Grand Rapids Institute for Information Democracy

Analysis:

Again the article focuses on the possibility of a tax increase to Grand Rapids residents. Here the Press reporter cites 5 people, Bing Goei with the Chamber of Commerce, City Comm. Rick Tormala, Laura Huey with the Institute for Global Education, Cyndy Viars with Disability Advocates and Kent County Commissioner Paul Mayhue. There were mixed responses on the taxation issue, but only the Disability Advocates representative mentioned anything other than taxes. She was quoted as saying that the “Mayor would need to show residents how they will benefit from a tax increase, especially since they City would offer tax cuts to corporations.” The failure in this article is that they did not present the other proposals from the Mayor, nor explore the viability of such proposals. For an independent reporting on the State of the City address go to the online source Media Mouse.

Story:

Some city leaders doubtful mayor can convince voters to raise taxes
By Dave Murray

GRAND RAPIDS — Mayor George Heartwell issued the call to raise taxes near the middle of his “State of the City” speech Saturday, paused for a response and was surprised by what he heard: applause. While it wasn’t the standing ovation the mayor received as he was introduced to the crowd at the DeVos Place breakfast meeting, Heartwell said he was “certainly pleased” that he wasn’t booed for suggesting that residents need to dig deeper into their pockets to prevent further cuts in city services.

But some of leaders of the city’s business and social service communities said it’s one thing to get some applause from a friendly audience and another to convince voters. “I think that was an indication of our politeness in West Michigan,” said Bing Goi, chairman of the Grand Rapids Area Chamber of Commerce. “I think the mayor is right to put it on the table to talk about it, but raising taxes should be the very, very, very last resort. “He spoke about making government leaner, and I encourage them to keep working in that direction before they want to raise taxes.”

City Commission member Rick Tormala said he doesn’t think there is any way Heartwell can get a tax hike when the city is cutting services but adding to its savings. “I don’t think George Heartwell has the credibility to get a tax increase at this time,” he said. “If he wants to keep the pool open and keep all our firefighters and not keep building up the savings, I’d go door-to-door to help him pass a tax increase. But that’s not what he’s doing, and this is not going to pass.”
Some attending the speech said they don’t think people can afford to pay more when energy and health-care costs are soaring. “I think people are flat-out pinched right now,” said Laura Huey of the Institute for Global Education. “Look at all the things going on right now, and I really don’t think people are able to afford more taxes.”

Cyndy Viars, a systems change facilitator for Disability Advocates of Kent County, noted that Heartwell spoke of tax abatements for businesses but did not touch on helping people in need or groups that assist them. She said people will expect to see added services for increased taxes, and that Heartwell would need to show residents how they — and not corporations — would benefit.

Heartwell did not say which taxes he would raise or how much they should be hiked. Any increase in the city’s income tax or property tax must be approved by voters.

“I think a half-dozen mayoral aspirants are licking their chops at the thought of me even talking about this,” Heartwell joked. He said the city would continue looking for ways in-house to cut costs, but said slashing the city’s work force to cover a projected $8.5 million deficit would decimate services that have already been cut recently.
Heartwell said the city has cut $65 million in spending during the past four years and will have to cut $80 million in the next five years.

Kent County Commissioner Paul Mayhue, whose district includes part of Grand Rapids, said Heartwell risks getting tagged “a tax-and-spend liberal” by opponents, but he said the issue should be discussed. “People continue to see their services cut,” he said. “But the city’s expenses continue to rise, and the revenue side has to come up in some way. This is a challenge to us as a city.”

Analysis:

The article was a preview of Mayor George Heartwell’s State of the City address, where the focus this year was on economic sustainability. The speech focused on several points to improve the local economy, not just raising taxes, such as increasing government efficiency, reduction of municipal services, providing more tax abatements for businesses and creating sustainable industrial parks. None of these elements were discussed in the Press article until the very end of the story on page 2, in the last two paragraphs. Framing the issue as one primarily about taxes was clearly designed to get people’s attention, but why didn’t the Press provide any substantive coverage of the other economic policies that the Mayor was planning on sharing at the State of the City? How does it serve citizens by not providing an adequate representation of local government policy?

