Mo' Better Local Democracy

Our fair city is looking into downsizing the city council by reducing the six seats and districts into four seats and districts, arguing that with fewer districts the races will become more competitive.

I've been an advocate for engaging citizens better by using the Internet and other technology and by the city subsidising local journalist. Anyone who has been following the voter involverment issue as well as the decline in journalists' jobs should see the connection between the two problems.

One of the biggest overlooked factors with local democratic participation stems from how local stations (Channels 2,3, 4, 5 and 7) cover local issues.

Though they often boast of "complete local coverage," they may do a good job of moving product but couldn't possibly provide "complete local coverage," for 60 to 80 cities and towns. Though they are called local stations they are in fact regional stations.

Consequently, with a population that gets most of its news from TV , people are  often clueless about many local issues.

I would argue it makes sense for the city to invest into a local monthly issue project. This wouldn't cost much to start up but could have very worthwhile democratic results.

In their excellent book, "The Death and Life of American Journalism," Nation Magazine journalist John Nichols and media professor and analyst Robert McChesney note how European citizens are given vouchers to spend on the newspaper of their choice.

Europe as a result has greater voter participation as well as newspaper readership. Even the conservative magazine, The Economist, has high praise for the voucher system.

Nichols and McChesney argue that our system worked for many decades but now with the diversity of information, helping journalism is a key way to saving the industry and enhancing democracy.

Locally we could subsidize three journalists at about $1,000 a month to pick an important local issue from the city council, school board, county supervisors or state government.

They could each write about it as well. The local cable station with the journalists could produce a program on the issue and we could contact citizens by both the Internet and for people on the other side of the digital divide, via robo calls.

The project could also have a web site for more information and links. The high school could also print copies of the stories and encourage students and their parents to read the articles and watch the cable program and discuss the issues.

Political participants and the journalists could also do follow ups at the high school  for interested students as well as follow ups at local venues like the library for the general population.

The total  start up cost of the project could be much less than the cost of one of the city's numerous six figure employees. After the initial  start up costs the project might be as litlle as $50,000 a year.

Democracy is something that requires experimentation. Many believe that state and local jurisdictions are the "incubators of democracy."

This was a concept championed by many progressives over the years especially the late Paul Wellstone. We may not be able to pass national legislation to protect journalism and democracy but we can experiment and tinker with what we do locally.

This could also be something the Occupy Movement could encourage other cities to take a look at, especially our sprited neighbors in Oakland.