On Polls and Information Sources

I think this poll is rather frightening:

"Given a choice of three options, just 24% of voters can correctly identify the cap-and-trade proposal as something that deals with environmental issues. A slightly higher number (29%) believe the proposal has something to do with regulating Wall Street while 17% think the term applies to health care reform. A plurality (30%) have no idea. "

It astounds me how uninformed so many people are. I don't say that trying to fluff my own feathers, because while I know every single day that I have a lot to learn, I do make an effort to stay informed.

Many people just don't care about politics and would rather leave it to the people in Washington they've elected. Many people find politics boring. Many people have lousy hometown newspapers. Not everybody stays tuned in to a news channel. Whatever excuse - the fact remains that this poll is quite likely very true. Many people don't know what cap and trade is. Or what socialism is. Or who the vice-president is.

I used to think those "man on the street" interviews were just set up, but now I don't think so. You'd get some radio person or tv person to go out and find the lowest schmuck in the shallowest gene pool and start asking him to name the members of the Supreme Court or even how many members there are, and the guy is all ... " Uh.... dude, wasn't that Diana Ross?"

Even on a local scale this sad fact exists. There are LARGE numbers of people in Louisiana that don't realize that their taxpayer dollars in the budget each year go to fund things like the Martin Luther King Neighborhood Association in (any city), or the Purple Circle Social Club in New Orleans (they needed a tree removed from their property). We have a sorry newspaper in Shreveport - just the facts. It's a TERRIBLE newspaper. And they don't report these things.

My mother just canceled her Sunday paper, by the way, because it's 80% sales circulars, 15% ads, and 5% frivolous articles that have been recycled from other newspapers.

The point is that I suspect this Rasmussen poll is pretty accurate. And that scares me to death because if we don't stay informed and involved in the political process, if we just "leave it to the people we elected" then we'll wake up one day wondering what the heck happened to our country. I'm already wondering that, but that's beside the point.

You don't have to be an activist to be interested in what's going on. You have avenues of information. My mother, for example, quit the Sunday paper but still takes two other papers and watches cable news (two different channels). She's in no way a news junkie or an activist. But she likes to know what's going on.

When I hear things like the Rasmussen poll referenced above, it makes me realize the value of blogs, newspapers, internet, and other periodicals that people can use to stay informed.

We have spirited discussions in the comments on this blog, sometimes, and sometimes people are nasty and insulting, but hopefully, the process serves to inform. And ultimately that's better than not knowing, most of the time, anyway.

More News is Good News

I was really glad to see that the Bossier Press is going to daily publication. I have long been disenchanted with the Shreveport Times (some folks I know call it "The Slimes" but you shall remain nameless) for it's extreme liberal bias and also because it really does not seem to have much real news. In fact, the material in The Living section is often a week behind and I've already read in either the USA Today or another online publication. While I believe in many ways the Times serves its purpose, I think that competition and diversity is a good thing.

I remember when the Shreveport Journal was still around and we had two daily papers in town. You got some diversity there (plus twice the comics!). My dad would get up each morning and read the Times before work and then come home in the evening with the Journal tucked under his arm (crossword puzzle already worked!). Each paper had its own slant and its own perspective. I can't tell you how many people I know that have canceled their Times subscription (myself included, years ago) or threatened to. In fact, some guys in front of Albertsons tried to sell me a subscription last week and I, rude self that I can be, told them "it's a liberal rag!" and declined. They were at least nice.

Shreveport-Bossier is a large enough community to support two newspapers and I'm glad to see the Bossier Press stepping up to the plate. After I've read that paper, small as it may be, I at least feel more in touch with my community. I enjoy the columnists in the Bossier Press as well - maybe it's just my politics. And Jerry Byrd! God love him, nobody can do sports like Jerry Byrd. So good luck Bossier Press, and godspeed!