Category Archives: Random Blogging

Hope for Journalism?

There are some welcome signs that our muddled and fragmented media landscape–which has clearly been “in transition” to something–is beginning to figure out how to do real journalism in the post-Newspaper age.

Recently, Ezra Klein announced that he was leaving the Washington Post, where he ran a very well-regarded and well-read blog, in order to start a new (as yet unidentified) media venture. As the Poynter Center reported, he is not the only one:

Klein’s new venture joins a suddenly crowded market of startups founded or staffed by journalists with large personal brands:

• Nate Silver decided last year to leave The New York Times for ESPN, which plans to relaunch his FiveThirtyEight.com under its auspices soon.

• Glenn Greenwald left the Guardian last year to join a “a new mass media organization” funded by eBay founder Pierre Omidyar. Dan Froomkin and Jay Rosen also joined the new organization in varying capacities.

• Gawker’s Neetzan Zimmerman will be the editor-in-chief of a starting shareup called Whisper.

• Gabriel Snyder, formerly the editor-in-chief of The Wire, will be chief content officer of a mobile news startup called Inside.com.

• Kara Swisher and Walt Mossberg’s site AllThingsD announced last year they would part ways with Dow Jones & Co. and relaunched as Re/Code this year. The Wall Street Journal launched a replacement site, WSJD. Both promised live events. Another spinoff from the Journal: The Information, a subscription tech-news site edited by former WSJ reporter Jessica Lessin.

• Proto-blogger Andrew Sullivan left The Daily Beast in early 2013 to relaunch his Daily Dish as an independent, subscription-based publication. Sullivan wrote on Dec. 31 that in its first year, the publication had raised more than $800,000 in subscription revenue and has “almost 34,000 subscribers.”

• The New York Times, while obviously not exactly a startup, announced late last year that it would launch “two newsroom startups,” including one headed by former Times Washington bureau chief David Leonhardt aimed at the same subject areas as FiveThirtyEight.com.

These moves are a welcome sign that some journalists, at least, disagree with the conventional wisdom that has paralyzed the media and all but destroyed news geared to a general audience: the belief that there is simply no business model that will generate enough money to sustain a mass news-gathering organization in the age of the internet.

Of course, even if these efforts are successful, they don’t address citizens’ most pressing need: coverage of local government, which is virtually non-existent in far too many places. (Just today, the Indianapolis Star announced the departure of one of the few remaining reporters covering city hall.)  Interestingly, Pew reports an uptick in audiences for local television news–which I take as a sign that folks aren’t getting such news from the sad remnants of their local newspapers. Let’s hope that the new national ventures prove so successful that they spark a renewal of interest in investigative reporting focused on city halls and statehouses.

Relying on the Mayor’s office to tell us what’s happening really doesn’t cut it.

 

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Three Cheers for the Indianapolis Bar Association!

A couple of days ago, right before the Indiana House voted to strip the second sentence from HJR 3, the Indianapolis Bar Association did something it almost never does: it took a public position on a contentious policy issue.

Saying the proposed constitutional amendment banning same-sex marriage “stands out as inappropriate” and would likely lead to “years of litigation and significant expense for individual citizens and Indiana businesses,” the Indianapolis Bar Association today announced its formal opposition to HJR-3, the bill that would send the controversial amendment to a voter referendum.

The Bar Association took this position only after surveying its entire membership–another unusual step. (It has been some 20 years since they last did so.) Tellingly, three quarters of those surveyed favored taking a public position against HJR 3, and another twenty percent wanted to stay out of the issue. Only 5% favored the measure.

I have to believe that the willingness of the Bar Association to speak out–coming after the steady parade of businesses, mayors, and religious leaders–helped turn the tide with respect to HJR 3’s second sentence. That provision was a mess, an invitation to litigation, and many activists and bloggers had said so. But individual opinions on its legality and effects don’t carry the weight of the organized Bar, which is why their willingness to speak out was so important.

HJR 3 isn’t dead yet. At best, this latest vote to amend its language “kicks the can” down the road for another couple of years. Given the speed with which attitudes on same-sex marriage are changing, however, even that is no small matter.

Three cheers, Indianapolis Bar Association! Welcome to the good fight– and thanks for reminding all of us that “showing up” matters.

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Listen Up, Mr. Me Myself and I….

Okay–it’s cold and snowy and I’m old and cranky and in a bad mood. But this is the sort of attitude that just sends me over the edge!

A commenter responding to yesterday’s post about drug testing TANF recipients said, and I quote: “Government has no business in supplying food stamps, or any other of my earnings to those who did not earn it. Period.”

This is a standard meme employed by self-styled libertarians, the folks who like to equate taxation with theft and scorn recipients of social welfare programs as “takers” and “losers.”

I think the rest of us should make a deal with people like Mr. Clueless. Here’s my proposal:

You don’t want your hard-earned money going to the “takers”? Fine. You can keep every penny you earn. But you can’t drive on the streets that we suckers (er..taxpayers) paved. You can’t attend the public schools or universities we support. When trash collection day comes around, we’re going to skip your house, and if a real thief comes for your possessions, the police we support with our tax dollars aren’t going to respond.

If your house catches fire, tough. Hope you have a hose–and a private water supply. When you go to the grocery, you can’t buy any meats and vegetables that have been inspected by  government agencies that our taxes support. If you get sick, don’t expect to be treated by a doctor we educated in a hospital we built.

