Newstradamus

Michael Kountouris

The death of Humboldt County Supervisor Roger Rodoni, and its impact across the county among people of all political stripes, got me to thinking about the nature of citizen-politicians at the local level.

First of all, it’s a lot of hard work. The actual time in weekly board or council meetings may not seem like much, but there are committee meetings and sessions with other government representatives. Then there are all the chicken dinners and charity functions, not to mention the constant calls from constituents wanting you to grease the cogs of government for them.

I don’t think you could pay me enough, even though Humboldt takes pretty good care of its supervisors. They get about $70,000 worth of salary and benefits for what is considered a full-time job. Eureka, which has a part-time city council, spends about $47,000 for the whole council. (The mayor, who does a lot of ribbon-cutting stuff, gets about $24,000.)

Elected officials have to be nice to everybody, even the jerks, if they expect to have a reasonable chance of staying elected. But at some point you have to make a decision and vote, at which time being nice doesn’t protect you from the dreck that rains down. Only Teflon skin can help there.

Rodoni seemed to have that protective armor around him, or maybe a Kevlar Stetson, since he seemed to chuckle as the bullets bounced off. It’s that same quality that seems to sustain Barack Obama, Hillary Clinton and John McCain as they’re accused of being anti-American elitists, manipulative liars or candidates for an early-onset Alzheimer’s diagnosis.

At the local level, people sought elected office for a number of reasons, most of which have nothing to do with being professional politicians.

Some are on a mission, and think it will be easier to carry on the crusade from the inside rather than the outside. In Nevada County, where I used to live, Drew Bedwell was one of those. He owned some rental property, and was an weekend gold-panner, but what galvanized him into politics was a struggle over property rights.

His style of politics was Rove-style confrontational. He formed a citizens group, which pushed him to challenge a liberal supervisor. To his surprise, he won, tipping the balance of the board into a conservative majority. Before he could exert his influence at the county building, however, he suddenly died of cancer.

Others enter the arena after retiring from successful careers, thinking their skills would be of use to the community. Nevada County Supervisor Nate Beeson is one of those. He was a career Navy man who served on eight ships and was captain of three of them. After a 30-year career, he was successful in the tech field before retiring to the Sierra foothills.

But I couldn’t imagine anyone running for office if they didn’t like people and power — and by that I mean (optimistically) the power to do good.

At one point, after I had left the editorship of The Union in Grass Valley and was doing consulting for a while, I was approached to run for the city council. I said no, because I was traveling too much to be able to do a good job. But I admit it was tempting after years as a journalist, studiously avoiding any individual political advocacy.

But just as there have been actors and sports stars entering the political arena, there is the occasional ex-journalist as well — like former KMUD news director Estelle Fennell, a supervisor candidate in the Second District. Others take a reverse route, such as Bill Clinton’s former communications director, George Stephanopoulos, now ABC-TV’s chief Washington correspondent.

I’m back in the newsroom now, so no political fantasies. But maybe I can make inroads on some of my other daydreams, such as learning to play the mandolin or creating Echizen pottery.

Posted by Rich Somerville at 02:16 PM | Permalink | Comments (3)

John Darkow/Columbia (Mo.) Daily Tribune

A number of readers were upset at the editorial page cartoon we published after the death of Charlton Heston. Cartoonist John Darkow of the Columbia Daily Tribune in Missouri depicted a coffin with the late actor’s arm extended, holding a rifle. An undertaker is saying to a colleague, “Do you want to pry it from his cold, dead hands, or should I?”

Some folks thought the cartoon was disrespectful or even cruel. Perhaps they didn’t know — or chose to ignore — that when Heston was the president of the National Rifle Association, at every convention (and in his farewell speech), he repeated the NRA slogan, “I’ll give you my gun when you take it from my cold, dead hands.” I’m sure he knew that he was writing his own epitaph — or drawing his own memorial editorial cartoon.

