Media Criticism

This post is part of a series I will run over the next few months covering elections throughout the country. I have decided to highlight a few races in the Milwaukee area that demonstrate one of the underlying threads in local politics throughout the country. The city attorney race and the county executive race in Milwaukee show the ongoing tension between expanding government roles and deferring to other offices.

I am not sure the prominence of city attorneys in other communities but Milwaukee’s city attorney has been overlooked in recent years. The challenger to incumbent Grant Langley is state representative Pedro Colon who wants to expand the attorney’s office to fight Milwaukee’s growing crime problem. Langley has countered that the office has a limited mandate for crime fighting and wants to streamline the department with another term. Colon has stepped up his campaign beyond the bounds of handshakes and door knocking with a brief ad showing in the Milwaukee television market. I think that the race will be close though the tide of change in Milwaukee politics may sweep Colon over the edge due to the low profile of the office.

The hotly contested county executive office in Milwaukee features state senator Lena Taylor and incumbent Scott Walker. The main consideration in this race is the county’s budget problems including decreased funding for parks and the county bus system. Lena Taylor has hit Walker on his poor leadership of Milwaukee County while Walker has countered that Taylor is unfamiliar with the intricacies of running a county budget. There is a potential problem for voters who think that Walker will run for governor in 2010 and leave the county high and dry. I think Walker will likely win the county executive’s race though Taylor is a rising star in the state’s Democratic Party.

I will speak about the Wisconsin Supreme Court Race, the state’s Congressional races and other tight contests around the country in upcoming weeks. I invite my readers to submit their suggestions for races they would like covered.

My intense focus on the presidential race this early in the process has made me feel like other aspects of political media are being neglected. I live in Franklin, Wisconsin, which is a suburb of Milwaukee and there is plenty going on in the area that gets short shrift from the media. Wisconsin’s role as the fountainhead for progressivism in America seems to go unnoticed by local media which prefers to cover American Idol and the Super Bowl (which our Packers aren’t even in!).

While the Milwaukee City Attorney’s office does not carry a high profile, the spring race is developing an acidic tone. I will give credit to the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel politics blog for covering this race though it is a critical position in dealing with police corruption, civil rights issues and other legal problems that deserve more attention. The reason why this race is interesting and emblematic of problems in communities across the country is that incumbent Grant Langley agreed to debate challenger Pedro Colon but refused to show up to the first debate this past week. The absence is rife with the symbolism of incumbency.

There are several issues covered by the city’s alternative newspaper, The Shepherd Express ¸ that need pressing attention on a grand scale. This paper’s reporters highlighted the obfuscation by Republican legislators of a bill approved in the State Assembly providing expedited medical assistance to rape victims. Columnist Joel McNally provided a view of the city’s reprehensible approach to corrections facilities with medium-security prisons using guard dogs to intimidate people awaiting trial. These issues show one of the failings of state government which is a consideration of demographics and broad brush strokes instead of the real applications of law.

Milwaukee’s leading alternative newspaper, The Shepherd Express, celebrated its 25th anniversary last week with a peak at its development from day one. The Shepherd Express is similar to free alternative newspapers throughout the country in its commitment to unbiased discussion and a commitment to informing the public instead of dealing with ratings. I think papers like the Express are denigrated by community members and members of the local media due to its location next to the rental magazines in our city’s grocery stores. These critics don’t realize that this accessibility gives alternative media its value.

I have written about the crassness and self-serving demeanor of the Milwaukee press in the past. As stations perfect the sensational story and the non-editorial editorial, I can count on alternative newspapers to give me another perspective on local issues. I subscribe to the Journal-Sentinel, Milwaukee’s major daily newspaper, on the weekends in addition to picking up the Express each week. I use both sources as well as my daily experiences in the city to inform my views on community politics. I can only hope that thousands of others do the same.

Free alternative media provides hope for writers, editors and publishers who are concerned with media consolidation. This statement is nothing new but it needs to be screamed from every place in the blogosphere and the alternative media on a daily basis. The value of alternative newspapers comes from increased practice by concerned citizens. An increasing volume of newspapers, pamphlets and brochures from people throughout the political spectrum increases the quality of mainstream media. You can’t hit a home run without swinging the bat and the alternative media can hit on a greater number of issues with an increased number of outlets.