projo – Page 5 – RI Future

July 30, 2012July 30, 2012

Progress Report: Plastic Bag Ban in Barrington; Projo on Gemma, Social Networking, GoLocal Goes for Local Sports

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downtown from providence river — Downtown Providence from the Providence River. (Photo by Bob Plain)

When the American autopsy is finalized, it could turn out that the little things finally nail our culture’s coffin shut. Mr. Coffee machines, ATM cards, electric can openers and plastic grocery bags are potentially far more nefarious than factory farming, too big too fail banks, food-borne illness and the mountains of non-biodegradable garbage we’ve created.

Probably not, but good for the Barrington Town Council in any case for taking on what in the future will seem like a real no-brainer: banning plastic grocery bags. The Council could vote on the proposal at a meeting tonight, according to ecoRI.

It was the invisible hand of the marketplace that gave us this non-biodegradable form of temporary storage and long-term pollution and it’s right that the public sector step in and help to encourage more wise use of our resources.

Though, as the Rhode Island Center for Freedom and Prosperity humorously points out: “the American Progressive Bag Alliance spokeswoman argues, ‘Paper bags are worse for the earth.'” Who is the American Progressive Bag Alliance, you may ask (because the local right-wing propaganda machine sure didn’t tell you?) They represent the plastic bag industry, of course…

Here’s a tip for translating Orwellian language in politics: when you hear someone talk about freedom and prosperity, they probably aren’t talking about your freedom, or your prosperity.

The Projo finally covers Anthony Gemma’s fake Twitter followers and Facebook friends in its print edition. We liked its web version better in which they credited RI Future with breaking this story way back in March. But then again, we didn’t mention that they actually took on the same issue in the last election … though they reported then there was no way to prove or disprove Gemma’s outlandish claims about his social networking prowess…

Also in the Projo’s Political Scene piece this week: they mention again about all the legislators who are declining raises. About Rep. Scott Guthrie, they write, “As recently reported here, Berman tells Political Scene that there is just one lawmaker, Rep. Scott Guthrie, D-Coventry, who accepts no legislative pay.” Interesting choice of words given that the Projo was beat on this story by at least two Rhode Island news organizations. Maybe it should read: as reported here more recently than elsewhere…

Speaking of the local daily being behind the curve … Ian Donnis reports that the Projo (which I should note I actually love dearly and is easily one of my all-time favorite newspaper) is now encouraging its reporters to take advantage of social media. I hear they are also suggesting reporters use laptops rather than tele-type machines and drive automobiles to assignments rather than traveling by horseback…

Ian’s right, there are no shortage of Projo reporters who are fun to follow on Twitter … one he left off, IMHO, is education reporter Jennifer Jordan. Personally, I’m looking forward to more of the paper’s staff to join the fun on Twitter (did anyone hear the rumor that Apple is considering buying Twitter, btw?) especially members of the editorially board – the state’s paper of record ought to have someone on the left who can to counterbalance conservative Ed Achorn. If its interest is in fostering a healthy marketplace of ideas that is…

Anyone notice that GoLocalProv seems to be making a big move into local sports coverage? say what you will about publisher Josh Fenton, and he and I have certainly had our disagreements (or, more accurately, he’s threatened to sue me!!) but he is a tremendously bright businessman and he seems to be the first to take advantage of the lack of local sports coverage. Nice work id’ing another info niche, Josh … and thanks GoLocal for naming my brother-in-law Steve King, a former Henricken, Brown U. and NHL hockey player as one of the best athletes in West Bay history.