A reader told me yesterday: "You took a risk in running that cartoon." My belief is that an editorial page that worries too much about not offending anyone won't be read by anyone, because it would be stultifyingly boring. Besides, getting tarred and feathered occasionally keeps an editor's life interesting.

Incidentally, my favorite Charlton Heston movie line is a tossup between "Take your stinking paws off me, you damn dirty ape" and "Soylent Green is people!"

However, the line from "Touch of Evil" — directed by Orson Welles, in which Heston played a Mexican cop, for goodness sake — seems more prescient, considering his later leadership of the NRA: “A policeman's job is only easy in a police state.”

Posted by Rich Somerville at 12:01 PM | Permalink | Comments (232)

Alen Lauzan Falcon

Publisher Greg Stevens and I regularly select a spot to have coffee and ask readers to join us for conversation. This morning we were at Old Town Coffee and Chocolates in Eureka, where about 10 people turned out.

The discussion North Coast earthquakes and floods, the old days of volunteer firefighting in Eureka, the days when the railroad ran, the Humboldt Amateur Radio Club's upcoming Field Day in June, and the crisis facing our schools.

We started at 7 a.m., and I’ll confess that early in the morning is not my best time. Over a lifetime in the news business, when the paper “goes to bed” at 11:40 p.m. and the press starts at midnight, I have developed a night-owl body clock.

I get into work about 11 a.m., and work to 8 or 9 p.m., or until the Times-Standard’s night editors have things well in hand. In addition, when I am at home about 10:30 or 11 p.m., I’m e-mailed a final look at page one before I hit the sack sometime after midnight.

Nevertheless, I can rouse myself early when it’s called for, and the first cup of coffee usually perks me up. Besides, Greg Stevens is one of those chipper, up-at-the-crack-of-dawn people who carries the conversation until I can mentally jump in.

We have these coffees every month or so, and try to move the venue around. So please join in the conversation at the next coffee with the editor and publisher.

Posted by Rich Somerville at 11:48 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

St. Louis Globe-Democrat's famous photo of Harry Truman with infamous headline.

Everybody was expecting another volley in the "Obama's an elitist" flurry when Hillary Clinton addressed the nation's editors and publishers on Tuesday. However, she turned her criticism on the Republicans — first on George W. Bush to critique his presidency and then on John McCain, to show how the likely GOP presidential candidate would be more of the same if elected.

Unlike the speech by Barack Obama yesterday (which had tickets for specific tables, with mine ending up way in back), this time it was first come, first served, and a little waiting in line paid off with a front row seat.

Hillary had music for her entrance — "Our Country" by John Mellencamp, which unless I am mistaken is also used in commercials for Chevy trucks. Has she been using that song for a while, or is its selection a metaphor for her non-elitism? Since questioning Obama's electability following his analysis of small-town Pennsylvanians as being "bitter," she has downed a shot of whisky in Indiana and talked of how she learned to shoot from her Scranton granddad.

(On Tuesday, the big screen image of her in the hall clearly showed the gleam coming off her necklace. I asked the woman sitting next to me if they were real diamonds. She replied, "Oh, yeah!)

Like the other candidates, Clinton played up to the editors. She started off by jokingly declaring the speech off the record, expressing admiration for a group of people used to getting calls at 3 a.m., and declaring her support for a federal reporter shield law, now before the Senate.

She also thanked the editors for a headline she has thought about recently, "Dewey Beats Truman." Actually, the premature headline that appeared in the Chicago Tribune in 1948 was "Dewey Defeats Truman," but we understood what she meant. It also underlines how the speed of news has accelerated so much since those days.

Before taking on Bush in the main part of her speech, and doing a short Q&A session, she praised the mission of newspapers, which "predates our country. It is essential that we have you to inform an active citizenry.” She noted the dangers faced by journalists in the world (citing the slaying of Wall Street Journal reporter Daniel Pearl in Iraq), and praised investigative efforts such as the exposure of conditions at Walter Reed Army Hospital, which won a Pulitzer Prize last week for the Washington Post.

