Connecting Local Politics

Vancouver exhibitions illuminate our sense of place and deep ties to faraway countries

A strong element of our Pacific Rim identity informs this visual-arts season. Established and emerging artists, either based in or with cultural ties to Japan, Taiwan, Hong Kong, and Vietnam, appear in a number of solo and group exhibitions. Rising young artists of European descent are also commanding critical and curatorial attention. And, filling out the spring picture: our enduring attachment to forms and ideas of landscape.

Read more of Robin Laurence's article here

By David Bauder, Associated Press

Despite its windfall from political advertising last fall, local TV news in 11 major markets spent little time covering local politics, a new study has concluded.

More than 90 percent of newscasts examined last fall had no news about campaigns for the House of Representatives, local or state governments. They devoted eight times the amount of coverage to people injured in accidents, said the Lear Center Local News Archive.

"If you want to get on local news, it's easier to be in a freak accident than to run for local office,'' said Marty Kaplan, professor at the University of Southern California's Annenberg School, which worked with the University of Wisconsin on the study. Researchers looked at all the evening and late-night newscasts in 11 cities for the 29 days before the Nov. 2, 2004 election.

The study is being released today in Washington by the Lear Center, which has encouraged local television news to be more aggressive in covering politics. Their findings this time mirror similar studies done in 2000 and 2002.

Local stations took in an estimate $1.6 billion in political advertising in 2004, according to the Alliance for Better Campaigns. That more than doubles the $770 million the stations got four years earlier.

More than half of those local news broadcasts contained a story on the Bush-Kerry presidential race, compared to 8 percent that had a local political story.

One reason local political races may be avoided is the broad geographic reach of some stations. A New York City station, for example, may not want to risk spending two minutes on a Brooklyn race for fear of turning off viewers in Manhattan or New Jersey.

"That's a challenge,'' said Barbara Cochran, president of the Radio and Television News Directors Association. "It isn't to say you don't do that, but it's a challenge.''

Cochran also noted that a vast majority of local races are not particularly competitive.

Kaplan agreed it was a challenge to cover these races, but that local stations have promised to do so in order to get their licenses to operate.

The time spent on the presidential race may have also taken time away from local races, he said. While national news broadcasts and cable news are also outlets for presidential news, there's usually no other TV outlet for the local stories.

Since there are many viewers who watch local newscasts and don't read a newspaper or watch national news, it's important for those stations to keep on top of the presidential race, Cochran said.

The study also appeared to give no credit to stations like those in Seattle that sponsored candidate debates because they weren't shown within the newscasts, she said.

In U.S. Senate races, the amount of time spent on commercials outnumbered that for actual campaign news by a 17-to-1 ratio, the study said.

As with many national newscasts, the study criticized the stations for spending more time on campaign strategy than issues. But it said the stations did a generally good job in informing viewers where to vote and if there were any polling problems.

The markets included in the study were New York; Los Angeles; Philadelphia; Dallas; Seattle; Miami; Denver; Orlando; Tampa; Dayton, Ohio; and Des Moines, Iowa.

Beijing Pins Hope On Merger

The mainland hopes that merger of the Democratic Alliance for the Betterment of Hong Kong (DAB) and the Hong Kong Progressive Alliance (HKPA) will consolidate its grip on the Election Committee which will elect the next chief executive in 2007.

According to a source, the mainland's Central Liaison Office has welcomed the merger of the two parties.

In the short term, Monday's merger will also been seen as an attempt by Beijing to use the influence of two groups to ensure a favorable Election Committee selection.

There are now 800 members on the committee. The government is still considering proposals that will either enlarge the group or maintain the status quo. A decision will have to be reached some time this year as voting for the committee begins next year.

The pro-democrat camp had 120 members in the last committee and Beijing wants to make sure they do not enlarge their representation.

``It is urgent to set the scene by strengthening our [DAB] political muscle first. Next year will see the election for the Election Committee,'' a DAB core member who declined to be named said. ``We [the pro-Beijing camp] should start preparing now.

``The merger will give us greater influence in the Election Committee and hence make us the kingmakers.''

Central Liaison officials, who helped to form the Hong Kong Progressive Alliance in 1994, also felt obliged to install a strong united front locally to support the Beijing-backed SAR government.

It is believed the Central Liaison Office approached the DAB leadership last year about a possible merger with the HKPA after the latter failed to win a seat in Legco and appeared to be a political party on the verge of extinction. At the same time, the DAB became the biggest political party in the 60-seat Legislative Council with 12 seats.

The merger also coincides with the long-term wish of the DAB to transform itself from a political party for the grassroots to one that represents a wide cross-section of Hong Kong.

The HKPA comprises deputies in the National People's Congress as well as representatives in the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference and claims to represent pro-Beijing professionals.

The merger will also put the DAB in a stronger position to recommend party members.

Copyright 2005, The Standard