Speaking of props for the Plain/King clan … thanks also to Ted Nesi for giving a nice shout-out to our daily Progress Report this weekend … Likewise, Ted’s Saturday Morning Post is a great place to gather what he calls scooplets. For example, this weekend he informed his readers that Mass. Gov. Deval Patrick could end up an Obama SCOTUS selection. Also interesting to note … both Ted and I use the “Speaking of…” lede to transition from item to item. Probably we both picked it up from Bill Reynolds’ “For What It’s Worth” column … Reynolds is the godfather of this genre of journalism in Rhode Island and his Saturday morning column gave birth to my love of the written word, reporting and being a local blowhard…

July 25, 2012July 25, 2012

Contrasting BI Times, Projo Pieces on Island Flights

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block island coast guard rd — A view of the Coast Guard Station on the west side of Block Island. (photo by Bob Plain)

Both the biggest and smallest newspapers in Rhode Island weighed in last week on whether or not the federal government should subsidize private sector flights to Block Island. Interestingly, it was New Shoreham’s paper of record – not the state’s – that thought to make an economic argument on behalf of Rhode Island.

“And why, more than anything else, is RIAC sponsoring Cape Air, a company that started in Massachusetts and now flies all over the globe, over homegrown New England Airlines?,” asked the Block Island Times editorial (reprinted in the ProJo, I should note). It goes on:

Why not give the $900,000 in federal funds, and another $250,000 in state support, to our homestate company, instead? Why not encourage the local airline to fly high? The jobs and money this service would bring should stay with a Rhode Island company.

The New England Airlines crew already know how to handle the tricky island landing strip, already know how to service the Islander airplanes that Cape Air would have to buy to fly here. And they’re here for us, year round, when we’re sick, when we need medications, when the ferry’s not running, when time is of the essence, and when we simply want some Chinese food flown over. They’re a lifeline service, and we need them.

The Projo, on the other hand, makes no economic argument at all. Instead – and I’m not making this up – they say spending $900,000 federal transportation dollars to help a private company succeed in the local marketplace is a good idea because the elite will probably appreciate a way to avoid the “colorful” people who take the ferry.

Seriously, this is their argument. You can read it for yourself here. Or just trust this excerpt as the gist of it:

We suspect that those who fly to Block Island will be considerably less overtly colorful than those on the Block Island Ferry. Indeed, that’s one reason the proposal for service to Block Island from Green sounds so appealing to some folks, especially to the affluent who can afford it. [The] focus was less on locals than on out-of-staters, even if leveraged-buyout specialists planning to build gigantic summer houses might rival people behaving badly on the ferry as threats to Block Island’s allure.

Where to begin with this one…

First, given what has been going on in Rhode Island as of late, the Providence Journal editorial board might want to be more reticent in advocating for the public sector to pick winners in the private sector. Secondly, there are literally at least 900,000 better ways Rhode Island could use $900,000 in transportation dollars than by subsidizing air travel to Block Island.

But the truly abhorrent angle of the Projo’s piece is that the typically-conservative editorial board is actually advocating for economic redistribution – a force it often claims to disdain. The difference is in this case wealth would be being transferred to the elite, rather than the middle class.

While $900,000 in federal transportation dollars might not seem like a lot and few may care how easy or hard it is for the affluent to get to their vacation locale, the difference in these two editorials is worth noting for when the Projo eventually weighs in on an issue that matters to you … how much can we trust their opinion if the tiny little Block Island Times was able to out-think the editorial board of the mighty Providence Journal when it comes to a no-brainer for local business like this issue.

July 3, 2012July 3, 2012

Projo Misses News at Doherty, Brown Event

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Doherty-Brown — Photo courtesy of Pat Crowley. @PatCrowleyNEARI

So, if you still have doubts that the ProJo editorial board is the tail wagging the newsroom’s dog; those fears should be laid to rest after the ~~Newspaper~~ Spin Cycle of record’s coverage of the Brendan Doherty event at Metacomet Country Club in East Providence.

Journal scribe Phil Marcelo, covered all the political details about how Sen. Scott Brown made the trip down from Massachusetts, gave a closed-door speech to the big donors and then left quickly. He also covered the fact of the approximate amount of money the event raised and even mentioned how both men met as youngsters at a basketball camp. Marcelo also goes on to note how Doherty was impressed with Brown’s call for bipartisanship.