Posted by Rich Somerville at 04:17 PM | Permalink | Comments (2)

Marine Corps Band plays before McCain arrived to speak at AP's annual meeting.

• McCain audio, video and transcript
• Obama audio, video and transcript

WASHINGTON — Being able to attend speeches by two presidential candidates is rare enough, but hearing them back to back — as I did on Monday when John McCain and Barack Obama visited the national convention of editors and publishers here — was a great opportunity to observe the differences between the two campaigns. And Hillary Clinton will make it a trifecta with a speech Tuesday.

And there certainly were contrasts. Both spoke at Associated Press functions, McCain at the AP annual meeting at 10:30, and Obama at the AP annual luncheon at 1:30. McCain spoke immediately after the opening general meeting of the convention, which featured a (frankly) boring panel of newspaper/web journalists on the theme of "Making Journalism Matter."

Since I was able to snag a front-row seat for that session, I had dibs on the same seat for McCain. There was no security check, either for me or the people who arrived following the panel session to hear McCain. The room was packed, for sure, but by Washington Convention Center standards it wasn't that huge of a room.

By contrast, the AP luncheon where Obama spoke was held in the cavernous main ballroom, and even with "by invitation only" tickets costing $75 each (for rubbery chicken), the event was told out — for the first time in AP's 162-year history, according to the current president of AP, who happens to be Dean Singleton. (Singleton owns MediaNews Group, which owns the Times-Standard.)

I am no good at crowd estimates, but my guess is that at least twice as many people attended the lunch featuring Obama. Not only that, but everyone at the lunch had to go through airport-type security, including random wanding. I can only surmise that it's because Obama has had Secret Service protection for a while (no doubt because of threats), while McCain so far has refused it, although he reluctantly has said that he would have discussions this week about accepting protection.

I will note, by the way, that those at the Obama luncheon were not all editors and publishers. I saw many tables set aside for AP employees, and because the newspaper trade show — NEXPO — is being held at the same time, there were many vendors and their spouses there.

My table (which was toward the back because I bought a late ticket when I learned Obama would be speaking) was filled with people who had NEXPO booths, such as one guy from Montreal who is involved in the installation of new presses in Fremont for the San Francisco Chronicle, and another who works for a clipping service. (He contracts with businesses to send them clips of every mention of his clients in the media; the media get a copyright cut.) To my left was the VP of operations for the Chicago Tribune.

There were a ton of working journalists at both speeches, because of the latest tempest over comments Obama made about some voters being "bitter." Hillary Clinton has taken the opportunity to try to drive a wedge between Obama and superdelegates by charging Obama is "elitist."

McCain weighed into the fray himself here Monday. Being interviewed onstage by AP reporters Liz Sidoti and Ron Fournier (who accompany him on the campaign trail), McCain wouldn't bite on several questions asking him if he thought Obama was an elitist. But he said he thought the Democrat's comments were elitist.

In his prepared remarks, McCain also said if the vote for a federal reporters' shield law (to protect them from being jailed if they did not give up confidential sources, such as whistleblowers) were held today, he'd be narrowly in favor of voting yes. That drew applause from the audience.

When he sat down with Sidoti and Fournier, he loosened up and showed some of the bonhomie he's said to employ with reporters on the campaign trail. He lit up like a kid at Christmas when Sidoti preceded the questioning by offering him "your favorite" — donuts. "With sprinkles!," McCain said when he opened the box.

Obama, after zinging Clinton yesterday, didn't mention her at the AP lunch. In his prepared remarks, he talked up front about the elitism charge, admitting that he hadn't expressed himself clearly. But he said he was looking forward to a debate with McCain about who was more in touch with the American people.