Story:

Mayor: GR needs tax hike
By Jim Harger

GRAND RAPIDS — Mayor George Heartwell was to use today’s “State of the City” speech to call for an increase in city taxes.

Unless the state government restores revenue-sharing funds it cut in recent years, Heartwell said the city needs to look at a tax increase or face more drastic cuts in police, fire and recreational services.

The city has cut $64 million in spending in the past four years and will have to cut another $80 million in the next five years, Heartwell said. The next city budget will require cuts of about $8.5 million, he said.

“Everyone who loves this city has been saddened to see the quality of municipal services decline,” Heartwell planned to tell audience members this morning during a breakfast speech at DeVos Place.

“I will not stand by and watch our city decline for want of investment in public services and infrastructure.”
Although Heartwell has floated trial balloons in recent months suggesting he might support a tax increase, today’s speech was to be his strongest call yet for raising taxes.

Any increase in the city’s income tax or property tax must be approved by voters. Heartwell said Friday he doesn’t know if he has the votes on the City Commission to put the question on the ballot later this year. Heartwell also said he has not decided if he will pursue a property tax increase or an increase in the city’s income tax.

Raising the city’s income tax from 1.3 percent to the state limit of 1.5 percent would raise about $8.5 million a year, he said. Non-residents employed in the city would see their rates increase from .65 percent to .75 percent.
Grand Rapids is among a handful of West Michigan cities with such a levy. Walker has a 1 percent tax on residents and a 0.5 percent tax on non-resident workers. Other West Michigan cities with income taxes include Big Rapids, Ionia, Muskegon, Muskegon Heights and Battle Creek.

Heartwell said a 2-mill increase in city property taxes also would raise $8.5 million a year. The city currently generates about $20 million a year for its general fund from property taxes.

A restoration of state revenue sharing funds could forestall the need for a local tax increase, Heartwell said. “But it’s not highly probable at this time,” he added.

Heartwell said he will build the case for a tax increase by convincing citizens the city is operating as efficiently as possible. He said the city already has made strides through its “Administrative Lean Program.” The city will have to make further cuts in its health care and pension programs, he said.

Heartwell tried to strike a positive note in his speech, saying there were signs the region’s manufacturing economy is beginning to regain strength. He also touted West Michigan’s emerging health-care and biomedical sector. Although he did not provide specifics, Heartwell said he wanted to create tax incentives to encourage the development of knowledge-based companies.

He also called for the redevelopment of two soon-to-be vacant industrial complexes as “eco-industrial parks,” in which sustainable business practices and “green” principles would be rewarded with tax breaks.

Analysis:

The reporter in this piece makes some very general statements about what the citizens of New Orleans think about the government response to the flooding of their city. In the piece it is noted that the Federal government had specific warnings in advance of the hurricane of the potential for catastrophic flooding. The reporter notes that this revelation is like a “punch to the gut” of the people hardest hit by the hurricane. He then goes on to generalize that despite this, most of those affected blame local and state officials and that “there is just no time to worry about the political finger pointing.” These statements by the reporter are not backed up by any actual data such as opinion polls. Rather the viewer is presented with statements from two individual residents. The effect of these comments is that it leads the viewer to dismiss the allegations of incompetence by the federal relief efforts because it’s just “political finger pointing” or because the residents most effected are not blaming the federal government. These general statements about what the residents of New Orleans think do little to actually inform the viewer on the events surrounding the flooding and relief efforts in New Orleans. Rather they prejudice the viewer to potentially dismiss the allegations put forward by these US Senate hearings.

Story:

WOOD 8 Newsreader #1 – The US senate committee on homeland security and governmental affairs continues hearings on the government’s response failures during Hurricane Katrina last August.

Newsreader #2 – Today members of the committee focused on a 2004 simulation drill that predicted much of the devastation that Katrina wrought on the gulf coast. Jay Grey has that story tonight from New Orleans.

Reporter – In the aftermath of Katrina even President Bush said quote: I don’t think anyone anticipated the breach of the levees. But documents released Tuesday by senate investigators show somebody should have known. A homeland security memo to the White House just hours before the storm hit says, quoting again; any storm rated category four or greater will likely lead to severe flooding or levee breaching.