Now here’s where I take exception to the ProJo’s coverage. When a story mentions bipartisanship, shouldn’t it at least include some of what the other side might have to offer, or object to? Maybe an example of Sen. Brown working in a cooperative manner?

Not only was there no mention of the other side’s views in this story, there wasn’t even any mention of the protesters outside the entrance to the country club. Members of Planned Parenthood and several labor groups were outside the event to make attendees and passers-by aware of extreme right-wing positions Mr. Doherty has staked out for his campaign. My question is: How is this not news?

Maybe if the ProJo goes back to fairly and accurately reporting the news and keeping its opinions on the editorial page, the paper can gain back some of its credibility. If not, I fear for my former co-workers on Fountain Street, as readership declines and the state will lose a once Pulitzer Prize-winning newspaper, to be replaced by a print version of Fox News.

July 2, 2012July 9, 2012

Gordon Fox Is ‘Miffed’ at RI Future

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The ProJo reports that House Speaker Gordon Fox, or at least his staff, is “miffed” that Mark Binder, who is challenging him for his seat in the House, is blogging about it for RI Future. Who can blame him? I’m sure Fox would much prefer to run either unopposed or against a candidate that doesn’t write for a local news website. (Here’s a piece I wrote this weekend about why we allow candidates to blog on RI Future.)

Well, we’re a little miffed, too. Here’s why:

The Providence Journal misreports Binder’s role with RI Future. Political Scene says this morning that Binder is “now a columnist for a left-leaning website.” But at least one of the authors of the weekly political column knows this isn’t accurate – Binder was a contributor long before he declared for office. In response to an email from Kathy Gregg last week about Binder’s role with RI Future, I wrote, “Mark was an RI Future contributor before declaring for office.” Our archives corroborate this as well – so does his post that the column quoted.

On this point, we believe the newspaper owes its readers a correction. To incorrectly claim that Binder is a new RI Future writer gives credence to the false claim that we are targeting Fox. Projo readers should absolutely be informed that the Speaker’s staff thinks this, but they should know that there is evidence to the contrary.

We’re also a little bit miffed with Fox’s spokesman Larry Berman, who told the Projo that RI Future “has chosen to target one of the most progressive Speakers of the House in modern history.”

This is not at all the case. Berman and I had several long and heated discussions about Binder’s role with RI Future last week, and I explained to him what was in my other piece this morning on why candidates blog for RI Future and what was in my email to Gregg: It isn’t an endorsement, Fox is more than welcome to blog as well and candidates’ posts are about giving Rhode Islanders access to information about the progressive movement, not picking winners or losers.

We’re not targeting Fox. In fact, we wholeheartedly agree with Berman’s description that he is one of the most progressive speakers in recent history. We’re giving a progressive the ability to express his message to Rhode Islanders. That’s what RI Future does! The converse would be to silence one of our contributors because he is taking on a powerful member of the establishment, something that I think would be unfair both to the small business we are trying to get off the ground and to the people of Rhode Island.

Some have suggested to me that there will be political ramifications for giving a political opponent of the Speaker of the House, known as the most powerful person in state government, a platform. I don’t think there will be. I believe that Gordon Fox and his staff respect greatly the rights of a free and open press as well as a diversity of voices in the local marketplace of ideas.

June 29, 2012June 29, 2012

Progress Report: Religious Symbols on Public Property in RI, Curt Schilling’s Fib, Local Journalism

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There is a major and potentially very ugly battle brewing in the Ocean State that has nothing to do with tax rates, struggling cities or bankrupt ballplayers: I’m talking about religious symbols on public property, and it’s getting out of control.

The most recent example (which you learned about first from RI Future), a cross that a car wash owner put on a strip of city-owned land that he has long taken care of, is an interesting example: is it a religious symbol, a memorial or an act of protest? The business owner, Peter Montaquila, told WPRO yesterday he put it up to stand in solidarity with the Woonsocket Cross, also a less-than-Constitutionally-clear case.

