The Los Angeles Times noted that CCLP Director Geoffrey Cowan headed the independent citizens commission that drafted the original charter amendment for the Los Angeles Ethics Commission, which is facing possible budget cuts. Rigorous ethics standards should be regarded as a tool of economic efficiency, Cowan said. "If the ethics code works as it should and is adequately enforced, it saves the city money by reducing the hidden costs of corruption," he explained…….
Tag: Cowan
How L.A. City Council Got Those Huge $178,789 Salaries
L.A. Weekly noted that CCLP Director Geoffrey Cowan was involved in crafting the 1990 ballot initiative Measure H, which created the City Ethics Commission, among other Los Angeles City Council reforms…….
Public policy and the crisis in the news business
Newspapers are for sale across the country. National Public Radio and television news shows are laying off staff. The Tribune Company is in bankruptcy. It's clear that journalism is in crisis, and in the current recession, things are likely to get much worse. That's alarming. A robust press is vital to our democracy. And while bloggers and other new-media news operations have enriched the public dialogue in important ways, their work still depends on the painstaking – and expensive – reporting supplied by traditional journalists…….
Free press, with profits
The Los Angeles Times ran an op-ed by Geneva Overholser and CCLP Director Geoffrey Cowan about the important role government plays in sustaining serious journalism. "It's clear that journalism is in crisis, and in the current recession, things are likely to get much worse," they wrote. "With a new administration and a new Congress seeking fresh solutions to other crises, we need to consider new possibilities to help ensure that journalism remains able to provide the information needed by a great democracy."……