Winds of Washington & Wall Street

Now everything's a little upside down, as a matter of fact the wheels have stopped,
What's good is bad, what's bad is good, you'll find out when you reach the top
You're on the bottom.

from Idiot Wind, by Bob Dylan

So, Republican President George W. Bush asks Congress for a bailout plan. His Treasury Secretary, Henry Paulson, makes the case. Just weeks before the presidential election, John McCain “suspends” his campaign, but after the plan is revised, supports the bill that goes to the House floor. Barack Obama doesn’t like the plan but backs it, too, after he’s assured that certain conditions are met. Then the bill fails. Forgive my reiteration of the obvious, but this is so bizarre, writing it out and seeing it on the screen serve as a reality check.

During news cycles, the historic dimension of what is happening can be obscured by the volatile nature of breaking news. The scale of this financial system failure and the inability of President Bush to get his own party’s House members on board, bode ill for the rest of us. And presidential politics adds an unprecedented dimension to this strange brew. Mostly, though, we have a leadership vacuum based on Pres. Bush’s record of failure and the public's distrust. Attempts by Sen. McCain to assert leadership become counter productive because of the obviousness of the political nature of these gestures. Sen. Obama’s approach, though more rational and reasoned, fails, also, to drive the political winds in non-idiotic direction. So we are stuck with House members, all up for re-election in a few weeks, too afraid to make a move that might be perceived back home as the wrong vote.

What it will take, in the next few days, is an uncommon and extraordinary approach, a difficult task rendered even more challenging by the timing of the election. But if there is greatness lurking anywhere in the halls of the Capitol, now is the time for men and women of both parties to rise above their own self interest, and political orthodoxies, and act in ways that will keep the economy moving forward. Wouldn’t it be refreshing for John McCain and Barack Obama to join together--really together--in asking Congress to act in the best interest of the country? They are not that far apart. If they won’t, maybe it’s time for one of those George H.W. Bush/Bill Clinton TV spots urging us to work together. Inaction is not an option.

Signs of the Times

For starters, I’m a city guy. Sarah Palin’s convention speech comments, about small towns and their values, quoting a known anti-Semite though not by name, probably played well with some of the “base” that the McCain candidacy desperately needs. The problem for them is that most of the country lives in or near cities and depends on metropolitan America to fuel the economy and the culture. This is in no way meant to denigrate or disrespect the values that Gov. Palin meant to extol. The problem is, however, that to make the most of our future and thrive in the world of 2008, we need to understand our cities and how they have changed and evolved since our presidential (and vice presidential) candidates were born.


Because I spend a lot of time in New York City, not just in Manhattan but out in Queens where I grew up, I’m struck by how things have changed since I moved west, back in 1979. If you don’t know NYC, Queens is where working people live. They are transit workers, cops, firemen, teachers, laborers, among them new immigrants, lots of new immigrants, who are trying to make it in America.

For the TV news folks reading this, these new immigrants represent a part of your viewing population that is usually under served and also not well represented inside the newsrooms.

My new camera in hand, I took some pictures of my old neighborhood, in the Rego Park/Forest Hills area of Queens. The first two pictures on this page are a block apart on 63rd Drive, near Queens Boulevard. The Irish, Italian, Eastern European Jews and non Jews, Germans and other early to mid 20th Century immigrants, have been replaced by Asian, Russian, and Hispanic newcomers, eager to make it in their new homeland.

One TV station general manager I know recognized the power of this group of new viewers, their intelligence and potential. He encouraged us to understand and work for the strugglers and strivers in our community. Another GM I know, confessed, when I asked him about it during an interview, that in NYC, he had no native Russian speaker on his news staff.

In San Diego, where I have lived for 19 years, there are neighborhoods throughout the city where Spanish, Vietnamese, Chinese, and other Asian languages are widely spoken and part of the local culture. The picture on the left is from San Diego's City Heights neighborhood. New York and San Diego are typical of many North American cities in that way. Just about any big city is home to native languages other than English. Friends I know in Toronto, Canada, proudly proclaim how that city welcomes newcomers from around the world. When Rudy Giuliani was mayor of New York, he made it clear that he would gladly accept the immigrants other cities didn’t want. Of course, that was before Rudy ran for president. It was also before he denounced Barack Obama for supposedly thinking that Gov. Palin's hometown was not "cosmopolitan" enough. For those of you missing the irony of the ex-mayor of NYC ascribing big city elitism to Obama, I have a bridge in Brooklyn you might like to buy.

In this era of global economies and flat world enterprise, we are fortunate to attract the world’s ambitious and hopeful citizens who recognize the opportunity to contribute and thrive in the USA.

For those hard line opponents of immigration, perhaps you ought to reflect on the reasons we still attract men and women eager for a better life. Sometimes the only way to enter is illegally, probably not the first choice for those seeking work in the USA. Yet we do little to make the path to legal immigration more accessible. Our future and greatness as a country depend on continuing to be the best place in the world to be a refuge for

“...your tired, your poor,

Your huddled masses yearning to breathe free..."

Those words, by Emma Lazarus, enshrined on the Statue of Liberty, resonate more eloquently, for me, than the Westbrook Pegler homage to small towns, quoted by Sarah Palin.

We need our small towns and our big cities. We are one country, big enough and strong enough, for all to enjoy the benefits of the American dream.