But issues of legality are relatively easy to sort out … the danger is that the non-legal battle lines are being drawn in the sand – and the situation is getting tense. Montaquila, like the owner of the flower shop who refused to deliver a bouquet to Jessica Ahlquist when she won her case against a religious symbol in Cranston West High School, said he doesn’t want to do business with those who don’t agree with him on this issue. Could we start seeing signs in business windows: “We don’t serve atheists.”

Politicians, like Rep. John McLaughlin of Central Falls, and shock jocks like John DePetro, are fanning the flames with angry rhetoric against those who see a line between church and state. Their colleagues should call them out and implore them to be leaders rather than instigators.

People take both their religion and their Constitution protections very, very seriously and this is the third such nasty fight over the nexus of the two in a year here in Rhode Island. Someone should step and act like a leader before something really ugly happens.

Speaking of John DePetro, he is inviting some interesting karma picking on Gov. Chafee’s 18-year-old son for having a party … the mean-spirited talk show host could find himself in a similar situation someday…

Don’t believe a word Curt Schilling says about Gov. Chafee’s public comments about solvency crippling the company … the Associated Press reports that 38 Studios was already considering bankruptcy by the time the story went public.

AP reporter Laura Crimaldi obtained the confidential documents that led to this very telling development. Unfortunately for Rhode Island, today is her last day with the Providence bureau as she is moving on to a job with Boston Globe … what a way to go out Laura and best of luck in Beantown!

Speaking of great local reporting … no one covered the local effects and reactions to the Supreme Court’s decision on the Affordable Care Act better than Ted Nesi yesterday (check out his blog for a variety of different stories). We pick on Ted often because of the pro-business/pro-establishment bias he sometimes displays, but it’s also well-worth pointing out that he is far and away the most talented journalist covering the Ocean State.

One more note about local reporting … here is Kathy Gregg’s lede from her story yesterday on campaigns for seats in the State House: “How many Rhode Island lawmakers will return to the State House next year without having to face an opponent? The answer is: very few.” And here is the lede on her story today: “One out of five General Assembly incumbents is running unopposed.”

Is 20 percent “very few”? On the contrary, we think it’s a great many. Perhaps the Projo can report this yet another way tomorrow…

May 22, 2012May 23, 2012

Projo Uses ‘Scare Quotes’ To Smear Progressives

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Projo State House beat reporter Phil Marcelo is one of the best journalists in the state, and so I have to assume this is something that happened in the editing process of his piece today titled “Democrats poised to unwrap own spending proposal.” I’ve sent my friend Phil an email and am waiting to hear back from him. (Update: in keeping with Projo policy, Marcelo declined to comment)

In any case, in the 13th graph, the story reads:

House Speaker Gordon D. Fox, D-Providence, and Senate President M. Teresa Paiva Weed, D-Newport, are both firmly opposed to such proposals, but “progressive ” Democratic lawmakers have used the budget process to make their case in previous years.

Why is the word progressive in quotes? Who is saying that? Who is being quoted?

No one, of course. It’s well understood that when otherwise out-of-place quotation marks appear around a word of phrase without any indication that someone said something, they are being used to convey either suspicion or irony. They are commonly called scare quotes, and Merriam-Webster’s dictionary defines the term as, “quotation marks used to express especially skepticism or derision concerning the use of the enclosed word or phrase.”

Scare quotes are not forbidden in journalism. In fact, according to the AP Stylebook, in the section under quotation marks it says:

IRONY: Put quotation marks around a word or words used in an ironical sense: The “debate” turned into a free-for-all.

Okay … so what’s ironic about progressive Democrats? Is the Projo insinuating that those who have used the budget process in recent years to make their case about tax reform are, in fact, not progressive?