Dean Singleton followed up with questions from the audience that had been submitted earlier. One asked whether Obama thinks Clinton — who trails in votes, delegates and states won — should drop out of the race. He credited his rival with toughening him up by hitting him with all the strategies he'd be likely to face in a campaign against McCain.

In another question asking about the candidate's strategies in going after al-Qaida, Singleton referred to "Obama bin Laden." Obama did a double-take, then grinned at the red-faced Singleton and said, "This is part of the exercise I've been going through over the last 15 months — which is why it's pretty impressive I'm still standing here."

We'll see what Hillary brings us Tuesday. She's also speaking at a $75 lunch with full security checks. Last time she spoke to us, a few years back, there was no security check, but she wasn't running for president then.

Posted by Rich Somerville at 12:57 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Lisa Williams blogs while sitting on a panel at the editors' convention in D.C.

The national convention of editors and publishers got under way slowly on Sunday afternoon as attendees trickled slowing into the nation's capital. The big deal over the weekend was the NEXPO newspaper trade show, but there also were some educational sessions.

Over the years, I have found many of these types of sessions are people singing to the choir — i.e. editors (often the more innovative ones, to be sure) offering "best practices." They are good places to steal some ideas, but these types of panels don't offer many "aha!" moments. These moments often come from outsiders, or heretics if you will, who approach communication and information from a totally different point of view.

Two of sessions I attended Sunday were typical, "Dynamic Web Strategies for Small Newspapers" and "Building Audience in a Fragmented Media World." There were many bits of advice that could be swiped. But a speaker at the second one offered some of these "aha!" observations.

She was Lisa Williams, who founded H2Otown.info and Placeblogger.com in Watertown, Mass. She comes from a tech background, not a journalistic one, and thus offered some advice to editors. Like not to get to upset by layoffs. In the dot.com world, she said, layoffs are the only time you get vacation. And showing photo of icebergs, she offered this metaphor: "Fewer Titanics, more kayaks." Listen to her talk here.

The welcoming reception was at the new Nationals ballpark. Unfortunately, the Nats left town after a game Saturday with Atlanta. Bummer. But I had a chance to reconnect with many old friends.

Monday brings more sessions designed to cheer up editors and publishers during one of the worst economic times for the business in a while. Plus John McCain and Barak Obama will speak back-to-back at the Associated Press annual meeting and luncheon, so stay tuned to Newstradamus.

Posted by Rich Somerville at 02:57 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

As it happened, after two hours sitting at the gate, our plane from Denver to D.C. finally got under way after the electrical problem was fixed. Nevertheless, the friend I was meeting for dinner waited for me, and we had a great meal at an Italian place called Luigino's at 1100 New York Ave. NW. I had mezzaluna pasta with artichokes and pine nuts in a cream sauce. Linda was in the mood for linguine putanesca, but it wasn't on the menu. The chef made her day by making it for her anyway.

As noted in my last entry, Linda Hosek is a multi-talented journalist, having worked in print, television and now online. She also is an accomplished photographer, and is setting up a business called Blueye Productions. Check out some of her work http://blueyeproductions.com

Meanwhile, the NEXPO trade show got underway Saturday and continues Sunday. I'll try to cruise through and see what may look innovative and interesting. Also, some early topics for editors on Sunday include Web strategies, how to get and keep young readers, and trying to attract readers in a fragmenting media world.

These topics may not be interesting to most people, but they're of concern as mainstream media strive to survive. Those with an interest in journalism will want to follow my rolling posts over the next few days. Those without, tune back in next week.

For baseball fans, the welcome reception this year will be held at the new Nationals Park baseball stadium tonight. I wonder if they'll be serving hot dogs...

Posted by Rich Somerville at 10:24 PM | Permalink | Comments (244)

Larry Wright/The Detroit News

This was supposed to be an entry to kick off what will be a running blog about my attendance at the newspaper convention in Washington, DC, with details about what is on the program for the next few days. Instead, we're living through the travel nightmares that thousands of others have been suffering in recent weeks because of canceled flights due to FAA safety checks.

