Politics & Communication with Joshua Gee

Slate’s Jack Shafer writes a great article on Yellow Journalism that is really not much more than a long(ish) review of two books that are now on my reading list: The Year That Defined American Journalism: 1897 and the Clash of Paradigms and Yellow Journalism: Puncturing the Myths, Defining the Legacies.The books, and the review, argue that the yellow journalism of the early part of the century has not been given a fair shake:

yellow papers published a fair amount of sober financial, political, and diplomatic information. They crusaded against the privileged and the powerful; they exposed corruption in government and corporations and probably encouraged the rise of magazine muckraking in the early twentieth century. The yellow papers also paid reporters well, which is a big plus in their favor.

H.L. Mencken was a fan of sorts. Assessing William Randolph Hearst in the May 1927 issue of the American Mercury, he praised the aging press mogul for his accomplishments. Hearst’s yellow journalism “shook up old bones, and gave the blush of life to pale cheeks,” Mencken wrote. “The government we suffer under is still corrupt, but, especially in the cities, it is surely not as corrupt as it used to be. Yellow journalism had more to do with that change than is commonly put to its credit.”

One of my favorite parts about moving to New York has been seeing the cover of the New York Post every day (Though chances are if I was still in Boston I would be finding myself with increasing affection for the Herald). Telling both sides of the story is important and Shafer does list some of the unsavory practices that the scandal sheets engaged in, but I would love to see a little more crusading in our modern papers.

Blogs, I think, have somewhat picked up the mantle of yellow journalism. Most blogs I read are a combination of fact and opinion. They link to an outrage, add some commentary/additional facts and then some link to a way to donate to a cause or get in touch with a government official. Bloggers also never forget that their job is to get eyeballs. I personally roll my eyes a little every time I read about the important role journalists play in our democracy. Sure, but Woodward and Bernstein sold a lot of papers too.

Sorry for the absence. I was on vacation this weekend (including Monday) and got back to work to find a mountain of things waiting to be done. It struck me earlier that I started a blog called “Politics and Communication” and then left a picture of Gaius Baltar on the front page for it’s inaugural weekend. Here is what I didn’t have time to blog about today:

• Woody Allen is funny. Though all reading that did was make me look up and reread this, which is really funny.
• I haven’t read this article on debate tactics yet and I was about to toss it when I saw that the author is the founder of the Young Conservative Coalition; I will find time later.
• I did have time to listen to a few Planet Money podcasts, so I now understand the bank bailout plan. This article from Slate is a good perspective. Good in the “I hate Wall Street” vein.
• Best. counter-terrorism. plan. ever. I am trying to friend Osama Bin Laden on Google Latitude – once he accepts we will have this whole thing wrapped up pretty quick.
• Weird title, good blog post on social media.

Governorships by Party Control

Elliot Spitzer’s columns on Slate have not been particularly interesting or enlightening. He has, generally, stuck to relatively banal forms of conventional wisdom and avoided any controversial positions – even on issues he might have particular expertise in like financial fraud… or hookers (there, I made the joke. God I feel dirty) . That’s why I was pleasantly surprised that his current column hits on an issues I have been thinking about a lot recently and he is uniquely suited to give some insight on.

There has never been a tougher time to be a governor. Governors must deal with all the problems confronting our economy, but they lack the federal government’s ability to run a deficit. With the $787 billion stimulus and sundry other bailout spending, President Obama and Congress have the rather pleasant task of printing gobs of money and throwing it toward favored sectors and projects.

Governors can only gaze on with envy. The numbers from the states are downright horrifying—and getting worse. The best estimate is that states, nearly all of which are constitutionally obligated to balance their budgets, collectively face deficits of about $350 billion over the next 30 months. That is about 20 percent of total state spending.

He goes on to give more details into the variety of ways which Governors are screwed. Governors are facing cratering state revenues, big chunks of their budgets tied up in entitlement spending and they can’t cut costs the way a business could without major political opposition. He also details his own problems trying to reform Medicaid in his state. The whole thing is worth a read.

I have been thinking about this issue in particular because I have seen some bad headlines and poll results for my Governor of choice, Deval Patrick of Massachusetts. A relatively recent poll has him with a 70% disapproval rating and has me totally bummed out. I mean, Mitt Romney looked like a champ because he was Governor during a boom time (and he never really had to do anything, just fight with the legislature) and now my guy is already facing a primary challenge. Deval could still rise to the occasion and come up with some amazing policy solutions, but his power isn’t all-encompassing and I imagine that the recession is also making special interest groups hesitant to engage in sweeping reforms. The problem now is how do Governors up for reelection in 2010 communicate how screwed they are to the electorate. “The Wrong Side of History” doesn’t have the same ring as “Yes we Can.”

This will also affect potential 2012 challengers like Govs Jindal, Palin or Pawlenty. It would be interesting to look back and see if Governors who attained national prominence and a reputation for competence did so during relative boom times. I am thinking in particular of Dukakis and “The Massachusetts Miracle” occurring amidst the backdrop of the entire country coming out of a recession in the mid-80s.

I guess that good news is that since we have 50 states that are facing a roughly 10% budget shortfall, we have 50 different public policy labs. Out of those we might see some of the ideas that will become national models being touted by new nationally prominant figures.