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Tuesday, Jan 24, 2012 - Posted by Rich Miller

* The Chicago Tribune editorialized today in response to the Sun-Times announcement that it would no longer be endorsing political candidates…

Newspapers have a unique role as public citizen. They did in 1860 and they do today. It would be an abdication to say what we think should be done on an array of issues every day — and then take a vow of silence about who is most likely to advance those goals. Readers get an independent judgment of the choices in each race, even (or perhaps especially) when none of the options is very good. That judgment is guided by certain principles. You can read our statement of those principles at chicagotribune.com/opinion.

Do our endorsements matter? We’re under no illusions about the extent of our influence. Plenty of candidates lose despite our seal of approval.

When it comes to major, high-profile offices, voters may need no help making up their minds. We try to provide guidance. But in less visible races, readers often lack crucial information. That’s why, if you stand in a polling station for very long, you’re bound to see someone taking a copy of the Tribune endorsements into the booth. In local judicial races, our preference has been shown to affect thousands of votes.

Does the policy of making endorsements make it easier for hostile politicians to depict us as partisan flunkies? Not really, because they’d do it anyway. CNN doesn’t make endorsements, but that didn’t stop Newt Gingrich from vilifying correspondent John King for asking him about his ex-wife’s accusations — saying it proved the “elite media” was supporting Barack Obama.

I think I agree with most of that. We’ll see how the Trib does this year, though. Back in 2010, the Tribune endorsed just one Democratic legislative incumbent with a truly serious Republican opponent (former Rep. Kevin McCarthy, who championed pension reform). An editorial board member traveled to Springfield to meet with Senate Republican candidates, but the Senate Democrats bitterly complained that they couldn’t get sitdowns with some of their own candidates in Chicago.

Then again, it’s a free country so they have a right to do whatever they want.

* A Dallas Morning News editorial writer blogged about the Sun-Times announcement…

But the logic behind the pronouncement strikes me as flawed. Endorsements don’t sway many voters is one explanation. The other: When you endorse, you risk corrupting the overall news mission by introducing a bias, or at least the perception of a bias.

I’ve seen newspaper endorsements make a difference and I’ve seen them ignored. That’s part of the process. I can even recognize that the power of editorial endorsements has greatly waned. But that doesn’t render it useless.

For one, assuming that all endorsements are essentially the same is misguided. On local races, where news coverage is very spotty, editorial boards can made a significant difference by vetting candidates. […]

If there is one thing you learn when you write opinion, it’s that people will impute all kinds of motives in your actions. To think that this is limited to matters political is naïve. Everything, at some level, can be construed as a political statement by those inclined to view the world that way.

I can’t disagree with that.

* Robert Feder makes a good point…

The challenge for the editorial board now will be to persuade candidates to continue to fill out detailed questionnaires and submit to lengthy interviews even though they won’t be vying for the newspaper’s coveted endorsement anymore. Without that seal of approval as a prize, some may figure, why bother?

* There is another little angle to the Sun-Times announcement, by the way. Bruce Rauner is one of the investors who bought up the Sun-Times last month. As you probably know, Rauner is gearing up for a Republican gubernatorial bid…

Rauner, 55, is senior principal and chairman of Chicago-based GTCR Golder Rauner LLC, a Chicago-based private equity firm.

He recently garnered attention as a prime mover of the education reform legislation that passed Springfield, smashing teachers’ right to strike and paving the way for longer school days in Chicago.

Rauner contributed $100,000 to the Illinois Republican Party and another $100K to the House Republicans in 2010.

* Other Sun-Times investors…

The buyers include Michael Ferro Jr., chairman of Merrick Ventures LLC, a private equity firm that deals with technology companies. Ferro, who will serve as chairman, is bringing in media executive Timothy Knight to run the company as chief executive and as an investor. […]

They include prominent investment bankers John Canning Jr., chairman of Madison Dearborn Partners LLC, and Michael Sacks, chief executive of Grosvenor Capital Management LP.