Senator Joe Lieberman – Katrina was not just predictable it was predicted over and over again.

Reporter – Other documents dated two days before the storm point to data from a doomsday drill conducted in Louisiana in 2004 and said it should be quote; common knowledge that hurricane driven flooding from Katrina would cause catastrophic problems in the crescent city.

Felthus Blaise (New Orleans Resident) – I know they knew, we knew.

Reporter – And now more than five months since the storm and still struggling from the affects of Katrina this latest information is like another punch to the gut for those working to reclaim their lives and restore their communities. But those hardest hit say the majority of the blame should fall on those that were on the ground in New Orleans, local and state officials who many believe didn’t move fast enough.

Dervin Blaise (New Orleans Resident) – They might not have prevented the homes but they could have prevented a lot of lives from being lost.

Reporters – And while they are angry, most here say there is just no time to worry about the political finger pointing. They must instead focus on the years of work ahead as they try to bring there city back. In New Orleans, Jay Gray, 24 hour News 8.

Total Time: 1 minute 49 seconds

Analysis:

This story has no relevance to West Michigan. Viewers could rightly question what rational WZZM has for running this piece on the local news.

Story:

WZZM Newsreader – The weather is cold, very cold in Lithuania, the temperatures across the Baltic’s and Russia dropped below zero today where they’ve held steady for several days. Swans have gone to warmer waters coming in from a thermal plant along the Baltic sea. And a belly dancing convention refused to reschedule, they promised to perform despite the cold.

Total Time: 25 seconds

Analysis:

This story focuses on the recently announced candidacy of former State Representative James Koetje. Koetje becomes the 3rd Republican to announce their running for this seat, along with Joanne Voorhees and Mark Jansen, making all of the GOP candidates former members of the State House. The article however, doesn’t provide readers with information on Koetje’s platform or voting record while in the House, instead it focuses on a 2002 dispute about whether or not Koetje moved his residence in order to run in a re-districted race. We have documented over the years this type of coverage of elections in reports entitled “An Informed Vote.” One previous example was also a State House race, where the only story that ran 30-days prior to the election was about a yard sign dispute in 2002 – see page 15 of the report. Readers should ask themselves how this type of reporting helps voters make decisions on who to vote for?

Story:

Koetje to seek Sikkema seat

Former state representative will challenge Jansen, Voorhees in Republican primary

Jim Koetje is running again, and he is moving again.

In announcing to several area city councils this week that he intends to run for state Senate, the Grandville attorney becomes the third former lawmaker seeking to succeed term-limited Senate Majority Leader Ken Sikkema, R-Wyoming.

He joins ex-lawmakers Mark Jansen and Joanne Voorhees in what promises to be a competitive Republican primary.

“I look forward to getting back to lend my experience and ideas” to the Legislature, said Koetje, 50, who served in Sikkema’s old House seat from 1998 to 2004.

Koetje raised eye-brows by buying a Walker house so he could run in his redistricted seat in 2002. And even though his Grandville home is in the Senate district, he plans to move again – this time to Wyoming’s “panhandle” neighborhood, where new homes are being built. He says the move is not designed to run out of a populous base or to cut into Voorhees’ territory, but “to get something more accommodating to my family.”

Koetje sold his Walker home last spring, only weeks after his final House term ended. He bought the home to move into the redistricted seat just before the 2002 race, but created a furor when it was learned that he was still making Grandville his primary residence.

Koetje, who intends to sell his Grandville home, said he doesn’t expect residency to be an issue in the campaign.

“I don’t know what people will say, but I’m running based on who I am and what I can bring to the table,” he said. “I’m not intending to engage in any sort of negative campaigning. People will vote for who they believe can do the best job and who represents their best interests.”

Voorhees, of Wyoming, also served in the House from 1998 – 2004, while Jansen, of Grand Rapids Township, served from 1996 – 2002. Democrat Albert Abbasse has also announced his candidacy.

