This week at progressive state blogs: Mercury News goes right, Ted Cruzs dad shows his true nature ::posted Sat, 06 Sep 2014 15:00:07 +0000:: ift.tt/1pB0Hss rss@dailykos (Meteor Blades) Just as states with progressive lawmakers and activists have themselves initiated innovative programs over a wide range of issues, state-based progressive blogs have helped provide us with a point of view, inside information and often an edgy voice that we just dont get from the traditional media. This week in progressive state blogs is designed specifically to focus attention on the writing and analysis of people focused on their home turf. Let me know via comments or Kosmail if you have a favorite state- or city-based blog you think I should be watching. Inclusion of a diary does not necessarily indicate my agreement or endorsement of its contents. At The Left Hook of California, Brett Bymaster writes—Great Bastion of Journalism…No More: The San Jose Mercury News has become a victim of its own ideological homogeneity. The San Jose Mercury news was once a great bastion of journalism. Described in the 90′s as “a middle-of-the-road political cast slightly tilted to the Democratic side,” the paper more recently leans decidedly right. Throughout the 80′s, 90′s and early 2000′s, the paper reigned as one of the best in the country. It won two Pulitzers, first in 1986, again in 1995, and then it scored three Pulitzer finalists between 2001 and 2005. But the awards stop there, as the paper slid from balanced journalism to become the de facto Chuck Reed / Sam Liccardo political campaign vehicle. Reed took office in 2006, the year after the newspaper’s accolades ceased. As evidence of the downhill spiral, the daily got scooped on the biggest San Jose story of recent times. A small local paper first broke the George Shirakawa scandal, a story which culminated in the influential county supervisor spending time in the slammer for gambling and corruption. The Merc fell in love in with Mayor Chuck Reed, lost its way in a lovesick daze, and slowly but surely got sucked towards the Right Wing Democrats. The newspaper’s writers became close friends with one faction of the city government. Scott Herhold was observed advising Liccardo on how to run his mayoral campaign over a personal lunch. It all happened under the guise of being liberal, after all Santa Clara County leans democrat with a margin of 2:1. Between attrition and hiring, the Merc let any diverse opinion writers slip away until everyone had the same point of view. On the important local issues the journalists and editors speak with a unified voice: anti-union, pro-charter school, small government. The problem is that everyone at the Merc leans the same way. They are racially homogenous, ideologically identical. The lack of diversity is appalling, and let’s face it, boring. At The Mudflats of Alaska, Shannyn Moore writes—What Could Go Wrong? This: There’s a game most of us play. It’s called “What Could Go Wrong?!” You know, like I’m going to hand my nine year old an automatic weapon – “What Could Go Wrong?!” Or, why not go bare-headed and drive a motorcycle really fast? “What Could Go Wrong?!” Then there is the always present, Why don’t we build a giant mine at the headwaters of the largest sockeye salmon fishing run in the entire world? “What Could Go Wrong?” Many Alaskans have asked this question over the last decade regarding the proposed Pebble Mine in Bristol Bay. When the state government seemed to answer, “Nothing could go wrong,” tribes, fishermen and environmental groups pleaded with the Environmental Protection Agency to study and report. I attended the EPA hearing held in Anchorage a few weeks ago. “What could go wrong?” had indeed gone terribly wrong at the Mount Polley Mine in British Columbia just last month. A breach in the dam had dumped millions of cubic feet of toxic waste into a tributary of the Fraser River—a salmon-bearing river. In a stroke of irony, the town closest to the impact zone is named Likely. The experts have said the damage done is irreversible. That means it’s a waiting game to see if any fish at all return to, or survive the toxic soup. Oh, and here’s a real shocker—engineers Knight Piesold are saying it’s not their fault because they aren’t working for that mine anymore. Oops. Sorry about your bad luck. Below the orange gerrymander youll find excerpts from more progressive state blogs. [Forwarded by the MyLeftBlogosphere news engine. Link to original post below:]
Posted on: Sun, 07 Sep 2014 07:27:31 +0000
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