Editor’s Note: The item below has been cross-posted from our sister site, MRCTV.org, which first published it on Wednesday.
Legacy media are running headlines claiming that staff cuts at the National Park Service (NPS) are causing chaos for visitors – but, if you read down far enough, their stories note that that the park experience won’t suffer.
The staff cuts at the Park Service – many of which are simply withdrawals of job offers – are part of the effort by President Donald Trump and his Elon Musk-led Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) to weed out and eliminate wasteful government spending.
“National parks already feel the effects of layoffs, even before the busy season starts,” NPR warns in a headline for a story claiming that “federal layoffs and staffing shortages threaten many of the services they provide for their millions of annual visitors, from reservations to cleanup to education.”
“Long lines and canceled rentals: Firings bring chaos to national parks,” a Washington Post headline declares in a story claiming “Trump’s purge of federal employees is already harming the visitor experience at national parks across the country.”
“The National Park Service is grappling with massive layoffs. What you should know,” reads a USA Today headline for a story reporting that “Park advocates warn that the layoffs will negatively impact the parks' ability to serve visitors and protect resources.”
“Newly hired National Park staff ‘devastated’ after losing ‘dream job’ amid Trump cuts” is the headline for a Miami Herald story quoting “a ranger who appears to have worked at Yosemite National Park” calling the layoffs that cost him his job “flat-out reckless.”
All these foreboding stories have one thing in common: they all (eventually) get around to reporting a reassuring promise by a Park Service spokeswoman.
Readers have to stick it out to the 32nd paragraph of the NPR article, in order to find the good news:
“When asked about safety and economic concerns, J. Elizabeth Peace, a spokesperson for the Department of the Interior, told NPR that the NPS — which it houses — is hiring seasonal workers ‘to continue enhancing the visitor experience as we embrace new opportunities for optimization and innovation in workforce management.’
"‘We are focused on ensuring that every visitor has the chance to explore and connect with the incredible, iconic spaces of our national parks,’ she added. ‘As always, NPS will continue to provide critical services and deliver excellent customer service.’”
USA Today buries the promise of “excellent customer service” in the 11th paragraph:
“A National Park Service spokesperson told USA TODAY, ‘The National Park Service is working closely with the Office of Personnel Management to ensure we are prioritizing fiscal responsibility for the American people. As always, NPS will continue to provide critical services and deliver excellent customer service.’”
The Washington Post mentions the quote in the eighth paragraph.
The Miami Herald waits only five paragraphs, but wastes no time getting back to fearmongering in the very next paragraph:
“‘It’s chaos everywhere,’ a former seasonal park ranger at Alaska’s Denali National Park and Preserve told the outlet. ‘I don’t know what the next couple of months are going to bring.’”
In an interview last Wednesday, Interior Department Secretary Doug Burgum promised Americans that the quality of the nation’s parks wouldn’t suffer, despite the staff cuts:
Fox News: “Can you assure people, I guess, that the parks are going to be okay with the numbers [of Park Service staff] that you leave?”
Sec. Burgum: “Yes, absolutely. And again, as we work to reinvent government and right-size government to the right size, that's a mandate that the Americans are fully supportive of President Trump doing.”
This time, legacy media outlets refused to even report the reassurance – even though Interior Sec. Burgum’s promise was even more forceful and unequivocal than the spokeswoman’s comment they buried.
