4 - The Michigan Daily - Monday, August 8, 2005 U l e l[ict 'rgttn ttil 420 MAYNARD STREET ANN ARBOR, MI 48109 STEPHANIE WRIGHT DONN M. FRESARD tothedaily@michigandaily.com Editor in Chief Editorial Page Editor EDITED AND MANAGED BY STUDENTS AT THE Unless otherwise noted, unsigned editorials reflect the opinion of UNIVERSITY OF MICHIGAN the majority of the Daily's editorial board. All other pieces do not SINCE 1890 necessarily reflect the opinion of The Michigan Daily. Looking ahead Following Kang's loss, students need cohesive strategy to change city government Bad news News media should serve for public, not profits T he narrow defeat of Eugene Kang in the Ann Arbor City Council Democratic primary last Tuesday is disheartening for students who hoped to finally have a representative in city government. But the result was far from decisive - Kang raised nearly five times more money and came within just 95 votes of toppling the Council-backed Stephen Rapundalo. It is clear that had this election been held a month later, after students returned to campus, Kang would have won handily. The small margin of his loss shows that having a student City Council member is indeed attainable and that Ann Arbor residents, like students, are looking for change. Although Kang's defeat is a disap- pointment, student leaders and activists should not be discouraged. Rather, they should use his campaign and the close result as a model to be replicated and improved upon; they should be encour- aged that, with no support from the party establishment and in a ward whose students are mostly dorm residents and nearly all out of town for the summer, a student candidate came within 10 per- centage points of victory. It has become increasingly apparent that City Council, as presently struc- tured, is not an ally to students. Last summer, the council attempted to ban couches from porches before students could return and fight against it. Though that measure failed, the same dirty tac- tic was utilized again this year in pass- ing the anti-student Oxbridge and North Burns Park parking permit ordinance. When a student-backed amendment was proposed in council last Monday by Kim Groome (D-1st Ward) to allot more spaces to fraternities hurt by this measure, it was not even seconded and never saw a vote. If City Council cared for the concerns of the 37,500 students who inhabit Ann Arbor for eight months each year, it would at least give them the courtesy of voting down, rather than simply plugging its ears and ignoring their requests. When students agitate for represen- tation on City Council, their concerns are often dismissed because they are, seen as mere "transients" - visitors to the city rather than residents. But as Kang pointed out, although individu- al students will come and go, student issues remain constant. Students often feel apathetic or that their voices are ignored, but it is important for them to realize that Ann Arbor is their city as much as anyone else's. The election results suggest that dis- connect between City Council and its constituents is not felt only by students. Despite his lack of party support and almost non-existent fundraising, Eric Lipson lost to incumbent Marcia Hig- gins (D-4th Ward) by an even narrower margin than Kang in the Fourth Ward primary. These close elections suggest that there are many Democrats in Ann Arbor who don't identify with the Demo- cratic establishment in the city. The local Democratic Party has recently support- ed former Republicans like Higgins and Rapundalo over more progressive can- didates. Liberal residents who are disil- lusioned with the centrist direction the party is taking may have provided much of the support for Kang and Lipson, and they may share many of the same goals as students who seek to change the way City Council is run. Kang demonstrated that, even with all the institutional barriers in the city gov- ernment, it is not outside the realm of possibility for a student to win a sum- mer primary; now, the conversation among students interested in changing city government should shift to develop- ing a strategy to make it happen in the future. A good place to start would be establishing a strong network of student neighborhood groups, which could reg- ister more students to vote on campus, inform them about the Council members in their own wards and educate them about the importance of voting absentee for summer primaries. In addition, voter registration drives like Voice Your Vote should be strengthened, with a renewed focus on encouraging students to regis- ter to vote in Ann Arbor rather than in their hometowns. Beyond that, there are several possible options to explore for removing those barriers and leveling the playing field. If moving primary elections to the fall proves unfeasible, for example, students might consider allying with progressive residents who are dissatisfied with the local