All Blog Posts from Public Eye

As news networks struggle to retain viewers as more and more outlets for news become available, Gary Goldhammer examines on his blog, Below The Fold, whether the brand of good journalism is the result of reliable networks or reliable reporters. Or both. In an earlier post, Goldhammer argued that “the same self-publishing and social networking tools that are empowering consumers today are also allowing reporters to break the surly bonds of their media masters … In this new model, reporters, not newspapers or networks, are the brands.”

In a related post today, Goldhammer looks at the question further, wondering if journalists “need the structure and stability of an organization to be successful and credible.”

Take Anderson Cooper, for example:

“Sure, CNN gives Anderson Cooper the freedom to blog, but would he have as much of an audience or impact if he left CNN tomorrow and launched ‘AndersonCooper360.Blogspot.com’?"

Read full post…

Plenty of major stories are grabbing headlines today, but here's a look at some of the less prominent news from around the country that caught our Eye.



Mid-term elections are coming up -- and you know what that means. More ways to parse the inconveniences of the American electoral process! In Illinois it’s been decided that voters will be able to cast ballots starting Feb. 27 “well in advance of the March 21 primary and without providing the kind of travel or illness excuses needed for absentee ballots,” writes the Chicago Tribune. Illinois will join 30 other states with some form of early voting and is intended to be a response to lackluster voter turnout in the past. “‘You take any Election Day, and there are problems,’ said Andrew Raucci, a Chicago attorney who specializes in election law. ‘This is 18 more days for problems.’” And 18 more days of billable hours for election lawyers.



In a related attempt to expand Election Day, a move to extend voting hours to 9 pm in Indiana did not pass the state Senate. “Currently, Indiana has one of the earliest closing times in the nation, with poll stations locking the doors at 6 p.m.” writes the Indianapolis Star.

Read full post…

With plenty of big stories like Sam Alito’s confirmation hearings and Ariel Sharon’s delicate condition taking up headlines, here’s a look at a few of the less prominent stories from across the country that caught our Eye.



As critics wonder why the media has largely ignored the issue of mine safety following the Sago, West Virginia, mine explosion, The Denver Post today addresses just that by examining the question of whether Colorado’s mines are “safe or lucky.” While three mines in the state each received more citations in 2004 and 2005 than the Sago Mine, “no Colorado coal mine had as many ‘significant and substantial’ citations as Sago ... That designation means the violation could injure a worker.” Will more papers across the country begin asking similar questions?



And while the tribulations of Jack Abramoff has Washington pundits taking swings and the capital’s lobbying machine, The Dallas Morning News reports that lobbying the state Capitol for the interests of Texas suburbs no longer involves just “a friendly phone call,” but full-time lobbyists. Several suburbs in the state have now employed lobbyists to “navigate the flurry of action in Austin.” The assistant city manager in Lewisville told the Morning News that legislators “ ‘get so flooded with information, it's so much better if you have someone that's well-known in Austin that can knock on a door and say, 'Hey, the city of Lewisville has these concerns.’ It opens a lot of doors.’"

Read full post…

Amid plenty of news about what may become of the alternative minimum tax, Maine is engaged in a different sort of debate over tax policy (one that Poland Spring likely won't be too thrilled about) -- whether companies that sell water from the state’s aquifers should be charged the nation’s first water tax. The Christian Science Monitor writes that as the $10 billion bottled water industry continues to grow, the group leading the charge to impose the tax “maintains that access to water is among the most pressing issues of this century, and that the windfall reaped by bottling companies should be more evenly distributed. After all, they say, water belongs to everyone, and more controls would ensure sustainability.”



Water might not belong to everyone as far as lawmakers in the Great Lakes region are concerned. "Eight governors and two Canadian premiers sent a message Tuesday to the rest of the country, and the world: Forget about taking our water. They tightened control of Great Lakes water, approving stronger protections and keeping control in the region, instead of at the federal level,” reports the Cleveland Plain Dealer.



