Over There With George M. Cohan

PACIFIC PALISADES, Calif.–This prosperous enclave on the cliff overlooking Santa Monica Bay has many virtues, and one of the big ones is a great hometown Fourth of July parade. For more than three hours, folks sit on the curbs or on lawn chairs and watch America go by. Bands and Boy Scouts, firemen and bagpipers, veterans from half a dozen wars, politicians, beginning with the mayor of Los Angeles, Antonio Villaraigosa, and more flags than you can count, most of them probably made in China. There was even a young man walking the streets passing out "Muslims for Peace" brochures…….Continue Reading Over There With George M. Cohan

Suro in Maynard – Immigration

Faculty Fellow Roberto Suro was featured in an article on the Maynard Institute website. Speaking with USC's Dowell Myers, Suro said a battle between the federal government and the states over who would lead in enforcing immigration laws in the workplace had "finally been settled" by courts in favor of the states. The conversation in which Suro was taking part was about forging a new social contract between the aging Baby Boomer generation and immigrants to the US…….Continue Reading Suro in Maynard – Immigration

NJ Public Television Signs Off; Other PBS, NPR Stations Threatened by Cuts

WASHINGTON — While the nation celebrated the holiday weekend of independence, New Jersey's public television network signed off for the last time and many other PBS stations around the US may soon follow suit. The reason: cuts in funding from state governments across the country. As I had written about on the blog last December, NJN has finally come to the end of its broadcasting days. The final New Jersey newscast on NJN was Thursday night. At its end, viewers saw a simple sign, "New Jersey Network. April 5, 1971 – June 30, 2011." As of that night, 130 employees……Continue Reading NJ Public Television Signs Off; Other PBS, NPR Stations Threatened by Cuts

Get out of Afghanistan

LOS ANGELES — For years, since I moved there to cover Watergate, I have wanted to write a column about how Washington really works — a checklist of sorts. But I never got around to it. The closest I ever got was quoting the late San Francisco humor writer Arthur Hoppe. Writing from 3,000 miles away, he said, if I remember correctly: Washington is 67 square miles, about as high as the Washington Monument, and surrounded on all sides by reality. Last week, Joe Scarborough, former Florida congressman, talking head on MSNBC, and now guest columnist for Politico.com, did a……Continue Reading Get out of Afghanistan

Newspapers Dying: The demise of geographic exclusivity

There are so many reasons why print newspapers are failing. Mostly, people complain that newspaper content is available on the Internet for free, so subscribers need not subscribe any longer, even though in reality circulation revenues were usually not more than 20% of total revenues. Or, more importantly, that classified advertising, the largest profit contributor of any newspaper, has been outdone by the efficiency of transactional web sites for homes, autos and jobs. Then there was the retail consolidation of big box stores, who hardly advertise, and chain department stores (only one advertiser rather than three or four). And the……Continue Reading Newspapers Dying: The demise of geographic exclusivity