Chairman Ferro gave $50,000 to Andy McKenna’s 2010 gubernatorial campaign, as well as $20K to House GOP Leader Tom Cross.

Canning contributed $250,000 to Stand for Children’s Illinois PAC in 2010, and hundreds of thousands more to Republicans and Chicago Democratic powerhouses like Rahm Emanuel and Anne Burke.

On the other side is Michael Sacks, who is one of Personal PAC’s biggest contributors. But Sacks, like the other two, has been a big Daley and Emanuel supporter.

Might the political ties (and ambitions) of its wealthy investors have anything to do with the paper’s new endorsement policy?

Then again, maybe I should just keep my mouth shut…

[New Sun-Times chief executive Timothy Knight] said the company will buy other ventures or launch its own tech startups.

I wouldn’t exactly turn down a big offer.

Just sayin…

* But, whatever the case, the Sun-Times announcement seems to fly in the face of history, as this post by a State Journal-Register editorial writer makes clear…

In the days when newspapers were owned by individuals and families with strong political ideologies, it made perfect sense for their newspapers to advance those beliefs through editorials. In many cases, that’s why newspapers were founded. The Sun-Times was born this way, when Marshall Field wanted a voice against Col. Robert McCormick, who at the time was using his Chicago Tribune to hammer away at Franklin D. Roosevelt, who McCormick despised. On a personal note, the newspaper I worked for before joining The State Journal-Register, The Capital Times of Madison, Wis., was founded in 1917 by William T. Evjue for the specific purpose of opposing the rival Wisconsin State Journal’s editorial drumbeat in favor of entering World War I.

For much of its existence, The State Journal-Register was owned by James Copley, a staunch conservative, and, later, his family. Copley’s newspapers mirrored his political viewpoints because, well, he owned them.

Nowadays, though, newspapers by and large are owned by publicly held corporations. At the SJ-R, it’s GateHouse Media. Gannett, Tribune, Lee Enterprises and other publicly traded companies own hundreds of papers across the country. Which makes me wonder: If these newspapers are owned by shareholders, how and why should they articulate any particular political ideology?

Thoughts?

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Question of the day

Tuesday, Jan 24, 2012 - Posted by Rich Miller

* I’ve seen several comments like this one from longtime commenter Yellow Dog Democrat whenever the topic of closing the Jacksonville Developmental Facility has come up on the blog…

Morgan County voted overwhelmingly for Bill Brady, as did Orland Township where Tinley Park is located.

Apparently, residents there believe that Illinois can cut its way out of its budget problems.

So cut we shall.

Next up: agency field offices, universities and prisons.

I can’t wait to here the reaction from local Republican State Reps and Senators when Eastern Illinois University is shuttered.

* Jacksonville (which is in Morgan County) has been a hotbed of anti-government tea party organizing for the past two years. However, as one commenter pointed out last week, Jacksonville, population 19,214, has several state facilities…

Developmental Center, Illinois School for the Deaf, Illinois School for the Blind, Jacksonville Correctional Center, a local DHS Office, a local DCFS Office and a branch of LLCC.

Not to mention all those Jacksonville-area residents who drive to Springfield to work at state jobs. Gov. Pat Quinn administration’s economic impact study concluded that the facility could be closed with less community harm than closing other state facilities…

The administration conducted an Economic Impact Index examination of the areas surrounding all the Division of Developmental Disabilities and Division of Mental Health facilities in the state. The “index number” was derived by dividing the number of lost facility jobs by the size of the community local work force, multiplied by the unemployment rate of the SODC community. The results demonstrated that the impacts on the Jacksonville and Tinley Park communities would be among the lowest of those communities with state facilities.

* Jacksonville Mayor Andy Ezard actively supported Republican state Sen. Bill Brady in the 2010 gubernatorial campaign. Ezard has forcefully opposed the facility’s closure, but Brady wanted far deeper state budget cuts to avoid the need for a tax increase. Frankly, Sen. Brady’s proposal of a ten percent across the board slash wouldn’t have done the trick, so the cuts would’ve had to be far deeper than he let on during the campaign.

