Now This is Getting Ridiculous: More Journamalism at The O

Let's see, the victims of Sam Adams careless driving, who have a real interest in his condition at the time, the Portland Police, who are trained to spot signs of intoxication, and a professional reporter, who clearly has higher ethical standards than The Oregonian, all say Adams showed no signs of having been under the influence of alcohol when he had is fender-bender. So what does The Oregonian report? Two bystanders who say he 'smelled of beer.' Is this the lede of an objective journalist and news organization? No. [Note that The O has changed the headline on the web site - the print headline read something like "Second Bystander Claims Adams Showed Signs of Intoxication' - which shows that even they may realize objectivity has been lost]

The Oregonian is allowing its (misguided, but that is another point) editorial opinions to color its journalism, and is at risk of loosing credibility. There is a term for this type of coverage: yellow journalism.

As if this was not enough, Anna Griffin decides this is a good opportunity to essentially reprint an old column suggesting that since Adams is not perfect he risks destroying the city! And she has the temerity to assert that the timing of this column has nothing to do with the accident - yea right. At least she could write something original.

I do think an effective city government is a good thing (as Jacob Grier has made me admit) - and this constant attempt to undermine Adams's effectiveness is destructive to the city. The Oregonian is so desperate to show that they were right that Adams cannot be an effective mayor, that they are actively trying to make it so. It is a disgrace. I am a staunch defender of the fourth estate and have even suggested publicly subsidizing reporting, but my defense comes from the vital role journalism plays in our democracy, and with this privileged position comes responsibility to journalistic ethics. The Oregonian is failing in that regard.

So, hey Oregonian, how about reporting on what the city, under Adams's leadership is actually doing these days - now that would be useful to know...

[By the way, April Baer of OPB had it just right, mentioning the allegations in the body of the piece but leading with the official report which asserts so signs of intoxication - kudos]

Poll Results and Portland Politics

The poll is closed and the masses have spoken: MLS in Portland is a Boondoggle.

Given that I have been an ardent supporter of the deal, this result can be interpreted in many ways:

1. My readers are intelligent and independent and are willing to consider my opinions but are not unduly influenced by them.

2. I am not very persuasive.

3. I was fighting against truth and reason all along and I should wake up to that fact.

4. Some dude was stuffing the poll.

I hope the truth is 1. I hope this is true in general and if this poll is an artifact of this fact, then this is wonderful news. 2 is also probably true. I am not ready to accept 3 - I am not convinced that the opportunity cost of turning down this deal has been adequately understood. I suspect 4, however. The poll suddenly took a decided turn in the opposite direction and continued its trajectory suspiciously. Though the economic indicators of the Oregon economy did the same...

But who knows? And who really cares, the point is that if this is any indication of the mood among the general population, Paulson and City Hall have some more work to do to convince people.

And speaking of City Hall, will The Oregonian ever give up on trying to run Adams out of office? Regardless of what their personal opinions are, he is our mayor and needs to be effective for our well-being and their crusade is contrary to our interests. Normally I respect David Sarasohn's opinion pieces, but when he writes the following I wonder what he is thinking:

Friday brought yet another development in the endless tale of the mayor's admitted lies and his desperate effort to survive in office. From Freedom of Information Act requests, Ryan Frank and Brent Walth of The Oregonian reported 33 phone calls from Adams to Beau Breedlove before Breedlove turned 18, a very different view of the relationship from even the mayor's most recent account of it.

There was actually another City Hall story Friday, about Portland's new budget, with higher than expected revenues allowing the city to maintain more of its services.

Guess which was the top City Hall story of the day?

Ummm, it was The Oregonian that made it the story of the day and could have (AND SHOULD HAVE) made the budget the story of the day. When the major daily of the city is not focusing its reportorial energies where it should, don't blame city hall. This is like saying "I hit you for no reason and therefore you must have been at fault."

Sam Adams and Self-Fulfilling Prophecies

Mark Larabee's story in The Oregonian on Wednesday about Sam Adams's effectiveness post-scandal brings up a point about self-fulfilling prophecies. There is an echo chamber feeling in many local government types and business people and saying essentially 'I worry about his effectiveness because lots of people are worried about his effectiveness."

This is clearly a self-fulfilling prophecy: because I worry about his effectiveness I will be less responsive to him and in so doing, I make him less effective. So I confirm my own perception.

Though this is a self-fulfilling prophecy, the impacts are real - no less so when the situation is a crisis of confidence in the nation's banks than in the Mayor of Portland, Oregon. In the end Adams is less effective. But it also means that if people would simply move on, the mayor could be completely effective tomorrow. And, yes, I am leaving out citizens and voters who at this juncture are less important than the bureaucrats we have elected.

What is best for Portland? I think clearly moving on and making the Mayor effective is the first best solution at this point - regardless of what you think about his past behavior