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* This story about yesterday’s special session was a bit misleading…
The state’s capitol was so empty it seemed you could drive a CTA bus through the halls, and not endanger anybody. The legislative chambers were also mostly empty.
A sparsely-attended Senate meeting adjourned after two minutes. Attendance in the House was slightly better, but the session ended there after 13 minutes.
Actually, 14 or 15 Senators showed up (depending on the count), while 70 House members answered the roll call.
* And this piece puts all the onus on the General Assembly, while the governor gets the spin…
CTA, Pace and Metra commuters could all be seeing service cuts and fare increases if the lawmakers do not come up with a solution by January 20. […]
It’s not only a new year, but it’s a new day. And there’s no time to delay in saving the CTA,” said Gov. Rod Blagojevich.
* What’s the connection? They’re both TV stories. As somebody pointed out in comments, the TV reporters tended to give the governor more of a benefit of the doubt than the newspaper reporters did. And, frankly, when it comes to impact on the citizenry, TV swamps newsprint.
What just about everyone missed is that only eight Senate Democrats came to town yesterday. That’s eight out of 37 in a chamber controlled by the governor’s biggest ally.
Most lawmakers skipped the session.
To be more accurate, most Senators skipped the session. A clear majority of House members showed.
* Meanwhile, I couldn’t find any Chicago TV stories about the governor’s pretty disastrous press conference yesterday. Fox Chicago put a Sun-Times piece on its website, but that was it…
Gov. Blagojevich Wednesday afternoon bluntly dismissed federal investigations that have sparked indictments against two of his top political fund-raisers. The governor called the investigation, “tangential, collateral” matters detracting from important issues like mass-transit funding.
As that commenter on yesterday’s item noted, blog writers and blog readers need to pay a whole lot more attention to what actually gets on TV, where the vast majority of people receive their news. We’re all tuned in, but it’s important to know how our info differs from just about everyone else’s.
* More special session stuff, compiled by Paul…
* No skyway funds to bail out CTA says Daley
* It is mostly no shows at transit special session
* Few show up for special session
* Editorial: No apparent resolution to end impasse
* Mass transit funding still on hold
* Gov wants gasoline tax funds to help Chicago transit systems
* Bethany Jaeger: Old problems carry over into new year
* Gov scoffs at probes, media: ‘They like to sell newspapers’
* Chicago Public Radio: Blagojevich denies connection to federal investigation
* Blagojevich denies role in kickback scheme
* Governor dismisses talk about corruption probe
* Governor issues flat denial
posted by Rich Miller
Thursday, Jan 3, 08 @ 9:57 am
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I like the idea of the city putting up money to pay for the CTA. Also, suburbs should put up some to pay for Metra.
What is he thinking proposing playing a shell game with state money? I am just glad he does not have access to social security money.
Comment by Wumpus Thursday, Jan 3, 08 @ 10:01 am
The Gov could just return all the pay to play money he collected in his campagin chest to cover part of this deal.
I do agree with the Gov, it seems silly of the prees to ask him about his conduct in defrauding the people of the State of Illinois and wasting millions in tax dollars in exhcnage ofr campaign contributions when the State is addressing a budget crisis and spending.
Comment by Ghost Thursday, Jan 3, 08 @ 10:15 am
Do I understand correctly: The TV news is kind to the Governor (compared to the print press) and most people get their news from the TV and yet he still polls worse than the President???
And the City of Chicago needs to save its Skyway money for the day we get the inevitable ‘unexpected’ disaster. (Contrary to popular opinion, Chicago is not immune to a tornado, for example. Two have ripped across the City in the last five years. The weather community has a nice video of what will happen when a tornado runs through the Loop. It will take a billion dollars to just clean up the mess.)
Comment by RBD Thursday, Jan 3, 08 @ 10:16 am
Newspapers wanting to increase revenue through sales is nothing compared to someone who allegedly barters state investment portfolio profits for campaign contributions. He accuses the media of wanting to sell newspapers? It’s too bad someone didn’t fire back with a retort along the lines of “better to sell newspapers than to sell the State, Governor.”
