Commentary: Technology Changes and Bipartisanship are Causing Journalism’s Woes

Journalists Press

by Carl M. Cannon   For the American media, 2024 has been a fiasco. And it’s still only February. Nine days into the new year, highly respected Los Angeles Times editor Kevin Merida resigned rather than tolerate another round of layoffs and the meddlesome ways of a billionaire publisher and his progressive political activist daughter. Two weeks later, California’s largest newspaper announced it was shedding 20% of its staff, including half of its Washington bureau. Sports Illustrated was still reeling from an ethical lapse that cost its CEO his job (the magazine used AI to generate news stories under fake bylines) when management told the staff in a seven-minute Jan. 19 Zoom call of mass layoffs. Many SI journalists were terminated that day via email. Earlier that week, new Baltimore Sun owner David D. Smith met with the apprehensive staff of his new acquisition. The meeting didn’t go well. Smith, a television executive, told the reporters and editors at the venerable 187-year-old daily that he hadn’t read the paper in years. That didn’t stop him from insulting the quality of their journalism. Nor did Smith disavow his previous critique of U.S. print journalism as being “so left-wing as to be meaningless dribble.” Perceived bias…

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Arizona State Lawmakers Express Frustration with Governor Hobbs for Lack of Support of Bipartisan Legislation

As part of Gov. Katie Hobbs’s (D) latest record-setting batch of vetoes, SB 1091, by State Senator Anthony Kern (R-Glendale), was rejected despite passing through the House and Senate with strong bipartisan support.

“Helping to ensure inmates get back on their feet and become productive members of society after their release is massively important,” said Kern. “This bill would have really improved the transition process and 70 other lawmakers agreed. Unfortunately, the Governor didn’t take the time to fully understand it.”

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Center for Arizona Policy Urges Gov. Katie Hobbs to Sign Anti-Infanticide Bill

The Center for Arizona Policy (CAP) is urging Governor Katie Hobbs to sign Senate Bill (SB) 1600, sponsored by Senator Janae Shamp (R-Surprise), which aims to protect all children born alive.

“Withholding reasonable care to a living newborn just because doctors don’t expect her to live long is, indeed, heartless and cruel. @GovernorHobbs can prevent this evil by signing SB 1600,” CAP tweeted.

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State Representative Kolodin Speaks on Progress to Find Immediate Solution to Rio Verde Foothills Water Crisis

Arizona State Representative Alexander Kolodin (R-Scottsdale) told The Arizona Sun Times that the State Legislature is trying to find an immediate solution to the water supply issues in the unincorporated Rio Verde Foothills (RVF) area. He called for all members of the State Legislature to come together, put politics aside, and pass a solution for the people who desperately need one.

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Arizona State Senator Says He Hasn’t Received ‘Necessary Responses’ from Democrats to Work on State Budget

Arizona State Senator John Kavanaugh (R-Fountain Hills), chairman of the Senate Appropriations Committee, told The Arizona Sun Times Friday that attempts to work with Democrats on a state budget have not received necessary responses.

“This year, nobody is going to be able to claim that we shut them out,” Kavanaugh said in a phone interview.

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Arizona Republican Legislative Leaders Reach Out to Gov. Hobbs to Negotiate a State Budget

With a potential government shutdown looming on the horizon, State House Speaker Ben Toma (R-Peoria) and Senate President Warren Petersen (R-Mesa) sent a letter to Gov. Katie Hobbs (D) Tuesday requesting a meeting to discuss ways to compromise on the state budget.

“In our first and only meeting to discuss the budget, your office stated it was unwilling to receive feedback or take questions. Obviously, we need some level of agreement to pass a budget. We believe we can achieve most of our priorities and including yours that are reasonable,” the Legislators wrote in their joint letter.

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Arizona State Representative Celebrates Bipartisan Passage of Voter Signature Verification Bill

The Arizona House of Representatives passed a new house bill (HB) Wednesday clarifying the early ballot envelope voter signature verification standards. This bill came from State Representative Alexander Kolodin (R-Scottsdale), who celebrated the bill passing with bipartisan support.

“This goes to show that when you offer reasonable and necessary solutions to problems, you can reach consensus on real solutions for the people of Arizona. We Republicans are willing to do that and yesterday, we found out that there are some Democrats that are willing to do that as well,” Kolodin said.

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Arizona Latinos Most Concerned About Inflation, Jobs, Crime and Bipartisanship, New Poll Shows

Arizona Latinos are most concerned about inflation, jobs and rising crime, according to a new poll published by UNIDOS US, a research and policy analysis organization that has focused on Hispanic American issues since 1968.

The poll, taken between July 20 and August 1 ranked 14 issues in terms of priorities for Arizona based Latinos, finding that of those categories 49% considered inflation the most pressing concern. Thirty four percent focused on jobs and 27% on crime.

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Commentary: This Is No Time for Bipartisanship

“The Left, in revolutionary fashion, has waged a sustained and unapologetic attack on constitutional norms and long-held institutions—whenever it senses they no longer prove conducive to its own radical agendas.” So begins a trenchant commentary by Victor Davis Hanson on the repeated efforts of Democratic Party leadership to overthrow America’s constitutional republic. Hanson’s remarks stand in stark contrast to a famous interview given to Salon by Dana Perino in 2018, in which the former presidential press secretary was hailed as the “voice of reason.” Perino expressed disappointment that neither party “was talking civility” and considered her own party as much to blame for this incivility as the other one. 

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Senator Hagerty Calls Out the Left in Scathing Op-Ed: ‘America Has Real Problems – Most of Them Self-Inflicted in 2021 by Democrats’

Senator Bill Hagerty (R-TN) on Monday called for bipartisanship to address challenges facing Americans over the course of the new year.