The Senate seat covers much of Kent County surrounding Grand Rapids. With a population of nearly 70,000, Wyoming is the district’s largest city.

More than 60 percent of Koetje’s old districts are in the Senate district’s boundaries, Koetje said.

Koetje’s positions on various business-related committees during his House tenure would serve him well in the Senate, he said.

“The experience will be very helpful in these times where the biggest issue is jobs and job retention,” he said. “The focus of this race will be the economy and jobs.”

Analysis:

This Press story, which ran in the “Briefs” section of the paper on page B12 looked at how much Senate incumbent Debbie Stabenow has for her campaign. Beyond the figure of $5.7 million, the story doesn’t look at what individuals or Political Action Committees have been the primary donors to her re-election bid. The story does mention the source for the amount of money raised by Stabenow, the Center for Responsive Politics, but no details about where the money has come from. According to the site about 80% of the money is from individual contributions and 20% from PAC money. Readers should ask themselves if details on the larger contributors is useful information in an election cycle?

Story:

US Senator Debbie Stabenow heads into the 2006 election year with nearly $5.7 million on hand, her campaign said Wednesday. The Democratic incumbent continues to have a wide fundraising lead over her potential Republican rivals. She raised about $1.3 million in the last three months of 2005 and a total of $5 million for the year. Since becoming a senator in 2001, she has raised $8.1 million, according to campaign records and the nonpartisan Center for Responsive Politics. Campaign finance reports for 2005 aren’t officially due until Jan. 31. But some candidates have released early estimates of how much they expect to raise. Three Republicans – Oakland County Sheriff Michael Bouchard and ministers Keith Butler and Jerry Zandstra – are seeking to unseat Stabenow in November.

Analysis:

The headlined reads “Bishop calls for fair distribution of resources,” but the story doesn’t really communicate how or why the world’s resources should be distributed fairly. The article does say that the Bishop referred to Catholic Social teaching of this issue, but never provides an actual source, even though Gumbleton sourced each of his quotes from church documents. The Bishop also cites several statistics, but the reporter never verifies or provides sources for the statistics on poverty. The only concrete example of wealth distribution in the Press article was when Gumbleton referred to the minimum wage campaign in Florida, but Gumbleton also discussed trade policies such as NAFTA and the recently passed trade policy CAFTA. Gumbleton even cited a Catholic Bishops statement from the US and Central American Bishops that was opposed to CAFTA.

This information could have been reported and would be useful to readers, but the Press article instead devoted a full third of the story to Gumbleton’s recent disclosure of being sexual abused by a priest when he was in school, despite the fact that Gumbleton never mentioned this issue at the lecture.

Story:

Bishop calls for fair distribution of resources

By Patricia Mish
The Grand Rapids Press

GRAND RAPIDS — In one image, an African girl collapses from hunger, while a vulture hovers nearby. In another, an American 4-year-old boy clad in hockey gear prepares to take to the ice.

Detroit Auxiliary Bishop Thomas Gumbleton used the photographs to illustrate the widening gap between rich and poor in a world where a fifth of the population uses 87 percent of the resources. The bottom fifth live in “absolute poverty,” he said.

“The reason it’s an injustice is it need not be that way,” Gumbleton told about 375 people at Aquinas College on Tuesday.

The activist bishop had spoken earlier the same day about another injustice — sexual abuse.
Gumbleton told reporters states should remove time limits preventing victims from suing the church, and revealed he was “inappropriately touched” by a priest when he attended Sacred Heart Seminary High School.

Gumbleton would not name the priest, who he said died 10 or 15 years ago. The first bishop to disclose he was abused, Gumbleton said he was not traumatized by it but felt compelled to speak out. He did not address the issue at Aquinas, focusing his remarks on poverty.

He said God created the world with enough resources for all.

“A few of us have far more than we have a right to when a majority of people do not have enough,” he said.
The African girl is one of 30,000 to 40,000 children who die of hunger daily, Gumbleton said. “Is there any one of us in this room who does not have more than we need?” asked Gumbleton, pastor of St. Leo Parish in Detroit. “I doubt it. If we have more than we need when other people lack the necessities, then we have those material possessions unjustly.”

