Plumbing the briny depths of Illinois state government
In a CBS Radio commentary this week, David Ross said something especially interesting for reporters about the Blagojevich scandal: "I know that it's every young reporter's dream to go to Washington," he said. "But I have to think, after the last few weeks, that it's every Washington reporter's dream to go to Illinois."
His logic is easily understood. Fishermen want to ply their nets where the catch is abundant. Miners want to dig where they'll find ore. Reporters, naturally, want to work where there are engaging stories to tell - and right now, there's not much that's more interesting and exciting to report on than the seeming mental unraveling of the governor and its impact on both our state and federal governments.
So, it's natural to assume that journalists in Illinois feel like they're in hog heaven these days. And, that may be correct to a degree, but for many of us, the emphasis is much more on the hog than the heaven.
Yes, it's true that we can find something astonishing to examine under almost every rock, but all the rocks, it seems, are in the sewer. Getting to them and being around them is not all that pleasant.
Journalists, it should be said, do not inherently want bad government any more than cops and prosecutors want crime. Right now, reporters and editors throughout the Daily Herald newsroom are working on a host of suburban-focused stories related to the impending historic ascension of Barack Obama to the presidency - yet we are constantly distracted by the unsightly mess of our state government.
Our goal is good government, a process that addresses the problems of society openly and effectively; and truly, plumbing the emotions, vicissitudes and complexities of reaching consensus on demanding and sometimes polarizing issues makes for plenty-stimulating work.
But for six years - and longer, really, if you examine it thoroughly - reporting on Illinois government has been more about chronicling deal-making and dysfunction than analyzing leadership and problem solving.
Nor has it been all the governor's doing. For all his bluster and intransigence, Gov. Blagojevich's unproductive leadership has been well matched by Emil Jones in the Senate and Michael Madigan in the House. And it wasn't substantially better before them when Republicans George Ryan, Pate Philip and Lee Daniels were in the top leadership roles.
On a smaller, but equally noxious, scale, Cook County government might on the surface also seem to be a reporter's dream beat. Always operating in an environment of suspicion and conspiracy, its leadership and membership are replete with colorful characters who aren't afraid to say outlandishly quotable things about issues and about each other. But watching them in "action" and describing the same aberrant behaviors week after week and year after year can be an all-but-stultifying experience.
So, yes, these are heady days for political journalists in Illinois. We have a fascinating cast of unique personalities forced to interact with each other to confront complex and serious issues. We have a legislature that appears to be in a near-constant state of upheaval. We have a governor who has proved to be, if nothing else, wantonly unpredictable and who may be willfully, if not psychologically, corrupt. We have no shortage of politicians willing to take advantage of and participate in his manipulations.
From a political reporting standpoint, these may seem near-ideal conditions. But in point of fact, these are briny waters we are fishing in, and I dare say that few of us want them to remain so much longer.
• Jim Slusher, jslusher@dailyherald.com, is an assistant managing editor at the Daily Herald.