Democratic Party to reform the Human Rights Party or something like it; given the very real possibility that Coun- cil will soon be monopolized by centrist and largely anti-student Democrats, vot- ers may be receptive to a new party that could provide competition, spark mean- ingful debate and give representation to those who feel ignored by today's Council. Alternatively, students could discuss the possibility of nonpartisan City Council elections, or even redrawing Ann Arbor's gerrymandered ward map. But whichever option proves most feasible and desir- able, it will take a concerted effort from a dedicated and diverse alliance of stu- dent groups to devise and implement a strategy for change. Starting now, lead- ers of student government, student and local political and activist groups, local bloggers, Greek system representatives and other interested parties should pool their resources, influence and knowledge toward the goal of a truly representative city government. Recent optimism about last week's sale of Michigan's two larg- est daily newspapers - with the Detroit News sold to the smaller MediaNews Group and the Free Press snatched up by former News owner Gan- nett Co. - overlooks the larger problem of corporate ownership of newspapers. The deal has been heralded by supporters as an opportunity for more competition between the two newsrooms, with the News becoming a morning newspaper competing directly with the Free Press. But the sale is no more than a redistribu- tion among large media conglomerates that focus on increasing profit margins and pleasing stockholders at the expense of public service and quality journalism. If the recent history of corporate media ownership has taught us one lesson, it is that investigative reporting and foreign coverage, which provide a far greater public service than USA Today's brightly colored drivel, require a greater commit- ment of resources than corporate money- mongerers are willing to expend. Corporate chains already owned 39 percent of the country's newspapers as of 2002, and Gannett, the largest news media conglomerate in the United States, boasts a capitalist's dream come true: It controls 101 daily newspapers including USA Today, roughly 750 non-daily pub- lications and over 20 television stations, the most widely circulated daily newspa- per in the country. Financially, Gannett's tactics pay off - it declared a 2004 vic- tory of $1.3 billion in profits, largely as a result of its ruthless cost-cutting. In the game where everyone wants ownership of Boardwalk and Park Place, Gannett's media near-monopoly may be a winning strategy for the corporation and its stock- holders, but not for the public. When corporations and their investors demand high profit margins, newspapers must increase ad sales and cut costs on reporting. One only needs to peruse a few issues of the News and Free Press to see how corporations squeeze profits out of their papers at the expense of quality, with popular sports columnists and front-page ads trumping important news stories. The New York Times, long the bastion of American journalism, is a member of a disappearing species of family-owned newspapers. The autonomy provided by its independent ownership enables the Times to maintain its well-earned reputation for in-depth and investiga- tive reporting on breaking news stories, public and corporate scandals and con- troversial issues. For corporate-owned newspapers, however, the incentive to report such stories becomes a calcula- tion based on profits and circulation figures. Trivial stories, acting more as entertainment than news, fill such pub- lications with fluff and contribute to the tabloidization of the press. Quality journalism is not profitable. But journalism shouldn't be about prof- it; it should be about providing a service that holds the government and other institutions accountable to the public. It may be expensive, but the public should demand fearless, vigilant and in-depth reporting. Rather than feel- ing an obligation to the public, Gannett and other conglomerates are beholden to investors who control decision-mak- ing at the highest levels. Maintaining a free press involves a commitment not to profits, but to providing newsrooms with the necessary resources to con- duct their work with integrity, courage and independence. The thumbs have it ACLU Friends and Family of Kwame Kilpatrick In challenging a Michigan law that allows police to administer breathlyzer tests without consent to those under 21, the ACLU's latest lawsuit proves its commitment to truly protecting the civil liber- ties of even the drunkest of underage college stu- dents. Mr. ACLU-man, this Bud's for you. Now that Kilpatrick has become the first Detroit mayor in nearly 60 years to place second in the mayoral primary, it appears that the unemploy- ment rate among this group of loyal supporters will soon hit a record level since 2001.