He cited Catholic social teaching, in which popes and bishops have called for an end to unbridled materialism and a fairer distribution of the world’s resources. He challenged the audience to not only share their resources but to change the societal structures that create the disparity. Gumbleton cited the example of Florida, where voters recently approved a $1 hike in the minimum wage to $6.15 per hour and linked the wage to the inflation rate. “That’s the kind of change we need to make in our whole nation,” he said.

Fielding audience questions, Gumbleton encouraged voters to be informed on all issues. “Just because one party or another party proclaims itself to be pro-life doesn’t mean they’re pro-life,” he said, adding the term means not only opposing abortion but supporting and protecting life.

Tom and Margaret Merkel, who brought their 6-week-old son, agreed. “I’ve never really heard a Catholic come out and say being ‘pro-poor’ was being pro-life,” said Tom Merkel, adding Gumbleton’s talk “does make you want to redouble your efforts to live simply.”

Consolata Sister Zelia Cordeiro said she has heard Gumbleton before and praised his calls for justice and peace.
“To me he is one of our prophets,” she said.

Analysis:

This article is about how the Kent County Republican Party will be bringing author and columnist Ann Coulter to Grand Rapids to keynote their annual Lincoln Day Dinner this March. In the article two people are quoted, Carol Van Andel and John Van Fossen, who are the co-finance chairpersons for the Kent County Republicans. They describe her as “Edgy” and say that “she’ll inspire and excite people.” No other people are interviewed in the piece about Coulter. The article describes Coulter as a “firebrand conservative” and that she “rips liberals at every opportunity.” It is noted in the article that Coulter once stated that “I think we ought to nuke North Korea right now just to give the rest of the world a warning. Boom! … thay’re a major threat. I think it would be fun to nuke them and have it be a warning to … the world”.

This style of rhetoric is typical for Coulter, who has a history of making statements calling for the physical destruction or imprisonment of people she disagrees with. She recently wrote in a column that “I think the government should be spying on all Arabs, engaging in torture as a televised spectator sport, dropping daisy cutters wantonly throughout the Middle East and sending liberals to Guantanamo.” Shortly after the attacks on Sept. 11 2001 she gained notoriety for saying “We should invade their countries, kill their leaders and convert them to Christianity.” She was also reported saying that “We need to execute people like John Walker in order to physically intimidate liberals, by making them realize that they can be killed, too. Otherwise, they will turn out to be outright traitors.” Readers should ask themselves that given the fact that Coulter has called for the intimidation and imprisonment of Americans she disagrees with as well as unprovoked nuclear attacks on sovereign nations, if perhaps the Grand Rapids Press was making a rather significan understatement when they referred to her in the headline as “edgy.”

Story:

‘Edgy’ speaker brings fire to local event

Saturday, January 14, 2006

By Steven Harmon

The Grand Rapids Press
GRAND RAPIDS — You don’t know what envelope Ann Coulter, firebrand conservative commentator, will push when she gets going.

But that’s the draw, Kent County Republican Party officials said Friday in announcing Coulter will keynote their Lincoln Day Dinner in March.

Described by Time magazine last year as “quite likely the most divisive figure in American politics,” Coulter is expected to attract upward of 1,500 to the annual event as Republicans gear up for an active 2006 campaign season.

“What I like about her is she stands up for what she believes and she doesn’t mince any words,” said Carol Van Andel, the party’s co-finance chairwoman who came up with the idea of bringing in Coulter. “She’s edgy. I like edgy.”

Coulter’s $30,000 speaker’s fee will be picked up by the Kent County Pachyderms, a group of GOP women whose mission is to get women involved in Republican politics. The event will be held March 16 at DeVos Place’s Steelcase Ballroom. Ticket cost has not been determined.

“She’ll inspire and excite people,” said John Van Fossen, the party’s other co-finance chairman and director of external affairs for the Van Andel Research Institute in Grand Rapids. He is a former chief of staff for U.S. Rep. Pete Hoekstra, R-Holland. “She’s going to do what Lincoln Day dinners are supposed to — attract more to the party and motivate the base.”