Go buy all of those services–and the others that we supply and you take as your due–in the private marketplace. If you can.

And if the unthinkable (at least unthinkable to you) happens, and you fall on hard times, you’d better hope for charity, because we’re going to respond with the same human compassion and understanding of social obligation that you’ve displayed.

You see, the real “takers” are the people who unthinkingly accept all the benefits of a social infrastructure, but who whine when they’re asked to pay their fair share.

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We the People

Readers of this blog know that I’m a broken record when it comes to civics education–and  also know that I am a huge fan of the We the People curriculum used by some (but not nearly enough) high school government teachers. In fact, my only complaint about We the People is that its use is entirely voluntary; when I become Emperor of the Whole World, I plan to make it mandatory…

Anyway, one of the ( distressingly few) things that Indiana does well is field teams in the annual We the People competition. I was honored to be a national judge last year, when Indiana had two teams in the top ten.

This year, Fishers High School won the state competition, and the team is preparing to compete for the national title. Part of that preparation is–you knew this was coming!–raising the money needed for the trip.

I’m pasting in the solicitation I received from one team member, whose justifiably proud  parents are friends of mine. I’m going to send a contribution, and I encourage those of you who are reading this to do the same. This program–and these kids–deserve our wholehearted–whole wallet-ed?– support.

Here’s her email:

Dear Professor Kennedy,
 At Fishers High School I’m part of the “We the People…” competition team, an academic team all about the Constitution and its application. After winning the State Championships held in Indianapolis, the FHS team has officially become Team Indiana as we prepare for the 27th Annual “We the People…” National Finals in Washington D.C. this April.  It has been the greatest experience of my educational career so far and I really want it to continue!  That is why I am asking for your financial support in raising $1200 in the next two weeks so that I can get back to focusing on my studies in an effort to participate in the “We the People…” National finals.

 
On the team, I am part of the Unit 5 division which focuses on the Bill of Rights and when, if ever, limitations of rights are justified.  I knew “We the People…”  was going to be a rigorous class, especially during my senior year, but that it also had potential for great rewards.  Throughout this season we have been busy researching, writing, and reaching out to local lawmakers, attorneys, and constitutional scholars to help with our studies. Our team is being recognized on the floor of the Indiana General Assembly and congratulated by the Governor of Indiana in February. I want to represent my family, school, and state to the best of my ability.  That’s why I need financial support from people like you that greatly value education.  If you are ready to make a tax deductible donation right now, simply click here http://www.gofundme.com/6emck8 to donate in five minutes!
 
In order to be a part of this once in a lifetime experience, I need to raise $1200. Please help me by sponsoring a portion of my trip. Any contribution you could make would bring me that much closer to this experience and get me back to studying that much sooner.  All donations are tax deductible and you will be sent a letter promptly from my school for your tax records.
There are two options for you to use to contribute:
1.  Click on the link here http://www.gofundme.com/6emck8 to contribute via check or credit card in as little as 5 minutes online
2.  Mail a check made out to FHS We the People team and mail it to the following address:
                Fishers High School
c/o Liz Paternoster
13000 Promise Road
Fishers, IN 46038
 – Be sure to include my name in the memo line of the check so my teacher knows to put it towards my trip.
– Also, consider asking your employer if they participate in a matching program.  This could double your donation!
 
Please feel free to email me if you have any questions or want to hear more about this really great learning opportunity.  You can also email my teacher and coach at lpaternoster@hse.k12.in.us. Thank you for your consideration!
Sincerely,
Halley Rose Meslin
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Alternate Realities

There’s an old song lyric that begins “Two different worlds..we live in two different worlds.” At the end of the song, the lovers turn those “two different worlds” into one.

In politics these days, Republicans and Democrats also live in different worlds–but they show little or no interest in merging them, or finding common ground.

Take the issue of personal responsibility, for example. (Invoking the importance of encouraging individual responsibility is the GOP’s standard reason for opposing virtually all government social programs.)

Here’s my question: how do Republicans who want to reduce the size of government until it is “small enough to drown in a bathtub” propose that citizens “take responsibility” for things like the recent West Virginia chemical spill? How, precisely, are individuals supposed to assume responsibility for things like the purity of their drinking water, or for the air they breathe, or the safety of the food they purchase and consume?

Even Republicans who concede that government has a role to play in these matters, however, will insist that individuals are personally responsible for their own economic status.

If you believe that poor people are poor because they don’t work hard (and rich people are rich because they do)– a belief shared by most Republicans, according to a recent poll– do you also blame poor people for failing to take “personal responsibility” for a lack of available jobs? What additional “personal responsibility” should be exhibited by the millions of working poor–the folks working 40 or more hours a week at jobs that don’t pay them enough to get by?

Today’s Republicans and Democrats do live in two different worlds. The Republican world is tantalizingly simple: a place where virtue is rewarded with success in the best Calvinist tradition–a world where those who work hard, attend church and marry someone of the opposite gender will prosper.

Democrats and Independents occupy a messier reality, where luck and privilege explain the gap between the haves and have nots more often than diligence and talent, and where simple explanations–however comforting– rarely tell the whole story.

In the Republican reality, government is unnecessary; in the reality inhabited by everyone else, it’s essential.

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