But, is this subject fair game? After all, we’re talking about human lives here. The people at JDC have real needs and the state has an obligation to serve them. So…

* The Question: Is bringing up Jacksonville’s tea party/conservative Republican tilt fair game in discussions about closing its state developmental center? Take the poll and then explain your answer in comments, please.

Online Surveys & Market Research

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Pension distractions and scholarship attacks

Tuesday, Jan 24, 2012 - Posted by Rich Miller

* If there’s any evidence of politicized actuarial assumptions at the pension systems, I think Rep. Brauer probably ought to be more specific. So far, this looks like a distraction to me…

State Rep. Rich Brauer, R-Springfield, is calling for the creation of a new constitutional office to get “partisan politics” out of Illinois’ five pension systems.

Modeling the new office after that of the auditor general, Brauer said the actuary general would do the calculations involved with figuring out how much the state owes to the pension systems.

While each of the five pension systems has its own actuary, Brauer said an outside agency examining the pensions would be free of political pressure.

“There’s political pressure you don’t see with those numbers,” Brauer said. When asked, Brauer said he could not name a particular incident in which he believes something has been hidden from the General Assembly and the public.

* Partially agree and partially puzzled…

Leaders in Illinois have said this is the year for pension reform.

Unit 5 Superintendent Gary Niehaus said he’s not so sure. He told WJBC that lawmakers may talk about it a lot this year, but doesn’t think they’ll act until there’s a lame duck session.

“It’s so hard to understand why we haven’t been able to take on this in a way that makes sense,” Niehaus said. “And, I think now that they’ve had more people involved, I think the governor is going to try and push this thing through this spring. I don’t know if he has enough coalition to pull that off.”

If pension reform was easy, it would’ve been done years ago. It ain’t.

But Gov. Pat Quinn hasn’t really said what he wants to do about pension reform, other than the bill has to be constitutional. And his pension reform commission isn’t given much chance of success. Quinn just doesn’t have a track record of getting things done on his own initiative. He’s shown he can kill things, but not pass them.

* In other news, the always controversial legislative scholarship program is showing up in legislative campaigns…

Avon Township Supervisor Sam Yingling has called on his Republican opponent in the 62nd House District, incumbent Sandy Cole of Grayslake, to not participate in the legislative scholarship program. Cole voted to eliminate the program last year, but has awarded the scholarships.

“With our state government in financial distress, I commend Reps Sullivan and Gaffney in their effort to save money. This is why I call on Rep. Cole to follow suit and suspend her participation in this program.” said Yingling, a Round Lake Beach Democrat.

From a Yingling press release…

“Leadership takes action and Cole needs to be held accountable,” explained Yingling, “for too long she has operated under the radar, saying one thing to our constituents and doing another in Springfield. This isn’t a stunt; it’s a way to ensure she does the right thing.”

Yingling’s website attacking Rep. Cole on the issue is here. The BGA has also launched an online petition to end the program.

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Protected: *** UPDATED x4 *** SUBSCRIBERS ONLY: Campaign Updates

Tuesday, Jan 24, 2012 - Posted by Rich Miller

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*** UPDATED x1 *** Illinois Supreme Court approves cameras in courtrooms

Tuesday, Jan 24, 2012 - Posted by Rich Miller

* Illinois Statehouse News had the scoop late yesterday afternoon about a new policy announcement by the Illinois Supreme Court. Cameras will be allowed into courtrooms on a pilot project basis…

On Tuesday, the state Supreme Court is expected to announce it will allow trial court proceedings to be filmed and tape recorded for the first time in the state’s 194-year history, Kilbride said.

Illinois is one of 14 states where cameras in trial courtrooms are either not allowed or not used, according to the Radio Television Digital News Association, a professional organization serving the electronic news profession and dedicated to setting standards for news gathering and reporting.

“The idea behind this is simple. We need to have the courts be more open. By having the public keeping an eye on what is going on in the courtroom, it can act as a check in the balance of power,” Kilbride said.