Previous speakers at the event in recent years were U.S. Sen. John McCain, R-Arizona, Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney, and presidential adviser Karl Rove.

Plans have not been finalized, but Coulter has said she will make herself available for other events on that day, such as a book signing, GOP officials said. She has had four bestsellers on the New York Times list, including a 2003 book “Treason: Liberal Treachery from the Cold War to the War on Terrorism.”

In that book, as she does at every opportunity, she ripped liberals: “Whether they are defending the Soviet Union or bleating for Saddam Hussein, liberals are always against America. They are either traitors or idiots.”

Once, on CNN’s Lou Dobbs’ show, she said, “There are a lot of bad Republicans. There are no good Democrats.”

She aims her fire globally, too. Speaking to a New York Observer reporter, she said, “I think we ought to nuke North Korea right now just to give the rest of the world a warning. Boom! … They’re a major threat. I just think it would be fun to nuke them and have it be a warning to … the world.”

Analysis:

This story ran just before an event that the Kent County Democratic Part held that involved the statewide effort to raise the minimum wage in Michigan. Even though the reporter mentions up front that people are organizing to put the minimum wage on the ballot this year, event organizers or speakers are not interviewed for this story.

Instead, what WZZM 13 does is finds a random working person to get their feedback on a minimum wage increase. The reporter talks to a single mom who says she supports a wage increase, mostly because she is a mother of two and can’t make it off her current salary. Then the reporter talks with a representative with the Grand Rapids Chamber of Commerce who takes a position against any effort to raise the minimum wage in Michigan. Ask yourself, is it fair to put the comments of a working mother, who is not associated with the campaign, next to a representative of an organization that is pro business? It would have been more honest to have the event organizer’s comments followed by the GR Chamber of Commerce, which would have 2 organizational perspectives side by side.

Lastly, the story does provide some context to what the current minimum wage is and how long it has been at the current amount, but beyond that there is no investigation into how much a worker needs to live above the federal poverty level. The GR Chamber of Commerce representative does make claims about how this will be bad for business, but the reporter never verifies those claims.

Story:

WZZM 13 Newsreader – Michigan Democrats want to raise the minimum wage and tonight they are taking their campaign to the public. The minimum wage in Michigan has been 5 dollars and fifteen cents and hour for the past ten years. Their proposal calls for it to go up to six eighty-five. WZZM 13’s Phil Dawson joins us now from the Wealthy Theatre in Grand Rapids for more.

Reporter – Juliet, instead of relying upon the federal government or the state legislature to raise the minimum wage, organizers of a rally here at the Wealthy Theatre in Grand Rapids tonight are hoping to collect enough signatures to put the pay raise question before the voters this November.

Reporter – Tanning salon employee Tammy Wade is a West Michigan working mother would get a raise if the minimum wage goes up.

Tammy Wade – Big bonus for me, big bonus. Definitely.

Reporter – Entry level workers like Tammy Wade haven’t seen an increase in the five dollar and fifteen cent minimum wage since 1997, so some Democrats want to increase the minimum in Michigan to six dollars and eighty-five cents an hour.

Tammy Wade – I do have two children, and that’s definitely going to help with that. I also do have a vehicle that I am still paying on, so that would definitely be a little bit more helpful.

Jared Rodriguez (GR Area Chamber of Commerce) – We do not support that, as a way to increase wages.

Reporter – The Grand Rapids Chamber of Commerce opposes an increase in the minimum wage because they say it would increase the cost of doing business in the state, and could force companies to downsize and cut jobs.

Jared Rodriguez – If there’s less funds available to pay your workforce because of the increase, you’re going to have to shrink or streamline your workforce. Therefore there could be a net decrease or loss of entry-level jobs.

Tammy Wade – Yes it’s definitely a struggle, especially being a single parent and having children, yes.

Reporter – The minimum wage works out to be about twelve thousand dollars a year for a fulltime employee in Michigan. If the campaign that begins here tonight collects enough signatures, it will be up to the voters to decide if there will be a pay raise. In Grand Rapids Phil Dawson, WZZM 13 News.

Total Time: 2 minutes 4 seconds