Not For Nothing

About that Shield Law

David Scharfenberg — Fri, 06 Nov 2009 20:59:00 GMT

There has been near unanimous support, in the media, for a law making its way through Congress that would protect journalists from revealing confidential sources. And this scribe is inclined to cheer on the bill. But there's an interesting contrary view at Slate from Jack Shafer who notes that the proposed law is not an out-and-out shield: it would simply force the government to show why reporters should be required to testify about sources - a hurdle, he suggests, that is quite surmountable.

Moreover, he writes, the government has rarely gone after reporters. And current guidelines are murky enough that prosecutors can wriggle out of pursuing these uncomfortable cases. The new law provides a clearer sort of rule that the press - lobbying hard for the bill - might come to rue, he writes.

A federal shield law would reduce this helpful murk by legally codifying the process of subpoenaing journalists. Prosecutors and judges could now say to the press, We have this new law that balances the First Amendment with the government's need for important and sensitive information that you hold. We're going to walk through it very slowly, and no bellyaching if we tell you to give up a source. You wrote the goddamn thing and lobbied Congress to pass it!

Former Save the Bay Chief to Head New England EPA

David Scharfenberg — Thu, 05 Nov 2009 22:15:00 GMT

This just in from the Boston Globe:

After months of speculating, Curt Spalding, the longtime executive director of Save the Bay in Rhode Island, has just been named New England’s U.S. Environmental Protection Agency chief.

Spalding was considered a strong candidate, but pundits were placing bets on Charlie Lord, who helped found Boston College’s Urban Ecology Institute or David Cash, Massachusetts assistant secretary for policy at the Executive Office of Energy and Environmental Affairs.

Months have gone by without an appointment and the decision is being met at the EPA with relief there is a new leader at the helm. Former Bush-era New England EPA chief Robert Varney left for the private sector months ago.

This from an EPA announcement: “Spalding has extensive experience as an advocate, policy analyst and administrator. For almost 20 years he served as Executive Director of Save the Bay Rhode Island, a 20,000 member environmental advocacy and education organization. He established the Narragansett BayKeeper and Habitat Restoration programs which reconnected Save The Bay to ecologically important Bay issues and oversaw the successful completion of the $9 million Explore The Bay Campaign and construction of the Save The Bay Center at Fields Point in Providence, RI. Prior to joining Save the Bay, Spalding was an Environmental Protection Specialist and Presidential Management Intern at EPA’s offices in Boston and Washington, D.C. Spalding received his bachelor’s degree from Hobart College and an M.P.A. from SUNY at Albany in Albany, NY.”

"It is an honor to be selected by President Obama and I look forward to working with Administrator Jackson as we help our communities and build a green economy,’’ Spalding said in a prepared statement. “Years ago, I had the choice of any federal agency to work for, and I chose EPA. My passion for EPA's mission is no less today than it was then. As Regional Administrator I look forward to working with the dedicated EPA New England team in confronting the environmental challenges currently before us. I am proud to serve the people throughout New England at this time of great promise in protecting human health and the environment."

In Today's Phoenix

David Scharfenberg — Thu, 05 Nov 2009 16:54:00 GMT

I've written a cover story for today's Phoenix on a topic that has fascinated me for years: the lifestyle center. It is a faux Main Street - essentially the mall, gone outdoors - that raises all sorts of interesting questions about public and private space.

With the real Main Street in decline, can we really form community in a place built around brand identity? Is there something odd about living in a condo above the Gap with a view of Cold Stone Creamery? Should we be concerned that the new public square doesn't allow for anti-war protest or, even, skateboarding? Or should we be embracing a walkable, green space in the heart of sprawling suburbia?

These centers began to sprout across teh country, in significant numbers, in the early and middle part of this decade. But they are just now taking off in Rhode Island. A good time, I think, to take a look.

Also, this week, rare public comments from Tom Heslin, the executive editor of the ProJo, on the future of the troubled paper and an exhibit opening today at Brown on black gay history in Rhody from our intrepid intern Ellen Cushing.

Fallout for Dems from Tuesday's Election

David Scharfenberg — Wed, 04 Nov 2009 19:24:00 GMT

Republican victories in gubernatorial contests in New Jersey and Virginia yesterday were striped across the nation's newspapers this morning. The GOP and some in the press were quick to label the results a rebuke to Obama.

Late-breaking results of a special Congressional election in upstate New York that went to the Dems has clouded the picture, though. And some of the punditry labeling this a serious blow to the White House may go a bit too far. Patrick Kennedy is among those appearing in a Washington Post piece on the topic:

Independents, who were crucial to the president's election campaign, swung dramatically to Republicans in both state contests. If that pattern holds a year from now, Democratic lawmakers in swing districts could find themselves on the losing side of a reelection fight.

