▁politics , ▁Som er by ▁also ▁crit iques ▁liber als ▁in ▁the ▁U . S . ▁main stream ▁media ▁who ▁he ▁feels ▁do ▁poor ▁journal ism , ▁such ▁as ▁Rach el ▁M add ow ▁and ▁Keith ▁Ol ber mann , ▁both ▁of ▁MS N BC . ▁ ▁The ▁Daily ▁How ler ▁crit iques ▁education ▁writing , ▁often ▁by ▁analyz ing ▁badly ▁reported ▁data ▁on ▁sch ol astic ▁achiev ement ▁in ▁low ▁income ▁or ▁minor ity ▁populations . ▁For ▁example , ▁Som er by ▁disse cted ▁a ▁ 2 0 0 5 ▁P BS ▁" fe el ▁good " ▁document ary ▁M aking ▁School s ▁Work ▁that ▁tout ed ▁the ▁achiev ements ▁in ▁a ▁low - in come ▁school ▁district . ▁Som er by ▁showed ▁that ▁the ▁show c ased ▁test ▁score ▁g ains ▁were ▁neither ▁remarkable ▁( they ▁were ▁similar ▁to ▁average ▁state wide ▁score ▁increases ) ▁nor ▁indic ative ▁of ▁large ▁achiev ement ▁( as ▁ev iden ced ▁by ▁NA EP ▁national ▁tests ). ▁ ▁On ▁the ▁other ▁hand , ▁journalist ▁Robert ▁Samuel son ▁supported ▁a ▁claim ▁that ▁public ▁schools ▁have ▁made ▁minimal ▁progress ▁since ▁ 1 9 7 0 ▁by ▁using ▁aggreg ated ▁and ▁cher ry - p icked ▁NA EP ▁statistics . ▁Som er by ▁showed ▁that ▁Samuel son ▁had ▁hid ▁the ▁spect ac ular ▁multiple ▁grade - level ▁increases ▁in ▁the ▁achiev ement ▁levels ▁of ▁African ▁American ▁students . ▁Similarly , ▁a ▁Washington ▁Post ▁article ▁turned ▁Maryland ' s ▁tw elf th - in - the - n ation