Bush Steals The New York Times’s Idea

Quinn Wilhelmi

Bush Steals The New York Times’s Idea

So I'm the new kid on the blog but I figure someone's got to make mention of the New York Times editorial that ran on Sunday entitled "Death of an American City". Let me just say - thank god for print media. While the cable news shows must chase only the most current of stories with the best visuals and highest degree of controversy, the New York Times and others are there to show us that what once was the biggest breaking news of 2005, has since grown extraordinarily frustrating and stagnate. Though the lack of activity is hard to cover if you're CNN, the fact that so little has been done is still very much newsworthy.

In Sunday's article, the New York Times editorial board not only thrust the limelight back on New Orleans, but it made one, specific argument for what must be done next: "There are many unanswered questions that will take years to work out," they wrote, "but one is make-or-break and needs to be dealt with immediately. It all boils down to the levee system." Additionally, they argued that "only the office of the president is strong enough to goad Congress to take swift action". If this is going to happen, it will have to come from the White House.

Well, today that's exactly what happened. Flanked by the head of the Army Corps of Engineers, the Homeland Security Secretary, and New Orleans Mayor Ray Nagin, President Bush announced that he will ask Congress for $3.6 billion to repair the levee systems in New Orleans.

It is impossible to ever tell what forces shape our public policy so we can't say definitively whether the New York Times article had any effect on today's events. But when that article ran, there was basically no talk of such a deal and just four days later it became front-page news.

Now, Armageddon will be upon us the day that Karl Rove and the Bush camp read the New York Times editorial page and say to themselves "Hmm... good idea - I think we'll try that." But even if plans for this deal were already in the works, I can't help but imagine that Sunday's op-ed did a little something to hasten the process, raise the dollar figure, or at least make it a truly presidential priority. Only print media (and frequently the blogosphere) has that kind of power. Sometimes the most important reporting is not on news, but on the lack thereof. Here's to media that runs deep.

Quinn Wilhelmi: Author Bio | Other Posts
Posted at 6:06 PM, Dec 15, 2005 in Media
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which of course is all in jeoprody when newspapers like Newsday are forced to cut down on their reporter staff so that the owners can make more money (off an already profitable venture).

I know it sounds like a conspiracy theory (ok, so it is one) but why is it that the guys with all the money, the people who may find themselves targets of investigation are cutting back on the staff capable of doing the investigating?

They don't want us to get the news.

Quinn raises an important point about the importance of media coverage that extends beyond today's newest information. In the 24 hour, Internet driven, global news cycle the focus is on ruptures in the status quo, not what has determined the status quo. When the media fails it does so because it does not have the attention span required to tell the stories that need to be told. From the tsunami, to the hurricanes, to the reconstruction of Iraq, often times the important stories are those about what takes place after events, when there are no cameras lingering. Arguably the most important stories are the one's least likely to be told- it'll be a long time before you see a NYT headline that reads, "Millions of Americans Still Without Health Care."

The progressive community, and think tanks like DMI and the Roosevelt Institution in particular, are important because they direct media attention to the types of problems that don't normally draw coverage. Media coverage of persistent social problems eventually leads to policy that seeks to remedy those problems. The infrastructure required to direct media attention to the issues that affect people's lives won't emerge overnight, but DMI and Roosevelt are the vanguard of that movement. That�s why it�s great to see Quinn getting involved at DMI. Lets Go VLWC!