The Problem with 24-Hour News

Our country has become increasingly polarized over the past decade.  While there are many reasons why this may be the case, one reason has not much been discussed and needs to be examined:  the impact of 24-hour news channels.

Before CNN, FoxNews, and MSNBC, we got our news in highly condensed doses.  A half-hour a night, plus an hour of interviews on Sunday mornings.  By necessity—as well as professional standards—the news tended to be factual:  What happened, to whom, when, why.   Today, however, with the need to fill time on 24-hour news channels, the facts tend to be presented not as an end in itself, but as an introduction to an “expert” opinion roundtable or, even worse, a game of tag between two opposing points of view (often a professional Democratic strategist versus a professional Republican strategist).  It helps fill the time between commercials.  However, the viewer goes away not better informed about the core issues, but instead better informed about the radical positions being taken around the issue.  The result:  we have lost the centrist perspective in our understanding of how to approach major problems.

It has become so routine in the 24-hour news channels that they no longer make a distinction between the presentation of “news” and “discussion” or “commentary.”  And, rarely is there a true “analysis” conducted by objective and knowledgeable experts who are not already committed to a political viewpoint.  It is time for consumers of news to hold news programs to their own standards. 

The Society for Professional Journalists has published standards (http://www.spj.org/ethicscode.asp)  that are a good starting point.  Beyond that, I would argue that networks need to clearly distinguish between journalism and commentary.  Neither Chris Matthews nor Rush Limbaugh function as journalists on their regular programs, for instance.  They are “commentators” and their programs should be clearly marked as such, given that they are broadcast on what are otherwise promoted as “news” channels.  In turn, those programs that are meant to be journalistic “news” programs should avoid point-counterpoint discussions of issues by professional partisans.  Instead, they should, when needed, bring in objective professionals who can clarify the facts, rather than share opinions.  

The result would be that we see fewer politicians and other professionals politicos on the air voicing their partisan positions EXCEPT when the public is alerted that the program is one about opinion rather than a news program.

Perhaps then, the general public can be better informed about the decisions that their elected representatives are (or are not) making on their behalf.

Richard Alley and James Kasting: Global Warming

The following editorial by Richard Alley and James Kasting makes a solid case that we need to begin planning NOW in order to avoid the extreme changes that will otherwise come about due to global warming.   They use the analogy of planning for retirement:  it can be disastrous if we start too late. 

The printed version in the Centre Daily Times included a graph that illustrates how average world temperaturs have increased dramatically since the 1980s.  I recall the summer of 1988, when global warming became apparent for the first time to most of the public.   For my generation, 1980 is not very far away, but it is a generation ago.  We've lost a full generation in planning to avoid global warming.  This fall, hurricane Sandy demonstrated what global warming can mean to our highly populated coastal cities.  We are losing time and, while we dally, the energy industry is pushing us toward fracking to get more fossil fuel rather than investing in green energy.

One implication is that we can no longer let short-term profit-seeking interests dominate policy discussions about what is becoming a public safety issue.  Let's get the oil companies out of the policy room and demand that our elected officials do their job with our interests--not private interests--in mind. 

We have already lost a generation.  Let's be sure our grandchildren do not look back on us with dismay over our selfishness.
 
We must move toward a cleaner environment | Opinion | CentreDaily.com

David Remnick: Obama and Global Warming : The New Yorker

This column by David Remnick in The New Yorker should be required reading.  It is also a reminder that we cannot afford to be lulled by the superficiality of today's 24-hour news cycle.  We need to take the time to think more deeply about what are, in fact, the issues that should drive our national policies and our passions in the coming weeks and months.  

David Remnick: Obama and Global Warming : The New Yorker

Arlen Specter: Remembering a Thoughtful Centrist

This editorial appeared originally in the Philadelphia Inquirer.  It suggests that the best thing we can do to remember Specter is to vote.  I would add that, in the process, we should take care to avoid extremists and vote in people who can be trusted to focus on solving problems rather than standing behind radical ideologies.  We need big ideas, but we also need to work together as a community.

Over the past decade, the Republican party became so beholden to extremists--whether it be the Tea Party or billionaires with a personal agenda--that Specter could no longer find a place in that party.  We need to encourage both parties to run candidates who have good ideas, but who can work in the middle and not pander to extremists.  That--in addition to voting--would be the best way to honor Specter.

Editorial | Arlen Specter: Farewell to a fighter | Opinion | CentreDaily.com

Deliberate Democracy

Focus on Research | Citizens at state and local levels show real success in deliberating issues | Living | CentreDaily.com

Today, as we mourn the death of Senator Arlen Specter, one of the last true centrists in the U.S. Congress, I was very pleased to see this article about the use of citizen panels to deliberate on major policy issues in Oregon.  The idea that we can make better public policy decisions when we deliberate over the issues instead of simply hearing testimony before acting on ideology, is a lesson to all of us, at every level of public life.   We should demand of our leaders a "deliberate democracy" instead of a polarized debate. 

Grandpa in Chicago

I am working on an “Education and Society” blog posting about the birth of progressive education in Chicago in the 1890s.  It reminded me of a story my grandfather used to tell on himself.

            Grandpa was born in 1883.  His father, who had been born in Prussia, died in 1899.  Grandpa had hoped to attend a seminary in Erie, but, with his father’s death, that goal had been abandoned.  Charlie, the older of the two sons, stayed home with his mother, Lizzie.

            They lived on Strawbridge Avenue in Hickory Township (now Hermitage, Pa.), where his parents had owned about 8 acres of land.  One day, Lizzie sent Charlie to the grocery story to buy some pork chops.  On his way to the store, he encountered a friend who was driving a wagon filled with his personal belongings.

            “Where are you headed?” Charlie asked his friend.

            “Chicago,” the friend, forever nameless in Grandpa’s story, answered. “Want to come along?”

            “Sure,” said Grandpa, and hopped on board and went to Chicago.

            He stayed there for two years, working among the immigrants who dominated the workforce in those days.  When he returned, Grandpa recounted, he stopped at the grocery store and picked up those pork chops before heading home. 

            I think about that story when I read or write about John Dewey and Jane Addams in Chicago, about Hull House or the Pullman Strike.  I wonder if Grandpa ever found himself in Halstead Street—home to many German immigrants—or at Hull House itself.

           Grandpa never talked about Chicago itself, only about going and returning. I suspect Chicago was a brief period of excitement in a life that was otherwise tormented by alcoholism and disappointment.  It is part of my memory of him (he died in 1960) and one that has been renewed as I study the great things that were happening in Chicago around the same time as his visit.   It is nice to have another connection with him.

Antique Music

Karen and I dropped in at a big antiques mall near Milroy, Pa., the other day.  Two stories of great old stuff.  I bought three LPs for less than $5, including the Eagles Greatest Hits.  Back in the 1990s, this was the best selling LP of all time.  I am playing it as I write this.  It is good music. 

I also bought two Christmas albums.  One by Kate Smith ("Christmas Eve in My Home Town" is an old favorite) and Eddie Arnold (my Mom loved his music and he has a really solid style).  We have an incredible library of old Christmas albums that we bought at yard sales and antique stores, plus a few that we've carried with us through the years.  These will be good additions.  Christmas is a time for memories.  I remember, for instance, that my mother gave me my very first LP for Christmas:  Bob Dylan's "The Times They Are a'Changing."