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Question: Can Maine people trust the news media to be its watchdog on government?
Sean Faircloth
Often—very often—major policy decisions are made in legislative committee rooms in Augusta with big money lobbyists on hand—but no media whatsoever.
Lobbyists make friends with the people they see daily: politicians. Big money contributions help. Reporters rarely cover lobbyists and the nitty-gritty bill negotiations that lobbyists help influence in committee rooms and hallways.
Daily newspapers tend to cover budgets, bonds, and ballot initiatives—often in the context of political horse races. Yet budgets last one year and are dramatically affected by outside factors—like car sales or the stock market or Washington budgets—for which state politicians rarely deserve credit or blame.
Meanwhile, laws effecting public policy (aside from budgets) can impact generations of Mainers. Yet if newspapers cover policy legislation at all, it’s often regarding surface issues. Take, for example, sex offender registries, which, if anyone bothered to check, have—well—zero proven effect on public safety. (If you want to protect children from molesters, lock up molesters. Enough with registries already.)
The same shortage of coverage applies to legislators themselves. There are first-term legislators in Augusta who are effective and change public policy for the better. Some who have more experience are, nonetheless, ineffective—or have made matters worse. But how can citizens judge legislators when the media doesn’t cover which ones get results?
Legislators are generally elected based on name recognition—a system favoring incumbents, effective or not. Before elections, newspapers offer quick profiles. Sean Faircloth went to Notre Dame and to UCal, Hastings Law School and has three sons. I’m proud of my schools—and very proud of my sons. Those facts have zero to do with whether I get results as a legislator. Such profiles encourage cliches: Republicans say “cut spending” (of what exactly?); Democrats say “invest in (fill in the blank).” Nothing is revealed about whether a given candidate has any proven ability to achieve the goals he or she claims.
I give credit to my counterpart Scott Fish— and his As Maine Goes website. As Maine Goes is a recognized influential megaphone for the right wing. But no website or paper devotes itself to Augusta’s inner workings day in and day out, committee by committee, legislator by legislator. Often—very often—reporters are not at the work sessions where deals are struck or hallway negotiations—where lobbyists are ubiquitous.
The Bangor Daily News has good reporters: Meg Haskell covers health care well; the same for Ruth-Ellen Cohen on education. There are excellent reporters who cover the political horse races. But reporters are spread too thin to cover public policy work sessions and hallway negotiations.
Maine’s dailies could (and should) cover this most pivotal function of our elected officials. Iowa’s Des Moines Register does it with one strong statewide paper. Maine’s dailies divide our state into pieces. No single paper is bought daily statewide, perhaps making in-depth coverage of the legislature economically challenging. Yet getting at what is really happening in Augusta is the most important investment the media could make.
Right now, only lobbyists seem to know the truth: Being there is 90% of getting results.
Scott K Fish
Soon after the New Year, Maine’s newly elected governor and legislators will convene in the State House to start a new two-year session of lawmaking. Can we depend on Maine’s news outlets to give us the ongoing truth about the legislative session?
American news outlets (the “press”) through most of U.S. history were the “fourth estate” keeping their eyes and ears on government, reporting on government to the people. Historically, reporters were smart, honest, and possessed with an understanding of and interest in the topics they covered. They were writers! Reporting and opinion making were separate entities. Reporters didn’t inject opinion into news reports.
The press, by age, expanded from newspapers to radio, to TV, to the Internet. Each new medium changed how we citizens got our news until we ended up with Top 10 news like Top 10 pop music: Just as the nation’s radio stations played the same songs, news outlets were reporting the same stories from the same viewpoint, playing the same songs over and over again. It’s become almost impossible for citizens to find accurate news. It requires work.
I started reading news with a critical eye in Maryland over 20 years ago, reading four daily newspapers with different viewpoints: The Washington Post, The Baltimore Sun, The Washington Times, and the local Star Democrat.
Ever play the telephone game? One person whispers a story to another, who whispers to another, until the last person retells the story aloud. How different the final version is from the first! News reports are like that.
You learn a lot by reading or listening to many accounts of any news story. Good reporters verify facts from several sources. News readers should, too.
Years ago, one Maine newspaper ran a national news story claiming a major automaker was laying off 1,000 workers. I called the automaker’s public relations division. They said their objective was zero worker layoffs! Yes, a plant was closing. But some workers could have early retirement; others were offered jobs at another auto plant. Workers who chose neither could live for years at almost full salary thanks to a union/employer fund.
Neither the zero worker layoffs nor the worker options were in the Maine newspaper account.
All news sources have strengths and weaknesses. Mainers getting State House news solely from local TV/radio are underinformed. Too few issues are covered in too little time by too many reporters, often with little knowledge of Maine politics.
Talk radio and the Internet offer news flavors other than vanilla. Both fill a huge void in newscasting. That’s the secret of their popularity. They’re open 24/7 and they’re interactive. Citizens can talk back, ask questions. If you’re not using the Internet as a news source, you’re missing a great opportunity.
Keep an eye on your legislators over the next two years using all news sources—including those with which you disagree.
Developing a relationship with the press is like making new friends. Trust, if merited, develops over time. When it comes to news, the more “friends” you have, the better.