"Watching their party hemorrhage independent voters should send shivers down the spines of Democrat strategists as they look ahead to Senate elections next year in states like Nevada, Colorado, Connecticut, New Hampshire, Ohio, and Pennsylvania," declared Republican Sen. John Cornyn (R-TX) in a memo to reporters.

Democratic lawmakers were just beginning to digest the news, but expressed some concern about the impact on their futures if the effects linger into next year's election cycle.

"I think it kind of reflects a general anti-incumbent feeling," said Rep. Patrick Kennedy (D-R.I.), acknowledging that such sentiment will hurt his party if it persists into 2010. "Next year is a millennium away, politically, so there's plenty of time for us. I guess we have a lot to be grateful for that the election isn't next month or next week."

Rep. Eliot Engel (D-N.Y.) said Democrats can boost their fortunes simply by doing what they promised last November.

"I think that Democrats were elected last year on the basis of change, and once we pass health care . . . that will fundamentally change the dynamics," Engel said, adding that voters were obviously concerned about the economy, "but hopefully by next year things will begin to turn around."

White House officials rejected what they said was overhyped conclusions about the impact on Obama of losing the governorships in New Jersey and Virginia, and instead sought to focus attention on the Democratic victory in New York's 23rd congressional district.

"We won a congressional seat that's been in Republican hands since Ulysses S. Grant was president, in part because of the disunity in the Republican party," senior adviser David Axelrod said in an early-morning phone interview. "That was the only truly national contest on the ballot."

Axelrod said the intervention of national conservatives in pushing the moderate GOP candidate out of the New York race will be the only lasting impact of the night.

"The most portentous thing that happened yesterday was that the right wing of the Republican party ran a moderate Republican essentially out of the race, and lost a seat they had held for more than 100 years," he said. "I don't take that as discouragement."

Is the Maine Vote a Setback for Same-Sex Marriage in Rhode Island?

David Scharfenberg — Wed, 04 Nov 2009 15:32:00 GMT

Maine voters overturned same-sex marriage legislation yesterday in what is, undoubtedly, a blow to the national movement for gay nuptials. And the vote could have some impact in Rhode Island which, until yesterday, was the only New England state that failed to recognize same-sex marriage.

Momentum matters in politics, after all. And Rhode Island's gay rights advocates can no longer say that the state is the lone outlier in an oasis of marriage equality.

But one should not overstate the impact. The Maine result, if disappointing for gay rights advocates, was no great surprise - voters have rejected same-sex marriage in state after state, every time it lands on the ballot.

And, even more important, getting the question on the ballot is harder in Rhode Island than it is elsewhere. Citizen signatures won't do it; the General Assembly must approve the move. And the legislature seems unlikely to go that route. It has shown little appetite for raising the temperature on divisive social issues in recent years. And Majority Leader Gordon Fox, who is openly gay, seems poised to be the next Speaker of the House. Indeed, his rise is cause for hope among same-sex marriage advocates.

That's not to say that marriage equality is a sure thing in the coming years. Rhode Island has lagged behind its neighbors for a reason. The risk-averse politics that is likely to keep the same-sex marriage question off the ballot has also prevented affirmative legislative action on marriage equality.

But if the local movement still faces an uphill climb, the vote in Maine probably doesn't add much to the steepness of the ascent. "It really has nothing to do with us," said Kathy Kushnir, executive director of Marriage Equality Rhode Island, in an interview with N4N. "We're going to work our way through the legislature just as we had planned and they're going to do the right thing."

Lt. Gov. Roberts Unveils Obamaesque Web Site

David Scharfenberg — Tue, 03 Nov 2009 19:53:00 GMT

The new elizabethroberts.org is downright Obama-like in look and feel, with a tagline - "restoring hope in Rhode Island" - to match. Providence City Councilman and would-be mayoral candidate John Lombardi's site, unveiled earlier this year, also emulates the president's new media politics.

Look for more of the same, as Rhode Island gears up for its first true social-media election next year.

Undermining the Message?

David Scharfenberg — Tue, 03 Nov 2009 14:58:00 GMT

Steve Peoples has a story in today's ProJo about a questionable move by the Moderate Party to swell its bank account. Party Chairman Ken Block donated $10,000 to the party's state committee in September, meeting the maximum allowed under state law. A few days later, he donated an additional $10,000 to the Barrington Moderate Town Committee, which then redirected the money to the state committee, circumventing the limit.