* From the Court’s press release…

The policy provides that the media, through a media coordinator, must request extended media coverage at least 14 days in advance of the time the proceeding is scheduled, although the time frame may be expanded or reduced by the judge. It allows for no more than two video cameras and no more than two still photographers. It encourages media pooling in all regards, and requires media pooling when there are more media requesting extended coverage than the number the judge allows.

In the case of a media member promising coverage of a proceeding from beginning to end, that member of the media shall receive priority consideration for placing its equipment in the courtroom. If the media cannot agree among themselves on the pooling arrangements, extended media coverage will be disallowed.

The policy allows for a witness or a party to object to a request for extended media coverage, but it is not intended that such objection, while in the discretion of the judge, will be automatically granted.

In prosecutions for sexual abuse, or when sexual abuse is an essential element, there will be no extended media coverage of the testimony of a victim unless the testifying victim consents. An objection to extended media coverage by a testifying victim in any other forcible felony prosecution, and by police informants, undercover agents and relocated witnesses shall be presumed valid.

The policy also prohibits media coverage in any juvenile, divorce, adoption, child custody, evidence suppression and trade secret cases, as well as in any court proceeding required under Illinois law to be held in private.

Extended media coverage of jury selection, the jury and individual jurors also is prohibited under the policy. Any decision by a chief judge or judge to deny, limit or terminate extended media coverage is not appealable.

* The policy itself includes live broadcasts. So, trials could be on TV if the judge and everybody else agrees. Still cameras “must be unobtrusive without distracting lighting or sound.” Media will have to pool equipment if there are several requests. Media insignias are also prohibited on clothing, and media members “must be properly attired” and maintain proper decorum, with the judge having discretion about what that means.

* I have one concern, however…

The new policy only allows for members of the “established” news media to photograph, film or tape record sessions. Residents and those working for non-traditional news organizations, such as Internet blogs, initially are being excluded from filming or recording court sessions.

But the high court may review the policy later regarding electronic coverage of courts by residents and non-traditional media.

Some blogs are “established” news media in their communities. Peoria Pundit is a prime example of this, as his HuffPo Chicago. The policy itself has a broader definition of “news media” than the article implies…

“News Media,” in general, means established news gathering and reporting agencies and their representatives whose function is to inform the public.

But since the judge will have total discretion, online media could easily be excluded by a luddite.

Discuss.

*** UPDATE *** From the Tribune…

Cook County’s chief judge is giving the thumbs up to a new policy that will allow cameras and recorders inside courts on an experimental basis. […]

Judge Timothy Evans,, head of the busiest court system in the state, says he’ll apply to participate in the pilot project.

Evans says greater media access will help address misconceptions about courtroom procedures fostered by popular TV shows.

Evans says he’ll appoint an advisory committee to recommend how to implement the policy. It’ll include judges, attorneys, reporters and members of the public.

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*** UPDATED x1 *** Today’s project

Tuesday, Jan 24, 2012 - Posted by Rich Miller

* I was talking to one of US Sen. Mark Kirk’s top staffers yesterday and he had this to say about his boss…

“He’s like all these guys, man. He’s addicted to that blog.”

Heh.

* Mark Kirk is a sport. I guess that’s the best way I can describe him. I’ve whacked him hard over the years, but he’s always taken it like a man and he’s never acted petty about it later. I’ve always admired that about him and I’m sorry that it took his stroke for me to say it.

This post will be printed and delivered to Sen. Kirk in his hospital room. So, let’s do our best to brighten his spirits and wish him a speedy recovery. Say something nice.

*** UPDATE - 12:04 pm *** Sen. Kirk’s physician is speaking live to the media. Click here to watch the live video stream. So far, there is no major news yet. It’s just an update on the Senator’s condition. He asked for his Blackberry this morning, he has slight paralysis on the left side of his face, he’ll be in ICU for 5-7 days, his speech is “slightly slurred.”

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