Illinois lawmakers have been meeting and filing bills since early January, but the time you really need to be paying attention is now. And how you pay attention is also important. The state’s regular legislative session is scheduled to end by midnight May 31 each year, and lawmakers, like most humans, seem always to leave Read More …
Tag: politics
Two interviews and a look at real news
The notion of objective, truth-seeking journalism is a hotly debated topic these days, often under the umbrella of the term “fake news.” If you want a vivid examination of the issue, consider two separate interviews on the Trump-Putin press conference in Helsinki — both, interestingly, from Fox News. One is real news; one is not. Read More …
A deeper look at what elections say about choices
The Illinois primary is now behind us, but I find myself thinking about the upcoming June primary in Maine. Here’s why. Elections are about choices. Still, one question that nagged me as I watched some of the more interesting primary races Tuesday night was whether the results were truly reflective of voter choices. In the Read More …
Deceptive political ads grow because voters let them
It’s not clear who in the political process should feel more ashamed, the candidates who attempt to persuade voters with deceptive campaign mailers and television advertising or the people who make voting decisions based on them. As a news person who talks to, respects and likes many politicians, it is a point of some frustration Read More …
On this, the Trump watchers have gone too far
Read at Daily Herald website I am a strong believer in free speech, and I am not easily offended by words or ideas, especially from nationally syndicated pundits. But I spiked a syndicated column this week that I thought was an insult to, of all people, Donald Trump. It’s not that the tone was rude. Read More …
Making sure news rhetoric is not ‘out of whack’
Read at Daily Herald website I was casting about vainly for a powerful and appropriate lead to a column about perspective and police-community relations, when what should fall out of cyberspace but, from rock-and-roll reactionary Ted Nugent, the perfect object lesson. Interviewed by a rival publication, Nugent was asked his opinion about the subject, and Read More …
Review of “Becoming Madison” by Michael Signer
The author doesn’t say so in so many words, and I’m not astute enough to know whether it was his intent or not, but it’s next to impossible not to read Becoming Madison / The Extraordinary Origins of the Least Likely Founding Father as a reflection on the conflict between government and the equivalent of the modern-day Tea Read More …
Awards or no, newspapers aim to make life better
Read at Daily Herald website Today, some random thoughts journalistic: The Daily Herald works hard to help better the suburbs and the communities we serve. Projects big and small with that purpose in mind won 10 prestigious honors last week in the Peter Lisagor Awards for Excellence in Journalism. But we also make the world Read More …