Block claims the practice is legal under state law. And he may be right. But for a fledgling third party that has made ethics reform a central plank in its platform, this does not look good. The party lacks the institutional strength and bankroll of the Democratic Party it is facing down. Its most powerful claim, in a state known for its shady politics, is a claim to the moral high ground. If the party wants to be effective, it must be careful not to concede that ground.

Otherwise, the Mods walk into this sort of exchange, at the end of the ProJo piece, between Block and state Democratic Party Chairman Bill Lynch:

Asked why he would risk making donations that might be questioned, [Block] said, “It’s 100 percent ethical. If it were not legal, it wouldn’t be ethical.”

That didn’t satisfy Lynch.

“These are the guys, the Moderate Party, who want to sit back and throw stones and criticize everybody else,” he said. “They’re going to be the new moral authority in Rhode Island politics. And right out of the bat, they’re coming up with a strategy at least to avoid law in Rhode Island. You can’t make this stuff up.”

Of Tea Parties and the GOP

David Scharfenberg — Mon, 02 Nov 2009 19:38:00 GMT

In my piece on the Rhode Island Tea Party a couple of weeks back, I wrote a bit about the tea party movement's uneasy relationship with the GOP - here and nationwide. The movement, a collection of ideological purists, have been quick to criticize the Republican Party for its role in expanding federal spending in recent years. And it has shown little patience for moderates in the party. The most prominent national example, at the moment - a special Congressional race in upstate New York. Tea party types backed a third-party, hard-right conservative, Douglas L. Hoffman, against a moderate Republican and the Democrat in the race. News this weekend that the Republican, Dede Scozzafava, dropped out of the race in the face of poor polling and backed the Democrat, Bill Owens.

It is a striking sign of the strength of the conservative wing of the party in a post-Obama battle for the soul of the party. And that's bad news for a GOP trying to regain its foothold among moderate voters.

But it is also a sign that a group of independent-minded activists can band together and be effective in the political arena. Here in Rhode Island, the right has displayed some organizational spunk of late in its fight against the binding arbitration bill. But it says here that the Rhode Island Tea Party still has to show that it can have a significant impact in a strongly Democratic state. That Congressional district in New York has been represented by Republicans since the 19th Century. It has a conservative pedigree. Rhody is a different animal.

ProJo's Parent Cuts Losses

David Scharfenberg — Fri, 30 Oct 2009 19:40:00 GMT

The chatter around the ProJo in recent weeks was that finances at the paper's Dallas-based parent company, A.H. Belo, might brighten a wee bit with the third-quarter earnings report. Those numbers were released today and, well, they could've been worse. From the Providence Business News:

DALLAS – The Providence Journal’s parent company, A. H. Belo Corp., on Friday said its third-quarter losses narrowed thanks to improved performance by its flagship newspaper, The Dallas Morning News.

A. H. Belo posted a net loss of $5.8 million, or 28 cents a share, in the three months ended Sept. 30, compared with a net loss of $17.3 million, or 83 cents a share, in the same period a year earlier. Revenue fell 17.5 percent to $126.87 million.

The $5.8 million loss included both a $20 million non-cash charge related to the closing of a plant in Texas and a $12 million gain from a federal income tax refund.

While advertising sales continued to plummet, A. H. Belo increased the amount of money it gets from subscribers to The Morning News and The Journal.

The company’s ad revenue dropped 27 percent to $83.82 million from July through September, with classified revenue shrinking 40 percent. Circulation revenue, on the other hand, rose 11.6 percent to $35.23 million.

The Journal posted the best margin of earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization in the quarter, followed by The Morning News and The Press-Enterprise of Riverside, Calif., A. H. Belo said.

Heslin the Hard Way

David Scharfenberg — Fri, 30 Oct 2009 13:33:00 GMT

Tom Heslin, executive editor of the Providence Journal, opened his speech before Common Cause Rhode Island last night with an amusing tale of his first reporting job at the York County Coast Star newspaper in Maine and spoke of a small abbreviation that appeared on the front of the broadsheet: THWTB. It stood, he said, for "The Hard Way's The Best."

Heslin went on to deliver an upbeat lecture on the state of the ProJo and pledged that the paper would bring the best journalistic values of the past into an uncertain future. He pledged that it would dig. That it would continue to do it the hard way.

But doing it the hard way, with far fewer resources, has proven, well, hard. And the paper, racing to keep up with a digital age, has put a premium on the instantaneous, on-line news report - a medium that does not lend itself to the rigorous reportage of the past.