A Time to Jump In

During the 30 or so years that I worked in news, my personal policy was to be uninvolved in all political campaigns, no signs, no contributions, nothing supporting any candidate or ballot proposition. For most of my colleagues this practice was pretty typical and actually required by many news organizations. Now that I'm on my own it's time to jump back in. I say "back in" because twice before I've been a campaigner. When I was nine years old my mother took me to the local Democratic Club in Queens, and I handed out literature supporting JFK. In the 1970s, during a short break in my news career, I helped a friend with his state assembly campaign in Northern California.

So why now? For one thing, I don't work for a news organization or report the news; so I can. But more important is the importance of this particular election. As I've stated, fairly often in this blog, IrvsEyeView is not a political commentary; it is about culture and communication. Obviously, politics and those areas crossover in different ways. The most important reason I have decided to actively support a candidate in this election is that we have experienced a dramatic and profound shift in our national priorities during the last eight years. 9/11 was part of the picture but not the most important driver.

After a long news career you begin to get a sense about stories you cover and which stories have "legs". In the short term that means how long will it be a story. But in a more meaningful sense, it means the story will become a part of history, one that matters. It is safe to say that all presidential elections affect, and are integral to, history. This one, though, is the biggest in my lifetime.

With that in mind I spent the last weekend training to help lead local volunteer efforts for Barack Obama. I offer this information for two reasons. First, I've always believed in full disclosure. Most of you who read this blog probably figured out that I'm an Obama supporter. The second reason is to encourage all of you to get involved, even if you support candidates or ideas that are different from my own. Stand up for your beliefs by dedicating your time or your money. To paraphrase the Bible, we cannot stand idly by while blood is being spilled. Of course, the most important political act is voting and encouraging others to vote.

A FINAL WORD FOR MY FRIENDS IN THE NEWS BUSINESS

When journalists do their jobs well, they provide a service so valuable that it is protected by the Constitution. Messengers have often been confused with their message. We know, too, that candidates and advocates target the media with accusations of bias and favoritism. If you work in news, keep doing an honest job that focuses on the issues that are important. Personalities are integral to election decisions and strongly drive the way voters vote. So it's inevitable and vitally relevant that we learn about the individuals seeking our votes; who they are is a legitimate part of the story.

Journalists, today, don't only compete with other journalists across a range of media from print, to TV and radio, and the power of the web. Today, the news men and women who we should look to for truth telling, are competing against the powerful messages of political advertising, that often stretch the truth to the point of being untrue. Good journalism includes critically evaluating political advertising. Many politicians delight in criticizing the media. Sometimes those complaints are well-founded but often they are misdirected or a cynical political tactic. Ultimately, the voters have to decide who to vote for based on an array of messages that create impressions, in the context of our own experience and situations. For those of us who value ethical journalism, we are counting on good reporting that will help guide us through the competing images, personalities, issues, and rhetoric, that drive our choices at this critical point in history.

Conventions, Then, Now, and When

Welcome to those of you reading IrvsEyeView for the first time, because of the link in ShopTalk. For those of you who don’t know about ShopTalk, it’s a newsletter that chronicles the goings on in TV news. You can read it at TVSpy.com or sign up for email delivery. Formerly known as Rumorville USA, Shoptalk has been around since the early 1980s. The current editor is Tom Petner, a creative media executive and good guy. Thanks for the link, Tom!

Today’s blog comes to you from the airspace between Seattle and San Diego. We should be back in time to hear Sarah Palin’s acceptance speech. The media’s distraction with McCain’s unusual choice should slow down in the days ahead, as the novelty wears off concerning a relative unknown running for vice president, with a special needs infant son, and an unmarried pregnant teenage daughter. The media’s interest in Gov. Palin's family is appropriate but requires respectful restraint. However, if it becomes an excuse to avoid the real issues—and differences between the candidates and how they will govern—the media will have earned a failing grade.

Having watched most of the DNC and bits and pieces, so far, of the RNC, I have to wonder what coverage of the political conventions will look like, four years from now. As mentioned last week, after a very short time watching cable news coverage, I switched to C-Span. Others I know watched streaming web feeds. Almost everybody I know, who has an interest in politics or the media, has been critical of the coverage. Is the coverage really that bad? I’m afraid the answer is a qualified yes. With the limitations on time, and the focus on headline speeches, there is really no sense of being there and sharing in the ambience of the event. Instead we get a highly produced speech or two, and the predictable commentary about what it means. As mentioned previously, the local coverage I’ve seen has added real value for the viewer. Capturing the sense of our own community’s place in the national story gives perspective to the bigger picture.

I attended both the Republican and Democratic conventions in 1976, and a few more since then. The energy and excitement of being at a political convention is real and exhilarating. Certainly we should report critically and responsibly on the politics and issues. That’s not in question. But we should also capture the environment and ambiance of being in the big hall, or in Obama’s case the football stadium, during the major moments of these uniquely American quadrennial celebrations. I will never forget standing next to a fellow journalist, a reporter from Australia, during Jimmy Carter’s acceptance speech at Madison Square Garden in 1976. He turned to me and said, “we don’t have anything like this where I come from. This is fantastic”.

Watching C-Span last Thursday, with the Sheryl Crow performance building to a number of preliminary speeches and then Barack Obama’s acceptance, I got a sense of the special character of the American political convention. My hope is that as we report on future conventions, four years from now, and beyond, we continue the tradition of conveying the celebratory along with the politically significant.