Here's Why We Have So Many Idiots In Public Office. By Emil Franzi WE'RE TOLD incumbent politicians have an advantage in seeking re-election. That's certainly true in Southern Arizona. And part of the reason is because nobody in the local media adequately covers them or the folks who run against them. In the not-too-distant past, when politicians screwed up and their opponents illustrated it, the local media paid attention. They also covered thoughtful proposals and felt some civic obligation to let the voters know what their choices would be. No more. Because most of our major local media outlets--daily papers, network-affiliated TV stations, and many radio stations--are not locally owned. This isn't their town and, at the corporate level at least, they could care less who runs it. Local radio stations once had news departments, and ripped and read the wire services. Now you get a periodic cut to network news, which involves turning the same dial you could change yourself. Or they throw you an Associated Press wire story--just a re-write of the newspaper, generated the day before at Tucson Newspapers' fortress-like plant way out at Park Avenue and Irvington Road. If a daily newspaper didn't cover it in this town, a local radio station generally won't either. Some local radio stations are now just satellite operations, with about as many employees as a self-service gas station--except for the sales department. And local issue Talk Shows are down to just one--John C. Scott at KTUC. National pundits distributed via satellite are cheaper. Local television news operations have also degenerated. Local TV stations, KUAT excepted, no longer have any real news. And while "local coverage" on network-affiliated stations has expanded, local news has a narrower base. TV news barely covers all the murders now, even when all they do is quote the police public relations officers. Both newspapers and television stations have moved great portions of their news space to "features" that aren't really news stories at all, but designed to appeal to the right demographic, or give you that warm and fuzzy feeling. Much of the non-news crap they churn out is consultant-driven, the ploy of all out-of-town owners. They target a narrow demographic--the magic 25-45 age group that advertising types slobber over. Tucson is an older city with different demographics, but they don't count in a national buy. Your news coverage is designed around what somebody thinks a New York ad agency believes certain people should be watching. Today's local news staffs also suffer from "gypsy disease"--reporters and editors with no institutional memory who just got here and plan to move on. That's the career track for most reporters; that, or suck up to a government agency. For every Tom Beal, who got promoted to editorial page columnist at The Arizona Daily Star by hard work and staying power, 10 others are now making more money at a public relations job somewhere in government. All of which are basic reasons why local political coverage sucks. Now add the fact that political coverage takes a lot of work, and, if done properly, will offend someone. God forbid that the corporate-owned cash cows passing for news media in this town actually offend someone. If you're one of the dwindling few who actually read the daily papers or watch local television news, you've probably already figured out the biggest hustlers of all are called "incumbents," and the biggest marks are the folks who report on them. We've had proposals so ludicrous that a prior generation of reporters and editors would have had the pol who committed the sin laughed out of town by the end of the week. Now those pols are covered with a straight face, as if what they said--or did--was real and vital. And wacko Pima County Supervisor Ed Moore couldn't survive six months against two or three real reporters who weren't censored by gutless editors. It's unfortunate, but in today's bottom line-oriented news operations editorial staffs are vulnerable to complaint calls, and the politicians know it--nail a pol and he'll whine, and, often, the reporter will be leaned on to back off. Meanwhile, coverage of challengers is non-existent. Almost all local media have made a conscious decision to ignore them, mainly because reporters are unable, or unwilling, to take the time to determine which challengers are pertinent. Media types now consider the scruffiest third-party write-in candidate for Constable the equal of a heavyweight running for the Board of Supervisors. The Star now grants all candidates, sooner or later, a two-column box of about 14 column inches with a mug shot, a bio and a cursory glance at a couple of issues. That's it. Obligation fulfilled. One of the favorite excuses of local media airheads is, "We'll cover that race after the primary," indicating total ignorance of the process--most elections are determined by the primary. As Boss Tweed said back at Tammany Hall, "I don't much care who does the votin', long as I do the nominatin'." So you wonder why the jackasses in local public office keep coming back? Because the media refuse to tell you anything about them or their opponents. Your politics suck because your political reporting sucks. And the net result of this lack of imagination and competence is an overall percentage decline in news readership, viewing and listening. Sure, the sales numbers stay up--because Tucson Newspapers and the network-affiliated TV stations have built-in monopolies in a rapidly growing community. It's impossible for them to lose money regardless of how bad their products are. How long this trend toward know-nothing news and empty political coverage will continue is anybody's guess. It can't get much worse, simply because you can't go below zero. In the meantime, we hope you like the clowns representing you in local office. Because if nobody ever covers anybody running against them, you'll be getting them all back for another term.

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