Indeed, doing it the "hard way," these days, is perhaps a better description of the business challenges facing the paper. Figures released earlier this week show circulation of the daily edition plummeted close to 20 percent. And there could be more bad news this afternoon when the ProJo's parent company, A.H. Belo, releases third-quarter numbers.

But Heslin, in spite of all this, seems genuinely hopeful about the future of the ProJo as news organization, if not as newspaper. Audience response to the Journal's news blog, he said, suggests there is a continuing market for the "journalism of verification" - the straight-news kind - as opposed to the "journalism of assertion," which also has a market.

But how to wring enough profit from that market? Several audience members asked Heslin that question and he did not have an answer. In fairness, no one does. It will be a hard way forward.

Oh, the Irony

David Scharfenberg — Thu, 29 Oct 2009 21:58:00 GMT

You've seen the ads, perhaps, touting Target 12's biggest investigation yet. Here's the scoop on the story, to run at 11 o'clock tonight: it's a look at state workers, tasked with investigating unemployment fraud and phony disability claims, running personal errands on state time.

Oh, the irony.

Investigative reporter Tim White tells N4N that he's been contacted by state police, who have opened an investigation based on the station's work. A nice coup for the station, which has maintained its commitment to investigative reports even as its rivals, ABC6 and WJAR, have curt back in tough times.

Kennedy's Olive Branch

David Scharfenberg — Thu, 29 Oct 2009 18:44:00 GMT

Patrick Kennedy and the Catholic Church got in an ugly spat over health care reform last week. And the diocese has invited Kennedy in to meet. From the Congressman's office, a letter back to the church. An olive branch? Sort of:

Thank you for your letter requesting a meeting with me to discuss the church’s position on comprehensive health care reform. Your letter follows my comments regarding the church’s opposition to the health care reform bill being considered in Congress and your own public response. I would welcome the opportunity to meet with you to discuss this or any other important issue facing our country and our community. I am pleased you wish for us to discuss this issue on its merits.

I wish to express to you that my comments were never intended to slight the church. Certainly, I recognize that the church has always stood for health care reform as is evidenced by the statement of the US Council of Catholic Bishops. My hope is that our church will be true to its millennia-old mission of feeding the hungry, clothing the poor and caring for those less fortunate than ourselves. My Catholic faith is based on these foundation principles.

While I greatly respect the Catholic Church and its leaders, like many Rhode Islanders, the fact that I disagree with the hierarchy of the church on some issues does not make me any less of a Catholic. I embrace my faith which acknowledges the existence of an imperfect humanity.

Prior to our meeting, so there is no further confusion about my own position, I’d like to state for you what I believe about comprehensive health care reform.

At long last, our nation is poised to embrace a landmark human rights initiative that will improve the health, well-being and economic security of tens of millions of Americans. The debate surrounding health care reform has been robust and vigorous, and certainly my fervent passion for this issue has been well publicized since being elected to Congress. This passion stems from the simple belief that in the richest nation in the world, every citizen should have access to comprehensive, affordable, quality health care.

As an elected representative, I am working for a consensus that will move us toward achieving this important outcome for people from all walks of life. When attempts are made to impose absolutes on the legislative process, very little or nothing is achieved, and progress and justice are rarely realized by the population at large.

No one entity is getting everything it wants in this piece of legislation. The Catholic Church has every right to promote its position on issues it feels are important. However, the issue before us is that of access to health care and nothing else. If any stakeholder seeks to impose absolutes on the debate, we are left standing idle instead of moving our nation forward. I do not believe we can risk more of the status quo when it comes to the health and well-being of our families, friends, neighbors, and fellow Americans.

We should not lose sight of the opportunity at hand - to pass comprehensive health insurance reform and ensure access to affordable, quality health care for all. We must continue to work and stay at the table for the best outcome possible for all Americans.

It remains my hope and prayer that the Catholic Church, my church, will stand together with all of those who believe that this is an issue of fundamental human dignity and right.

I will have my office contact your assistant and look forward to arranging a time and place that is mutually convenient for us to continue our discussion.

Does Chafee Have a Path to Victory?

David Scharfenberg — Thu, 29 Oct 2009 17:56:00 GMT

Lincoln Chafee's name recognition and Bush-bashing appeal should, in theory, put him in a strong position for the gubernatorial race. But can he put together a winning coalition?

Liberal blogger Matt Jerzyk writes of a left less-than-impressed with Chafee's performance at a gathering of progressive activists last night - and less-than-impressed, in general, with his candidacy.

And if Chafee fails to lock up this constituency, his road to victory gets quite a bit bumpier. There is, after all, significant competition for the centrist voters who would be his more natural constituency.