In an opinion piece published by The Hill, Hagerty outlined issues, like historic inflation or the border crisis, and urged Democrats to work with Republicans to find solutions.

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Esther’s Law Headed to Ohio Gov. DeWine’s Desk After Unanimous Passage

In a rare showing of complete bipartisanship, a bill that would allow families to monitor activities inside loved ones’ nursing home rooms with cameras and other electronic equipment, passed through the Ohio Legislature unanimously. 

Senate Bill 58, known as Esther’s Law, has been in the works since 2011, when an activist named Steven Piskor used a hidden camera to catch employees at a nursing home facility run by MetroHealth Medical Center abusing his mother, Esther. 

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Ilhan Omar Leans on Dems to ‘Grow a Backbone,’ Abolish Filibuster

Rep. Ilhan Omar (D-MN-05) wants Senate Democrats to step to the plate and abolish the filibuster, which would pave the way for near-total Democrat control of Congress.

“Please stop asking us about bipartisanship when this is what the leader of the other party is focused on,” she said on Twitter. “Democrats can’t repeat the mistake of 2009, we must abolish the filibuster & move legislation that helps us deliver progress for the American people. Let’s grow a backbone.”

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Whitmer Faces Bipartisan Criticism over Lack of Transparency

Embattled Gov. Gretchen Whitmer (D), who faced backlash for her overbearing COVID-19 shutdown orders, and who is now facing scrutiny for her COVID-19 nursing home policies, has a new issue to contend with: growing calls for transparency from her administration. 

“Michigan is not just out of the mainstream. We’re out of the universe, basically, on limiting the access for our citizens to better know how its government works,” state Sen. Jeremy Moss (D-Southfield) told Michigan Live.

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Virginia House Votes to Double Fines for Littering

In a bipartisan effort, the Virginia House of Delegates Wednesday voted to double fines for littering in the Commonwealth, and impose stricter community service guidelines for litterbugs. 

HB 1801, introduced by Del. James Edmunds II (R-Halifax), increases the minimum fine for “dumping or disposing of litter, trash, or other unsightly matter on public or private property,” from $250 to $500. The maximum fine, $2500, remains the same. 

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DIVISIVENESS: Leahy and Larew Talk About the Importance of Respecting Liberal and Conservative Differentiating Views

  In a specific discussion Friday morning on The Tennessee Star Report with Michael Patrick Leahy – broadcast on Nashville’s Talk Radio 98.3 and 1510 WLAC weekdays from 5:00 am to 8:00 am – Leahy was joined live at WHO radio studios in Des Moines, Iowa with Democratic attorney Jim Larew to discuss the ability communicate although on different ends of the political spectrum. Towards the end of the segment, Leahy questioned Larew about the impeachment process creating a more divisional environment in the country. Larew responded by stating that Nancy Pelosi had expressed concern that the impeachment would create divisiveness and had been previously reluctant to pursue it. However, he also conceded: “the other side of it is if there is the behavior of a president that exceeds legal constitutional lines to the extent that Congress is almost required by law to at least examine it. If not to remove the president. Of course, the impeachment is just the process of one to examine the behavior of the president to see whether it constitutes a serious enough breach to result in his removal.” Leahy: You are life long Democrat. Do any of these arguments that the president is being denied due process…

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Fox News Power Player of the Week Rep. Mark Green on Trump and Border Wall: ‘I’m Supporting Him in This’

U.S. Rep. Dr. Mark Green (R-TN-07) appeared on “Fox News Sunday” as one of two “Power Players of the Week.” Fox News’ Chris Wallace hosted Green and U.S. Rep. Elissa Slotkin (D-MI-08), both freshmen. The discussion ranged from bipartisanship to military service to border security. (Slotkin served with the CIA in Iraq, and Green was on the special operations team that captured Saddam Hussein.) A summary of the interview follows. The full video is available here. On compromise and gridlock, Slotkin mentioned the shutdown and said, “Start having a real negotiation about border security, border forces, more technology at the border, fencing if we need it in some areas – it doesn’t just have to be a wall.” Wallace pressed for commentary on the attitude in Washington, to which Green replied, “She’s prior military and I’m prior military and we want solutions. And we’re sick and tired of it not happening.” Slotkin said that military and CIA experience helps one focus on mission, which is missing in Congress. “People have treated it as if they don’t have a mission, that they’re for themselves, they’re show horses, whatever,” Slotkin said. Green said that with the wall, both sides of the aisle…

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Democrats Censure Respected State Senator Tate For Private Remarks Made to Republican

Reginald Tate

Common sense State Sen. Reginald Tate is questioning what it means to be censured by the Shelby County Democratic Party Executive Committee, since they never gave him the courtesy of informing him. The New Tri-State Defender reported the action taken against the Democratic senator from District 33 in Shelby County. The organization contacted him for comment, but that was the first he had heard about it. “I’m censured? What does that mean? Do you know what that means? Have I lost my right to speak? Do I have to stay in my room? I can’t come out without permission? I’m censured. This is the first I have heard of it, and I don’t know what it could possibly mean,” Tate told the TSD. The Executive Committee censured Tate during its July 17 meeting, according to a press release the organization sent to the TSD. The action was in response to remarks he made prior to the start of a committee meeting on May 30. The senator’s remarks were called “vulgar,” “detrimental to the Party” and “unbecoming of a Democrat.” Tate said, “I entered the room where the Fiscal Review Committee was meeting. It’s a joint committee, and on this particular…

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