Lary Bloom
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Monday, December 12, 2005
Newspapers Cause Political Scandal?
In Sunday's Hartford Courant, veteran political columnist Michele Jacklin announced her retirement and took the opportunity to blame her employer for the proliferation of political scandal in the state.Jacklin, whom I knew when I worked the newspaper and who never pulled punches, argued that by dramatically reducing political coverage in the last few years in the effort to cut costs, the Courant and most of its competitors ceded journalism's traditional watchdog role. In doing so, this allowed politicians, no longer in fear of being closely watched, to run amok. The result has been corrupt city mayors and a governor who won't get out of federal prison until February.
Former colleagues at the paper had told me that Jacklin was among those offered an early retirement (as I was four years ago). When I heard this, I assumed she would write a final column that would be, in her tradition, unblinkingly candid. But in this case, her candor should not be mistaken for insight.
The syllogism she presented was faulty. The Courant has indeed cut back coverage of government considerably. No one who can examine facts would argue otherwise. But to say that therefore John Rowland went haywire is too large a leap. While it's true that before Rowland and a variety of mayors had to hire criminal defense lawyers there was a period that was largely scandal free. But it is also true that there was plenty of press coverage in earlier decades when scandals in city halls and governors mansions rocked Connecticut and the country.
Insiders at many newspapers argue, rightly, that the industry as a whole is offering less to readers every year. But John Rowland didn't take a hot tub from a state contractor because the Courant made cutbacks. He took it because of the same sense of entitlement that crooked politicians have felt since the first American election.
I wish Jacklin well. No doubt a writer who has consummate knowledge of Connecticut politics still has market value. But first she must submit to the ritual of the retirement party, and the speeches about how much management loved her. I'd like to be a fly on the wall of the Courant's Thomas Green Room when, at the end of the program, she offers her remarks. Perhaps, for once, she should just say "thanks" for 25 years of employment and head off into that other world.
Posted by:Lary Bloom at 3:39 AM
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