To me, it smacks of media bias. Does anyone think the Providence Journal would ever put the word conservative in scare quotes to describe far-right Republicans? The local paper of record might be more inclined to capitalize the word rather than do that.

Like I said, Phil Marcelo is a great reporter and when I’ve questioned his reporting in the past he’s always been able to back it up. I’d love to hear either from him or an editor, though I understand the Journal has a longstanding policy not to comment on its journalism. If you’d like to do so, please use the comment section below.

UPDATE: Marcelo declined to comment.

April 8, 2012April 8, 2012

RI Progress Report: Why Do Businesses Move to RI

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Happy Easter! Sen. Sheldon Whitehouse, who has become one of the hottest politicians in the country as Congress begins to debate income inequality and corporate control, was on Newsmakers this morning.

Forget about why people leave Rhode Island for a moment and consider why they come here. The Providence Journal reports this morning that even though government still tries to lure new businesses to the Ocean State by lowering taxes and offering financial incentives, these are rarely the reasons that new commerce comes here.

Some really great writing here:

While Rhode Island promotes its tax-rate reductions as an inducement to move here, business owners say such incentives are not uppermost in their minds. Their reasons for choosing a location are complex and multifaceted. Factors include proximity to customers and pools of skilled workers, the existence of good schools and efficient transportation networks, and perceptions about a region’s business climate and quality of life, as well as state and municipal taxes.

Contrast that with decades ago, when the manufacturers who dominated the U.S. economy built factories at the intersection of cheap transportation and cheap labor. Cheap power was a bonus. That was good for Rhode Island back when water wheels powered factories, when supplies and finished goods came and went by sailing ships, or when an immigration boom made labor cheap.

Cities and states offer tax breaks, loans, free land, job-training grants and all types of financial incentives to woo corporate leaders. They proffer economic rankings they believe reflect kindly on their state –– and poorly on competitive locales. But too often, the efforts of government leaders are wedded to what business owners needed in the past, and not what drives business decisions now.

Trayvon Martin certainly wasn’t the first African American in Sanford, Florida to run into trouble because of his race. So did Jackie Robinson.

“It was 1946 and Robinson arrived in this picturesque town in central Florida for spring training with a Brooklyn Dodgers farm team,” reports Reuters. “He didn’t stay long. Robinson was forced to leave Sanford twice, according to Chris Lamb, a professor at the College of Charleston in South Carolina, who wrote a graphic account of Robinson’s brush with 100 angry locals in a 2004 book.”

Was education consultant Stephen Hernandez, recently hired by Providence for $5 million, responsible for the improvements in Palm Beach County school system? Politifact says he wasn’t.

Another reason for the increase in income inequality and decrease in socio-economic mobility is the Clinton-era repeal of welfare protection laws. But fear not, the New York Times reports that many who would have received government benefits are now turning to the free market:

Several women said the loss of aid had left them more dependent on troubled boyfriends. One woman said she sold her child’s Social Security number so a relative could collect a tax credit worth $3,000.

“I tried to sell blood, but they told me I was anemic,” she said.

Several women acknowledged that they had resorted to shoplifting, including one who took orders for brand-name clothes and sold them for half-price. Asked how she got cash, one woman said flatly, “We rob wetbacks” — illegal immigrants, who tend to carry cash and avoid the police. At least nine times, she said, she has flirted with men and led them toward her home, where accomplices robbed them.

“I felt bad afterwards,” she said. But she added, “There were times when we didn’t have nothing to eat.”

April 3, 2012

Mistake on Mayor’s Name Was Projo, Not Chafee

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Gov. Chafee took some heat over the weekend for misidentifying Woonsocket Mayor Leo Fontaine as Raymond Fontaine in an op/ed in the Providence Journal. But it turns out it wasn’t his mistake. It was the Projo’s.