Water wars are raging in the West (go ahead, say it three times fast) as well, as the seven states that receive water from the Colorado River are meeting today to determine how to divide the river’s water supply in the face of a likely shortage in the future. The Arizona Republic admits, “These are discussions only a true water wonk could endure, filled with terms like conjunctive management and storage algorithms and steeped in often-indecipherable water law. But the bottom line is whether the states can agree on a way to share a shorter supply without crippling economies or spending the next decade in court.”

Read full post…

With media eyes focused on Iraq (certainly not a bad focus to have) here's a look at some other stories from newspapers across the country that caught our Eye today.


Looking through some local papers, it seems that the threat of violence in schools is an ever present problem. Yesterday, a high school in Penfield, NY, received its 14th bomb threat in two months. Two boys from Hunterdon County, NJ, have been suspended until at least June 2007 for allegedly bringing a .22 pistol and a BB gun to their middle school. And just today, a 14-year-old student arrived at a Manchester, NH, high school with “a loaded .32-caliber handgun tucked in his waistband,” writes the Manchester Union Leader.



Perhaps Missouri has the answer to such bad behavior. The Kansas City Star reports that “Corporal punishment is alive and well” in the state. A recent US Department of Education report ranks Missouri “10th nationally in annual paddlings at elementary and secondary schools. Missouri and Kansas are among 22 states that allow corporal punishment, but schools in Kansas deliver far fewer swats than Missouri.”


Some Connecticut schools, it seems, have a different form of discipline that hits students where it really hurts – their wallets (or, more likely, those of their parents.) The Hartford Courant writes that “there will be no more f-words, b-words or s-words spoken, yelled or hissed in classes at Hartford Public or Bulkeley high schools” … “city police officers assigned to the schools have started doling out tickets with $103 fines. They have charged about two dozen students over the past few weeks with creating a public disturbance.”

Read full post…

Corruption in New Jersey has apparently reached critical mass, as the Web site that hosts local newspapers in the state now features an entire section devoted to scandal-related news, complete with a “Rogues Gallery of dirty Jersey pols.” Yes, that’s a quote from the site. Here’s another:

Like Turnpike traffic and the stink from the Linden oil fields, political corruption is one of those ugly aspects of life in New Jersey. Read about some of our state's scandals.

Makes me proud to be a native.

Read full post…

It hasn’t gotten too much national play, but West Coast papers are buzzing because Congress is one step closer to drilling for oil in Alaska’s Arctic National Wildlife Refuge, signaling the near end (legislatively, at least) of the long-disputed environmental issue.



And Paris isn’t the only city besieged by riots. Days of violent protests in Ethiopia are continuing following that country’s disputed parliamentary elections. The AP reports that according to doctors in the region, yesterday's violence "came a day after police shot dead at least 23 people and wounded dozens more.”



A few weeks ago, it looked like achievement gaps at public schools were generating attention in Colorado papers. The Houston Chronicle reports today that Texas is experimenting with solutions to achievement gaps between low-income students and their classmates. Texas Gov. Rick Perry issued an executive order Wednesday for a $10 million incentive pay plan that would go to teachers at 100 schools that “do the best job raising test scores among low-income students,” writes the Chronicle. Some school district officials are skeptical that the plan doesn’t provide enough money to influence teachers.

Read full post…

We’ve done it before, and we’re doing it again -- PE takes a look at the stories across the country and the world that aren’t getting mainstream play. Here’s a look at what we noticed today.



The Christian Science Monitor is worth checking out today. The paper examines one element of the Katrina reconstruction story -- the growing debate over the role that Latino immigrant workers are expected to play in the effort. The Department of Homeland Security has temporarily suspended sanctioning those who hire workers who cannot prove citizenship, stirring debate about U.S. immigration policy. CSM also looks at a story out of Darfur: experts say that a spate of recent attacks might actually indicate signs of peace in the region. It’s one more example of how infinitely complex this story continues to be.



Bloggers aren’t just getting to the MSM, they're getting to governors, too, the Kansas City Star reports. Missouri Gov. Matt Blunt is engaged in an all out war of words with former Missouri Gov. Jean Carnahan’s former chief of staff, Roy Temple, over his blog.

Read full post…