Comment by DC Thursday, Jan 3, 08 @ 10:24 am
Governor Blagojevich, I must beg to differ with your comment that the federal investigation of you and your administration is “NOT RELEVANT TO THE PEOPLE OF ILLINOIS”. As a “VOTING CITIZEN OF ILLINOIS” and one of YOUR EMPLOYERS every action you take is VERY RELEVANT to me. As my EMPLOYEE and an employee of the great state of Illinois, you took an ETHICS TEST designed by your very own crony in Califoria and signed what is in essence an affadavit that you would abide by YOUR VERY OWN ETHICS LAW or FACE DISCIPLINARY ACTION UP TO AND INCLUDING DISCHARGE and/or CRIMINAL PROSECUTION. As an EMPLOYEE of the citizens of Illinois, your behavior should be beyond reproach and if it is not, we should have the right to at least fire you, if not prosecute you to the full extent of the law.
Comment by Dan S a Voter Thursday, Jan 3, 08 @ 10:34 am
Please dispense with the caps. Makes you look goofy. Thanks.
Comment by Rich Miller Thursday, Jan 3, 08 @ 10:37 am
WGN/Zell-TV did a story about our Ryanesque comment on the probe (oh that seems all tingly)
Most TV forgot to mention there was nothing for the legislators to vote on and therefor no reason to be in SPI. Other than that the reporting was a crisp as ever. Happy New Year!
Comment by DumberThanYouThink Thursday, Jan 3, 08 @ 11:02 am
Saw clips of press conference on the news, listened to audio from it.
Really didn’t seem disastrous to me.
Seemed like he wanted to say all those things he did.
Comment by GoBearsss Thursday, Jan 3, 08 @ 11:04 am
I think what gets lost here is (if I recall correctly) the House & Senate had a deal many months ago to provide long-term funding for CTA via increased sales tax and Blago coerced Emil Jones to change his mind, and then Jones blamed Madigan. Now Blago says yesterday that he can’t save CTA by himself again again like he has two times previously, what a hypocrite.
Comment by James the Intolerant Thursday, Jan 3, 08 @ 11:06 am
Definition of insanity: repeating the same action over and over again and expecting a different result. Calling Special sessions with nothing special to do is just insane.
Comment by Gregor Thursday, Jan 3, 08 @ 11:34 am
gregor the Emperor is not insane, his new clothes are just invisible.
Comment by Ghost Thursday, Jan 3, 08 @ 11:48 am
Of course the TV news wouldn’t cover the Gov’s press conference, they needed to cover the big story that it is cold in Chicago in January.
Comment by Garp Thursday, Jan 3, 08 @ 11:57 am
What bothers me about SOME of these television stations is that they don’t realize that, as trustees, given the privilege of using the public airwaves to make a profit, they are still required to comply with a number of statues and rules regarding candidate appearances, which are separate from the now defunct Fairness Doctrine.
Comment by Squideshi Thursday, Jan 3, 08 @ 12:50 pm
“…the TV reporters tended to give the governor more of a benefit of the doubt than the newspaper reporters did.”
November 29, 2007
CBS TV in Chicago has a report by Mike Flannery titled: “Exposing Blagojevich: Governor’s Style An Obstacle” with a nearly-8-minute video.
and…
“A clear majority of House members showed.”
but not the 3/5ths needed to pass legislation?
and…
“Please dispense with the caps.”
Seemed to get his point across, though.
Let’s be nice out there?????????????
Comment by Forgotten Already ? Thursday, Jan 3, 08 @ 1:01 pm
I have officially moved from the position of being pessimistic that this administration will get anything productive done regarding transit/capital spending, to the point that I might actually pass out from pure shock if they did do anything worthwhile anytime soon. The toddlers that are running our state have crossed the line from ineffectiveness to pure buffoonery. I agree that TV coverage doesn’t come close to informing the public on just how inept they are compared to what you learn from reading this blog on a regular basis. It should be required reading for all responsible adults in Illinois (your welcome for the shameless plug, Rich!).
Comment by BigDog Thursday, Jan 3, 08 @ 1:12 pm
I thought that the TV coverage was fair and accurate. The Governor did a good job of getting his message across. The prima donnas from the declining print media who try to try to make themselves the story by being rude and bellowing out unrelated “questions” are once again stimied and shown to be the irrelevant and ineffective flacks that they are. They can’t even get themselves on TV.
Comment by Bill Thursday, Jan 3, 08 @ 1:32 pm
TV news coverage of government and politics has generally been horrible in Chicago maybe since Studs Terkel stopped having a show. The WTTW thing tries hard but can only do so much. State Week In Review does well but it’s a half hour of radio once a week.