I was grateful that I was flying on United instead of American. But United — or at least my connecting flight from Denver to D.C. — is having its own problems. After everybody was loaded on board (wall-to-wall, every seat filled, many of them by transfers from American), it was found there is some sort of electrical problem. So we are sitting in the plane at the gate, waiting to hear whether we can get the OK to fly on auxiliary power (highly unlikely!), or solve the problem, or unload us and find another plane.

At least I get a chance to try out my Verizon laptop uplink — seems to be working OK!

I'm bummed because I had dinner plans this evening with a longtime journalism colleague from Hawaii days who is now working on the Pentagon's news Web site, believe it or not. (Bet you didn't know they even had one...) It's possible that we'll have to try to reschedule — if I can even get to Washington at all today.

If I do, there are some interesting things going on at this convention, which because it's an election year is a combination of the American Society of Newspaper Editors, the Newspaper Association of America (the publishers), and the industry's trade show, called NEXPO.

I'll fill in details of the upcoming program later today, but all three remaining presidential contenders will be speaking — McCain and Hillary Clinton on Monday, and Obama on Tuesday. Plus, the welcoming bash will be at the brand-new Nationals baseball park, and a trip is planned to the Newseum on the Mall, which opened officially yesterday.

Meanwhile, things are getting claustrophobic in here. Pray for us...

Posted by Rich Somerville at 11:50 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Larry Wright/The Detroit News

For those who believe that young people today are enriched by access to more information than all the preceding generations combined, an article in The Chronicle of Higher Education is — to quote its author — horrifying.

Ted Gup, a professor of journalism at Case Western Reserve University and the author of “Nation of Secrets: The Threat to Democracy and the American Way of Life,” for years has given a current-events quiz to his introductory journalism classes to get a sense of what they know — and don’t know.

His early fear that students would be offended by the dumbed-down quiz were unfounded: Only one in a class of 21 could name the secretary of defense. Eleven of 18 couldn’t say what country Kabul was in, despite the U.S. being at war there for years. Given a list of four countries — China, Cuba, Japan and India — no one could say which were democracies (hint: the last two).

There’s more: They thought Roe v. Wade was about slavery, that Islam was the principal religion in Latin America, that 50 justices sit on the Supreme Court, and that the A-bomb was dropped on Hiroshima in 1975.

“It is not easy to explain how we got into this sad state,” says Gup, but he points to the steep decline of newspaper readership, the explosion of a “citizen journalism” that often generates more heat than light, and the demotion of civics at high schools in favor of technology.

Calling for current events to once again be made an essential part of the curriculum, Gup writes, “A global economy will have little use for a country whose people are so self-absorbed that they know nothing of their own nation’s present or past, much less the world’s.”

He finishes by quoting scholar Robert M. Hutchins, who warned that “the death of democracy is not likely to be an assassination from ambush. It will be a slow extinction from apathy, indifference and undernourishment.”

If you agree, and are a parent, encourage your kids to follow current events in the newspaper or news Web sites that traffic in essential facts, not just celebrities and entertainment news. Talk around the dinner table about what’s going on in the world.

If you’re a teacher, integrate national and international events into your daily classwork. The Times-Standard’s Newspapers In Education program can help — call Promotions Director Heidi Todar at 441-0557.

Meanwhile, some older folks aren’t paying close enough attention to the news, either. They looked at Thursday’s headline in the Times-Standard — “39 horses seized at Miranda farm” — and then phoned to attack the people at Miranda’s Rescue.

People, you need to chill, and read before you freak. The horses were taken from a farm near the town of Miranda in southern Humboldt County. Miranda’s Rescue is an organization near Fortuna founded by Shannon Miranda that HELPS animals.

We’ll have a quiz later.

Posted by Rich Somerville at 07:06 PM | Permalink | Comments (4)