Andrea Batista Schlesinger

The election-year freeze

We received interesting feedback on Andrew Friedman's Monday post calling out New York City Councilmember Madeline Provenzano for failing to schedule a hearing on the Healthy Homes Act.

As Andrew writes:

"When the bill's sponsor, Letitia James, asked Provenzano to schedule a hearing, she was told that the bill was "political" and, therefore, a hearing would not be scheduled until after the election. Since when has a healthy democracy sought to close off all public debate of important issues during periods of public accountability for public officials?"

Two thoughts on Andrew's piece and the subsequent reactions:
1. Some were surprised that the DMIBlog called out Ms. Provenzano so directly, but perhaps we need to call out politicians a little more, but for their policy not just their politics. A couple of years ago DMI commissioned a study, Class Acts, that analyzed newspaper coverage of the budget crisis post 9/11. Among many interesting findings was the fact that "newspapers coverage of the budget crisis often read like a melodrama. Coverage emphasized the way the budget is negotiated--the political tussling and the position-taking among political leaders--over the substantive implications of the policy decisions." I'd venture to say this is true beyond the scope of our investigation. We cover our politicos as if it's all about the game - like obsessing over movie stars without connecting them to their actual movies. How do we create a meaningful system of accountability for our elected officials if we can't count on the mainstream media to do it? Is the blogosphere the answer?

2. Is anyone allowed to have a substantive discussion in an election year without it being viewed as "political"? Here at DMI we've certainly experienced one answer to the question. After releasing a report that simply analyzed the Department of Education's 2003-2004 Annual School Reports for schools participating in the Impact Schools Initiative, we were targeted for being somehow involved in supporting some mayoral candidate's candidacy over another. While some may have thought of this as a DMI specific problem, I think it leads to a broader question: to what extent do election years freeze substantive discussion about policy? Do other non-profit organizations dependent upon public financing feel an election-year squeeze, forced to quiet their criticism lest they appear partisan?

Talk amongst yourselves.

Andrea Batista Schlesinger: Author Bio | Other Posts
Posted at 9:29 AM, Oct 19, 2005 in Progressive Agenda
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