Chicago is supposed to be one of the better towns for covering politics and if that’s so, the other markets are too horrible to contemplate. What you have now is short attention span theater. And Rod knows this. If you watch these raw feeds sometimes posted here, you’ll see he deliberately runs his sentences and thoughts together in such a way it is impossible to cut the quote short without needing to paraphrase him, so you have to run his entire long speech. Rod knows the way Tv news is done these days he only has to dazzle with bright shiny objects or colorful quotes for fifteen minutes and the cameras are ready to leave. He waits them out until their eyes glaze over, and the story that airs winds up being the line Rod repeated most often, plus his press release. Which was just what he wanted.
He also knows that Tv news guys and gals are lazy and always too pressed for time. They rarely follow-up claims in depth, they instead just find the usual counter-point opinion comment from some opponent and call it a day of fair and balanced coverage. And if there is no way to get or make pictures of something, it doesn’t exist. Get a Rod quote. Get a counter-quote from Emil or Mike and… you’re DONE!?!?! That’s wrong. Journalists should not depend only on other people with their own agendas to do all their research for them. But doing more in-depth research, building a context… that’s WORK, extra time spent that does not equate to extra pay earned.
The favorite game of TV political news sharks is “gotcha journalism”. That is: find the sexy, dirty scandal of the moment and aim to get a full color close-up of the cornered guy red-faced and wide-eyed, or the angry denials and stammered excuses/alibis that the reporter is ready to pounce on with surprise new information. But they never stick with the story for more than one news cycle, each time reporting it as if we’ve started from square one, he said-she said, who’s right, stay tuned and we’ll tell you when they tell us. The attitude is actually one of disconnection and uncaring. And the voting viewers get that message loud and clear: this is all just a big game you are helpless to control in any way.
It is ironic that the most visual medium is also the one most blind to what’s going on.
Comment by The firm of Ray, Cuddleigh and Chelveston Thursday, Jan 3, 08 @ 1:33 pm
I know print media reporters don’t control headline writers, but, as the article clearly points out, (at the risk of sounding goofy) THE GOV DIDN’T PROPOSE USING GAS TAX fUNDS TO BAIL OUT THE CTA.
Comment by steve schnorf Thursday, Jan 3, 08 @ 1:40 pm
There is still news on TV?
Maybe that’s why Blagojevich polls so well with seniors - they watch that crap that passes for news that appears between the Efferdent and Domino’s Pizza commercials.
TV news isn’t about news. It is about selling commercial space to car and furniture dealers.
Comment by VanillaMan Thursday, Jan 3, 08 @ 3:55 pm
VM: My husband recently took a college-level video production class in which the instructor (a longtime local TV cameraman and technician) emphasized, repeatedly, that the sole purpose of all TV programming is to attract an audience to advertisers. Period.
Comment by Anonymous Thursday, Jan 3, 08 @ 4:15 pm
Public Transpotation is a huge, but only one facet, of the Transportation morass which must be solved. The former includes wheeled and rail people movers.
The latter would also include Automobile movement, taxicabs, truckers and other commercial vehicles, parking and roadway and trackage maintenance. improvement and extension.
When the Skyway was sold, the City took the proceeds and allocated them outside of the Transportaion morass, leaving the latter to steam in its own gridlock, so to speak.
There appear to be zero discussion about a unifying solution to ptoblems facing Transportation, but the CTA mess needs to be viewed in that light and not by its little old self — which is only part — with rail of the public transportation problem.
Comment by Truthful James Thursday, Jan 3, 08 @ 4:42 pm
“Gov. Blagojevich Wednesday afternoon bluntly dismissed federal investigations that have sparked indictments against two of his top political fund-raisers. The governor called the investigation, ‘tangential, collateral’ matters detracting from important issues like mass-transit funding.”
I’d guess this dismissal was borrowed from Daley if only Daley could say “tangential” or “collateral”.
Comment by Independent Thursday, Jan 3, 08 @ 4:52 pm
the investigations will continue to cut into his ability to govern. Whether or not TV got the story is “tangental”. Polls show most Illinois voters, regardless of partisan affilation, do not trust this governor.
Comment by some former legislative intern Thursday, Jan 3, 08 @ 4:58 pm
Bill wrote, “The Governor did a good job of getting his message across.”
The Governor has also done a “good” job of getting other’s messages suppressed. I have very little respect for a man who attempts to have another candidate excluded from a debate by threatening not to participate if that candidate is invited.
Comment by Squideshi Thursday, Jan 3, 08 @ 5:44 pm