According to Chafee’s office, the piece they sent read: “…particularly Mayors Fontaine, Grebien, and Taveras…” The version that ran in Sunday’s print read: “…particularly Woonsocket Mayor Raymond Fontaine, Pawtucket Mayor Donald Grebien, Providence Mayor Angel Taveras…”

While the Providence Journal mentioned the mistake on its editorial page this morning, it amended that correction on the web this afternoon after a call from this reporter.

The original correction said: “In Governor Chafee’s April 1 column, “Local leaders need more power in crisis,” the first name of Woonsocket Mayor Leo Fontaine was printed incorrectly.”The amended correction read: “April 3’s correction of the erroneous first name of Woonsocket Mayor Leo (not Raymond) Fontaine in Governor Chafee’s April 1 column, “Local leaders need more power in crisis,” should have noted that The Journal, not the governor’s office, miswrote Mayor Fontaine’s first name. Mr. Chafee’s office did not give the mayor’s first name when it sent the column.”

Editorial Page Editor Robert Whitcomb said the amended correction will run in tomorrow’s print edition as well.

“It’s an unfortunate mistake,” Whitcomb said. “As soon as we became aware of it, we corrected it.”

February 15, 2012February 15, 2012

Despite headline, RI actually has moderate sales tax rates

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If you only read the headline from the Projo today you’d think Rhode Island has again, as the common talking point goes, landed on the losing end of a list of worst states as far as taxes go.

“RI tax burden still among highest in U.S.,” reads the headline.

However, if you took the time to read even the first sentence you’d learn that, actually, the Ocean State is somewhere in the middle of the pack nationwide as far as sales tax rates people pay state to state.

“Yet another ranking of the states’ tax burdens puts Rhode Island at the bottom in New England and in the middle of the U.S.,” reports John Kostrzewa.

The study, by The Tax Foundation, actually ranked Rhode Island 20th in terms of effective sales tax rates that a person would pay in a given state.

While Rhode Island’s state sales tax rate is tied for the second highest in the nation, when local sales taxes are factored in we drop down considerably. It’s an important distinction because it matters little what one jurisdiction or another may charge for a sales tax compared to what the consumer pays in actual retail sales taxes. There are 36 states that have local sales taxes and RI is not one of them.

“A state with a moderate state sales tax rate could actually have a very high combined state-local rate compared to other states,” according to The Tax Foundation’s report.

Kostrzewa makes an interesting point in his article that could actually, if The Tax Foundation factored it in, drop Rhode Island even lower on the list of states with high sales tax burdens.

“There is no mention in the report that Rhode Island’s 7 percent tax is not charged on all items,” he reports, “or that Governor Chafee has proposed that the sales tax be extended to taxicab and limousine rides, car washes, pet grooming and shoes and clothing that costs more than $175 an item. Or that the 8 percent meals and beverage tax be hiked by 2 percent under Chafee’s plan.”

The first clause of his sentence proves Rhode Island’s sales tax burden is actually lower than it may appear in the study (although this may be the case in other states, as well). The second part absolutely doesn’t belong in the study because it is not a part of Rhode Island’s tax system and it’s entirely likely these potential new sales taxes will never become reality. Somewhat similar ideas were cut from the proposed budget last year.

It’s important that Rhode Island discuss its taxing obligations in an honest and fair way, and as a community we aren’t always great at that. We’ve all heard the talking point that people routinely relocate away from Rhode Island because of high taxes and low marks in tax surveys.

On the other hand, just today, as it happens, the Providence Journal also ran a letter from the tax-hating former conservative senate candidate Bob Tingle on why perhaps we shouldn’t worry about those who threaten to flee the state for fiscal reasons. Tingle moved to Florida about a year ago but then decided to move back.

“Rhode Island has its faults, as does everywhere else,” he wrote about his homecoming. “But, Rhode Island is a beautiful and wonderful place. I am proud to be a Rhode Islander and I am extremely happy and grateful that my children grew up here. God Bless our beautiful Ocean State.”

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