Category Archives: Media

Do we really want the president to turn off the news?

By Steve Brawner,© 2018 by Steve Brawner Communications, Inc.

Here’s the thing about polls: They never tell you everything, but they often tell you something.

Such is the case with a recent Ipsos poll where 85 percent agreed that “Freedom of the press is essential for American democracy.” At the same time, 29 percent, and 48 percent of Republicans, also agreed that “the news media is the enemy of the American people.”

In other findings, 26 percent of Americans, and 43 percent of Republicans, agreed that “the president should have the authority to close news outlets engaged in bad behavior.” Thirteen percent of respondents, including 23 percent of Republicans, agreed that “President Trump should close down mainstream news outlets, like CNN, The Washington Post and The New York Times.” Another 3 percent of Americans didn’t know.

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How your newspaper subscription is an investment

By Steve Brawner, © 2018 by Steve Brawner Communications, Inc.

Bell, California, has a population of 37,000 and, until 2010, a town manager making almost $800,000 a year. The police chief, meanwhile, was making $457,000. That’s 50 percent more than the salary made by the police chief of nearby Los Angeles, population 4 million.

What stopped this from continuing? An investigation by the Los Angeles Times. Before that, Bell, a suburb of L.A., had lost its local newspaper in the late 1990s. When the town manager had started working there in 1993, he was making $72,000.

Bell offers one possible example of what three professors say is a larger reality: When newspapers close, the county’s taxpayers suffer. Their study found that local government borrowing costs rose, the number of government employees increased by four people per 1,000 residents, government wages increased by a median of $1.4 million, and tax revenues increased by $85 per person. Continue reading →

My first experience with fake news

By Steve Brawner, © 2018 by Steve Brawner Communications, Inc.

In about 1998, I had my first experience with “fake news.” In fact, I unwittingly helped create it.

At the time, I was a less-than-30-something communications aide for then-Gov. Mike Huckabee. Most of my duties involved writing, and there was a little press work.

One day, a couple of nice guys with a television camera stopped by the office and said they were Canadians, that there was some igloo in their country, and it was a big deal there. They were vague, but I remember taking it to be some kind of archaeological discovery. They asked if the governor could congratulate Canada on preserving its national igloo. Huckabee helpfully made a quick statement coming out of his office, and that was that. Or so I thought. Continue reading →

This year’s Pulitzer goes to … an ex-journalist

The Pulitzer Prize is journalism’s highest honor, and this year one winner no longer is a journalist.

On his last day working for his local newspaper, Ryan Kelly photographed a white supremacist driving a car through a crowd in Charlottesville, Virginia. He told the Associated Press that he left the profession because of the long hours, low pay, stress and job insecurity. He was doing digital media work for a brewery when he learned he’d won the award. And as the AP reported, he wasn’t the first journalist to leave the profession before or not long after winning the Pulitzer.

These are tough times for journalism in general and newspapers in particular.  Continue reading →

Newspapers: Better than free

By Steve Brawner

© 2018 by Steve Brawner Communications, Inc.

You know that “doctor” who was sent to jail for life Wednesday after molesting hundreds of female athletes, including members of the United States gymnastics teams? He’d probably still be doing it if not for a newspaper.

Larry Nassar, 54, had already been sentenced to 60 years in prison for child pornography. Last week a judge slapped him with another 40 to 175 years, which means he’ll never get out. More than 150 women and girls gave statements.

His downfall started when the Indianapolis Star investigated USA Gymnastics for its response to sexual abuse allegations against coaches. A former gymnast contacted the newspaper about Nassar, and from there, his fate was sealed.

The newspaper’s investigation occurred in 2016. You might recall that year, when the 24-hour TV news networks were focused on the reality show that was the presidential campaign. Which is understandable, because that really was good TV. Continue reading →