDIA
HAS SPINNED THE LATEST GOVERNMENT INTRUSION

January 4 Washington Post story about the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) informing a Texas company that they are responsible for enforcing safety rules in the homes of any employees who work at home, drew a positive mention on Good Morning America and full stories Tuesday night on ABC and CBS, but not NBC.

ABC's World News Tonight, in fact, ran two stories. Introducing the second one, anchor Peter Jennings suggested "It is easy to poke fun at the idea of government regulating the lighting of your rec room or the height of your home computer table," as ABC focused on those who consider it an idea whose time has come.

On the CBS Evening News Dan Rather stressed not invasion of people's homes by government inspectors, but how the "business lobby" opposes the OSHA rules. Reporter Diana Olick found a tele-commuter who would welcome OSHA into her house.

Tuesday began with this welcoming news from Good Morning America news reader Antonio Mora who, MRC analyst Jessica Anderson noticed, stressed how the government will protect us:

"The millions of Americans who work out of their homes are getting government protection. According to The Washington Post, the Labor Department is telling employers that they are responsible for health and safety violations in home workplaces."

Later, on World News Tonight, Barry Serafin explained the OSHA advisory about how employers should make safety checks of employee's homes, noting the news "set off a firestorm of criticism." Serafin allowed a National Association of Manufacturers representative to attack the idea before playing a clip of Labor Secretary Alexis Herman backtracking as she emphasized how OSHA was just responding to a question from one company about how OSHA interprets current rules.

Next, Peter Jennings intoned: "It is easy to poke fun at the idea of government regulating the lighting of your rec room or the height of your home computer table, but as Erin Hayes explains tonight it is more complicated and it is more serious than that."

Hayes began her one-sided piece relaying the views of big government advocates: "The thought of government regulating our home offices may be unnerving, but workplace watchers caution it's time to start setting rules about working from home."

After a soundbite from Professor Tom Juravich of U-Mass Amherst, Hayes warned that workplace rules don't apply at home, so if you get a repetitive stress injury or "sprain your ankle tripping over a computer cord," you are not covered by workers comp. She noted how the Manchester, NH Newspaper Guild demanded insurance coverage for home work and the company agreed after getting the right to inspect homes.

Hayes concluded: "Companies, by shifting work to the home, are also shifting some of the risk there. It's time to start asking, many believe, just who should shoulder that risk."

CBS Evening News anchor Dan Rather skipped the potential intrusion into people's homes by OSHA and instead portrayed the controversy as just something which upset a special interest: "The U.S. Labor Department says employers are responsible for injuries to employees who work from their homes. The business lobby is not happy."

Reporter Diana Olick began by showing Terry Rutherford, one of twenty million people who work at home. Olick "explained" how OSHA says the rules have been around since the 1970's, but came to light because of the advisory request from a Texas company. Olick elaborated: "One example OSHA gave: If an employee works in his or her basement, the employer is responsible for the safety of the staircase leading there."

Olick played a clip of Pat Cleary of the National Association of Manufacturers pointing out the impossibility of having employers check every employee's home and suggested it might lead to employers saying workers cannot toil at home. Olick added: "And for those who do work at home, the rules could open the way to limitless lawsuits as some employees try to cash in on problems they have while they're working."

Olick showed Secretary Herman insisting there are no plans to have OSHA inspect homes. "As for Terry Rutherford," Olick said in setting up a soundbite from Rutherford, who decided: "I'll do whatever I have to, you know, if they need to come into my home that's fine with me." […] Olick concluded: "She only hopes the rules don't scare her boss and drive her back to the office. "

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January 10, 2000

Information gathered by Terry Niksch

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