Stifling Our Voices

ACCORDING TO LIZ - The pro-Israel forces – which their opponents call pro-Hamas and pro-obliteration of the state of Israel, and the pro-Palestinian voices that portray the Israeli government as supporting the mass destruction of Gaza and perpetrating colonial occupation of historically Arab territories, are just the tip of the iceberg.

Here, we have a Democrat as president advocating military support for Israel against the will of the majority of Americans who are calling for a ceasefire. While Biden may think that the common people don’t have the expert knowledge of his advisors, the latter clearly hold a political point of view and prejudices that are not in step with those of most Americans.

And there are recurring concerns about how many of their decisions are driven by financial motivations.

But this is just the tip of the iceberg.

So many of our perceptions of our world come from what we read and what we hear on the news.

Over recent decades, we have seen media outlets – community newspapers and city television stations – bought out and bought out again, with local newsrooms shuttered and content homogenized for a broader constituency.

In-depth reporting has given way to 30-second soundbites. News shows on major issues to infotainment and advertorials.

The internet originally allowed a host of different opinions to be spread nationwide, but the algorithms of social media have drowned out all but the most outrageous clickbait items that can draw in eyeballs for advertisers but not encourage true thought and reflection about where our world is heading.

Without credible non-partisan journalism serving the people, news empires funded by biased big-money based bigotry will continue to widen divisions to foment controversy, attracting those eyeballs and advertising dollars through scurrilous political attacks against those whose opinions they oppose, propaganda, and outright lies.

James Madison, whose writing informed the First Amendment’s protection for freedom of the press, put it this way: “A popular Government, without popular information, or the means of acquiring it, is but a Prologue to a Farce or a Tragedy; or, perhaps both.”

The research of Joshua Benton, director of the Nieman Journalism Lab at Harvard University, reveals that countries with better-funded public media have healthier democracies. As of 2022, Germany spent $142.42 per person per year on its public media, Norway $110.73, the U.K. $81.30, Japan $53.15, and Botswana $18.38.

And the U.S.? $3.16.

The United States needs massive public investment in not-for-profit news to rebuild our democracy, and to regain its credibility as a nation that promotes free speech by allowing not some but all opinions to flourish.

Even national papers that employ reputable reporters now have to tailor what they publish to cater to owners focused on profit and their own pro-plutocrat biases, not the truth, instead of providing their readers with the rainbow variety of views that once spanned America.

And according to Northwestern University’s State of Local News Project, 43,000 journalists – mostly editors and reporters for daily publications – have lost their jobs since 2005.

Local news operations, especially ethnically-oriented publications and minority-owned media, that served their listeners and readership well by bringing perspective to national and international concerns, have also been severely impacted by plummeting advertising revenues.

Too many have folded. Others sold out to the media conglomerates that thrive on divisiveness and disrespecting views that differ from their oftentimes conservative narratives, turning brother against brother, all to build up their revenue base at the expense of reasonable public discourse.

Opinions do matter, even if they stretch the truth; freedom of expression must be protected for free debate to inform that public discourse... and for democracy to survive. As set forth in the landmark free speech decision, New York Times Co. v. Sullivan, the constitutional protection of the First Amendment does not turn upon the truth, popularity, or social utility of the ideas and beliefs which are offered.

Again in the words of Madison: “Some degree of abuse is inseparable from the proper use of every thing; and in no instance is this more true than in that of the press.”

We have to trust that university students and trustees, our children and minorities not only don’t deserve to be swaddled in cotton wool, they will grow healthier in listening to what others say, even if it’s derogatory, in reaching for their own truth.

Meanwhile, back in La-La-Land:

The City Council and its committees continue to curtail Angelenos’ access to meaningful participation. The freedom to speak up at City Council and Committee meetings that was a positive consequence of the pandemic is now being quickly erased.

Perhaps our leaders are unaware of the hardship imposed on many Angelenos if they have to take time off work, travel downtown in heavy traffic, pay for premium parking, sit for hours on uncomfortable benches for their one minute to speak – if that.

I suspect they are mostly oblivious but, even if that wasn’t the case, Councilmembers would probably prefer to go about their business making decisions that affect us all with a bare minimum of citizen oversight.

Furthermore, technical issues – from difficulties in finding the correct department to which to address problems, to the blockage of budget downloads, to even the ability to submit input (ever try to sign up to be on the Mayor’s list?) confound us all.

Then there is the lack of accountability – the disgraceful action of the Councilmembers in approving the installation of the TCN’s digital billboard throughout the City despite the widespread and vociferous opposition of those of us who will have to live with the consequences – is just one example – and the lack of transparency over union negotiations, both of which impede the necessary in-formation for the people to knowledgeably call our leaders to account.

The Neighborhood Council system in Los Angeles was created to mitigate some of the concerns about the deaf ears and corruption at City Hall. But it was saddled by an oversight entity known as the Department of Neighborhood Empowerment (DONE) that does little to help galvanize civic involvement, and creates a great deal of bureaucracy to divert community activists’ energy and stifle their voices.

It does not empower so much as it serves the interests of the Mayor and City Council.

The City Council approved, and then the City Attorney determined that the two-thirds majority needed for Councils to embrace this choice would, with absolutely NO precedent, would be based on the SEATS specified in board bylaws and not on the number of actual elected members.

Given that boards have been decimated over the past months and years, between problematic elections, arbitrary dictates from DONE and declining interest because of how complicated DONE and BONC have made attracting and retaining qualified board members, this is a serious denial of Neighborhood Council rights.

And the hand that giveth too often taketh away. Senator Portantino pressed Sacramento politicians to pass SB411 so Neighborhood Councils could choose to continue to meet remotely... but only allows twice-yearly absences for the ongoing commitments of childcare, eldercare, and protecting the at-risk from infection – huh?

And DONE continues to focus on maintaining its power, and its staff on keeping their positions, not on service to the Neighborhood Councils. Not on finding meeting spaces, not on addressing grievances, not on adequately training their so-called Neighborhood Empowerment Advocates, and not even on replying to phone calls and e-mails on a timely basis.

The City Council needs to move out of its HOV lane and into proactive support for the people of Los Angeles. It needs to make itself available to Angelenos outside of bankers’ hours. It needs to allow stakeholders more time and opportunities to speak. Above all, it needs to push officials at all levels for California to redo the Brown Act to make it represent the reality of life 70 years after it was passed; bring it into the 21^st century.

And the City Council must fervently join with DONE in adhering to the Pledge that appeared, before “technical” upgrades, on the latter’s EmpowerLA website:

1. We will treat the public with courtesy and respect.
2. When explaining a restriction, making a suggestion, or reporting a delay, we will always explain the reason why.
3. We will ensure that people who call during working hours will always have an opportunity to speak to someone.
4. We will avoid using insider or bureaucratic language.
5. We will be good listeners.
6. We will honor the Mayor's "no wrong door" policy, and never use the words, "It's not my job!" We will find out whose job it is.
7. We will never say, "Because that's the way we've always done it," or "We tried it that way once but it didn't work."
8. We will keep the promises we make.
9. We believe that everyone deserves an answer.
10. We will strive to be the best friend that Neighborhood Councils have.

(Liz Amsden is a contributor to CityWatch and an activist from Northeast Los Angeles with opinions on much of what goes on in our lives. She has written extensively on the City's budget and services as well as her many other interests and passions.  In her real life she works on budgets for film and television where fiction can rarely be as strange as the truth of living in today's world.)