Treasurer and would-be gubernatorial candidate Frank Caprio, who is leading the money chase on the Democratic side, has staked out a moderate-to-conservative position on fiscal matters. And his rival, Attorney General Patrick Lynch, is no lefty agitator, either.

Even the sole Republican to put his foot forward, businessman Rory Smith, seems a moderate in the early going - he is pro-choice, for instance.

But Jim DeRentis, Chafee's campaign manager, says there is a path to victory. Caprio, he suggests, has gone too far to the right - leaving the center exposed. Lynch's base, he insists, is hard-core Democrats. And Smith just won't catch on, he argues: the Republican looks too much like the current, unpopular governor - a businessman with the misguided notion that he can turn his business experience into effective civic leadership.

Is he right? Time will tell.

But it says here that Chafee can't count on racking up big margins on Caprio among centrists. The treasurer may be a bit conservative on fiscal matters. But he is hardly out of the Democratic mainstream. Chafee may have to make significant inroads with the left if he hopes to outflank Caprio. And he's got some work to do on that front.

A Lynch victory in the Democratic primary could be even more problematic. It would make appealing to the left more difficult and still present challenges in the middle.

Chafee's early fundraising troubles don't help matters, though DeRentis - while stopping short of saying that Chafee will pour his own money to the race - assures N4N that the well-to-do former Senator will be competitive in the gubernatorial race.

There's also a question of momentum. Ian Donnis, over at WRNI, sounds some skeptical notes about Chafee's campaign. And he's not the only one. Still, it's early.

Indeed, there's an argument to be made for keeping Linc's political identity a little less-than-defined while the rest of the filed takes shape. Charting a path to victory will depend, in large part, on identifying who Chafee's contenders will be in November 2010.

Candidates Set for Dennigan's Seat

David Scharfenberg — Thu, 29 Oct 2009 17:02:00 GMT

This just in from the Secretary of State's office on the race to succeed State Representative Elizabeth Dennigan, who has stepped down to challenge Congressman Jim Langevin:

PROVIDENCE, R.I. – Secretary of State A. Ralph Mollis announced today that just three of the four candidates who filed to run for Elizabeth Dennigan’s former House seat have officially qualified to appear on the Dec. 29 ballot.

State law required the contenders to submit nomination papers including the signatures of at least 50 House District 62 voters earlier this week. Mollis’ office finished certifying the results this morning after receiving the nomination papers from the East Providence and Pawtucket boards of canvassers.

One-hundred-and-thirty-two of the signatures collected by Democrat Mary Duffy Messier of Pawtucket ended up surviving the certification process. Republican Thomas Clupny of East Providence ended up with 100 certified signatures and independent Paul Dinsmore of East Providence, who challenged Dennigan as a Republican in 2002, 2004, 2006 and 2008; had 62.

A fourth candidate who filed declaration of candidacy papers earlier this month -- Brian Cinq-Mars of Pawtucket -- failed to submit nomination papers by last Tuesday’s deadline.

While there will be no primary, there are several other crucial dates leading up to the Dec. 29 election. The next milestone will be Nov. 23, when Mollis will hold a public lottery to determine the order in which Messier, Clupny and Dinsmore will appear on the ballot. Nov. 28 is the deadline for registering to vote and mail ballots must be requested by Dec. 8.

The special election became necessary when Dennigan resigned Oct. 1. Her former district stretches along the eastern shore of the Seekonk River in East Providence and Pawtucket.

Dionne to Speak in Providence

David Scharfenberg — Wed, 28 Oct 2009 14:09:00 GMT

E.J. Dionne, one of the most incisive political observers in the land, will be speaking in Rhode Island in a week-and-a-half. This just in from former Brown political science professor Darrel West, now with the Brookings Institution in Washington:

Washington Post Columnist E.J. Dionne will deliver a lecture on “The Good News: The Future of Religion is Not Extremism” at 6 p.m., Sunday, November 8, 2009 at the Central Congregational Church, 296 Angell Street, Providence, RI. The event is free and open to the public. Dionne will be introduced by former Brown University Professor Darrell M. West.

Dionne is a senior fellow at the Brookings Institution and University Professor in the Foundations of Democracy and Culture at Georgetown University. He spent fourteen years with the New York Times, and in 1990, joined the Washington Post as a reporter, covering national politics. His best-selling book, Why Americans Hate Politics (Simon & Schuster), was published in 1991. The book won the Los Angeles Times book prize and was a National Book Award nominee. He began his op-ed column for the Post in 1993, and it is syndicated to more than 100 newspapers. He is a regular political commentator on television and radio, including National Public Radio and ABC News.