Return of the Assignment Desk
Diane Ellis, Ed. ·
Sep 26, 2011 at 2:53pm
Part of my job as an editor entails sending out prompts to our august group of Contributors -- questions and topics that I think our Members would enjoy reading about and discussing.
But sometimes, instead of trying to read your minds, it's better to go to the source and ask you all directly:
What do you want our Contributors, or even your fellow Members for that matter, to address? Propose a specific question or general topic below in the comments, and I'll do my darndest to get some answers for you. Be sure to indicate whether your question is meant for someone in particular, or whether you're seeking general discussion from anyone.
U.S. Naval Historical Center Photograph
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Jun '10
Re: Return of the Assignment Desk
I'd like someone to examine the media's impact, as an industry, on our government. In particular how media drives politics and vice-versa.
Re: Return of the Assignment Desk
This is a great topic. Tim Groseclose, a relatively recent addition to Ricochet's roster of Contributors, wrote a great book on this subject called Left Turn: How Liberal Media Bias Distorts the American Mind. I highly recommend the Uncommon Knowledge interview with Prof. Groseclose in which he discusses how much the media influence elections, among other fascinating topics.
Jun '10
Re: Return of the Assignment Desk
I get the impression that religious freedom, both here and around the world, is getting nibbled to death by ducks. Case in point:
Police ban Bible in Christian café (Blackpool, England)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=X5196cyemEM
Re: Return of the Assignment Desk
Great idea, Bob. I wonder if Bill McGurn, or Peter have some ideas on this as well. Good topic. You should have heart surgery more often. Brings out the creativity. Glad you're feeling better, by the way.
Jan '11
Re: Return of the Assignment Desk
There's been a lot of talk about illegal aliens - non-citizens living amongst us as citizens - but I've yet to read (or hear) a discussion of the essence of citizenship. Of whatever its intended values, has it been devalued by purposefully lax enforcement of our borders? Is the status "citizen" worth preserving, protecting, and defending, as we admonish our political leaders and judges to do when they assume office, or should that be nuanced to comport with current attitudes? How would one articulate the qualitative changes in what is meant by "citizen" over the past two decades? And, so forth...
That issue has been itching me for some time now.
Edited on Sep 26, 2011 at 3:24pmJun '10
Re: Return of the Assignment Desk
Diane, this is still in the news (re: Peter's friend Congressman Rohrbacher (?) changes his vote. I am still not sure if this issue was ever resolved. Dave Carter also seemed confused. To my mind the R's did what they usually do...hold back the tidal wave of D spending. But they did not stop it. They only cut it down. This was good? I would appreciate more discussion. Peter never came back to the topic. I would love his response.
Jan '11
Re: Return of the Assignment Desk
This perfectly dovetails with something I've been musing about for awhile ... I'd like to ask Mike Murphy (and anyone else in the political game) for reflections on what money buys.
What does win elections these days? I'm not asking for a magic formula ... just what are the essentials? What can't you afford to lack?
Jun '10
Re: Return of the Assignment Desk
Ditto the question of chipping away of our religious freedoms (see, e.g., Mollie's post today). Would love to have some of our lawyer experts (Epstein, Yoo, Freedman, etc.) give us some perspective on this issue.
Oct '10
Re: Return of the Assignment Desk
I had posted a request earlier for the LawTalk guys to spend a little time on how Common Law emerged and the history of its origins, particularly its transition from feudal law.
Apr '11
Re: Return of the Assignment Desk
I would like to see somebody do an analysis of local government budgets to see how much they could save by prioritizing and smart management. I live in CA and our city and county have had to make big cuts, but they still pay prevailing wage for construction projects and have a bunch of programs like water conservation and global warming councils etc and they still have not done any real reform of the pension system. I have the feeling, that saving would be substantial. And service levels would be the same or better.
Feb '11
Re: Return of the Assignment Desk
What is the best US response when Israel unilaterally takes out Iran's nuclear weapon's capabilities? Complete support? Wish you had not done that? Outright condemnation?
Not that I think the third option is the right one myself.
Jan '11
Re: Return of the Assignment Desk
I'd like to see some type of 'Business Roundtable' where actual owners/company officers ( not business talking heads or broker types) of various industries: energy, manufacturing, retail, medicine, finance could discuss their respective sector. How government affects their operations: regulations, state/local taxes, labor (education, unions, minorities, benefits), international factors/competition factor into hiring, expansion and offshore decisions.
Make them anonymous so that they will discuss issues more freely - verify their bona fides. I'd be very interested in hearing what they have to say.
Dec '10
Re: Return of the Assignment Desk
I would like one of the legal team to explain exactly how Social Security is constitutional other than the SCOTUS says so.
May '10
Re: Return of the Assignment Desk
A serious discussion of the threat of union and "community activist" violence to our political process in 2012.
Jimmy Hoffa can toss off "take the sons of bitches out", Michael Moore and Mayor Bloomberg can predict riots.
Ho hum, never know whose nose those zany leftists are going to break next.
Aug '10
Re: Return of the Assignment Desk
Are we going to do anything to monitor the massive departures from legal political fundraising that occurred in 2008 ?
Jun '10
Re: Return of the Assignment Desk
Given a Republican President in 2012, are we/can we do anaything about Iran? Pakistan? If so, WHAT?
Jun '10
Re: Return of the Assignment Desk
Given a Republican President in 2012, are we/can we do anaything about Iran? Pakistan? If so, WHAT?
Sep '11
Re: Return of the Assignment Desk
Entitlement reform: everybody's for "it"--but which "it" is going to get "reformed"?
Let's delve into the whole mess. What entitlement programs are there? (It's far more than just Social Security and Medicaid.) What reforms are possible? What reforms are likely?
In particular, what is the likelihood that anybody in Congress is going to attempt to make any meaningful change to any program (meaning Social Security and Medicare) backed by the AARP and their well-developed panic-the-old-folks PR machine?
And if the answer to that question is "zero" then what entitlement programs are going to be "reformed"? Food stamps? SSI Disability (due to run out of funding in 2018)? Special Ed? Veterans benefits? Mental health/mental retardation care?
"Reform" is going to unleash a firestorm of media "find the victim" stories--endless, and endlessly poignant tales of helpless people left destitute by those heartless Republicans. Which groups of people will the New York Times be focusing on when entitlement reform happens?
Edited on Sep 26, 2011 at 5:42pmSep '11
Re: Return of the Assignment Desk
Managing the news: what's involved in publishing the news, from an insider's perspective. If you're in the newspaper business (hey, we feel for ya pal) how does the news cycle work? If you're in the weekly magazine business (print? How 20th century!) how does the news cycle work? If you're in broadcast television, how does the news cycle work? If you're in cable news, is there a cycle--or one long, non-stop grind?
What are the similarities? What's an "evergreen story"? Why do some stories make the front page/cover/promo bump--and why do others get stuffed, or never see the light of day? Is it all the politics of that evil editor?
Sep '11
Re: Return of the Assignment Desk
Managing the news, part deux: what's involved in "managing" the news from the perspective of a political campaign or government agency. Why are some government reports released on specific days of the week, or at specific times? How are news reporters able to provide detailed coverage, with expert analysis, of "breaking news" that's only minutes old? (IOW, discuss embargoed news, and the relationship between the media and their covered subjects--and how that relationship is shaped by both parties to massage what we see and read.)
To what extent do the subjects compete with one another, to get their perspective (as opposed to the other guy's "spin") across to the reader/viewer? How do you work a reporter/producer to get your story across? How do you work that reporter or producer to move your story up in the paper, or up to the top story?