by jpitney | Apr 5, 2020 | Coronavirus
From National Public Radio (h/t David Dreier): It’s changing the way we work, we live, we communicate, what we expect from our governments. NPR’s Lulu Garcia-Navarro talks with Yuval Noah Harari about what happens once COVID-19 is beaten. : ...
by jpitney | Apr 4, 2020 | Coronavirus, Journalism, Mass Media
Tali Arbel and David Bauder at AP: Researchers have long worried that the next recession — which economists say is already upon us — “could be an extinction-level event for newspapers,” said Penelope Abernathy, a University of North Carolina professor who studies the...
by jpitney | Apr 3, 2020 | Congress, Coronavirus
At LegBranch.org, Kevin Kosar points out that the Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security Act (CARES) is compicated, and that House members and senators have returned home. Altogether these facts argue for each member of Congress to direct his or her office’s...
by jpitney | Apr 2, 2020 | Journalism, Mass Media
Let us #PrayTogether for all who work in the media, who work to communicate, to inform us, so that people are not so isolated, and to educate children. We pray for all those who are helping us bear this time of isolation. — Pope Francis (@Pontifex) April 1,...
by jpitney | Apr 1, 2020 | Civic Education, civic virtue, Coronavirus
Michael Apfeldorf at the Library of Congress. In 1918, the United States faced one of the worst public health challenges in its history. An influenza pandemic – also known as the Spanish flu – infected an estimated 500 million people worldwide, killing 20-50 million...
by jpitney | Mar 31, 2020 | Congress, Constitution, House of Representatives, Uncategorized
In 2003, Rep. David Dreier explained why we should fill mass vacancies in the House through expedited special elections, not appointment: I think that Chairman Sensenbrenner has very ably focused on two of the authors of the Federalist, James Madison and Alexander...
by jpitney | Mar 30, 2020 | Civility, Journalism
Angela Evans at The Hill: There can be no doubt that the media reward conflict, not consensus building. “If it bleeds, it leads” in the news business. But blaming the media is an alibi, not a valid excuse. There can be no doubt some of the new forms of social media...
by jpitney | Mar 29, 2020 | California Politics, Coronavirus, Newspapers
Previous posts have discussed the crisis in local news. Steven Waldman and Charles Sennott at The Atlantic: In this moment, the bottom is falling out economically for local news organizations. Those small businesses in your town that are closing left and right? They...
by jpitney | Mar 28, 2020 | Congress, Coronavirus
At Legbranch.org, Timothy LaPira and James Wallner note obstacles to a virtual Congress in the current House and Senate rules and the Constitution: The House and Senate rules require members to assemble in person to vote. Senate Rule XXVI, stipulates that senators...
by jpitney | Mar 27, 2020 | Coronavirus, Uncategorized
‘I was at a hospital where there were a few #coronavirus patients and I shook hands with everybody’ says Boris Johnson. Read the Government’s #COVID19 plan: https://t.co/pEzE4JWf5P pic.twitter.com/mucbaPSSbP — Sky News (@SkyNews) March 3, 2020 The...
