Post reporter Robert LaHue on
news, sports and anything that crosses his mind.My last stories were in yesterday's edition of The Post. So this is the farewell. My first day in Marysville is the 20th.
It's been a blast. The Ridge might forget me someday soon (we reporters tend to be nomadic types, especially at smaller papers) but I'll never forget the Ridge.
If Democrats gain half or all of Congress, are impeachment hearings on the way?
It's 5:30, so the polls just closed in Arkansas.
Edge of your seat stuff going on, I'm telling you!
The polls on the East Coast are now closed. At this point, CNN is showing the GOP with an 8-5 advantage in the House.
So, I've taken care of my voting. How about you?
Us Post reporters aren't going into work until 4 p.m. today, in order to put out a special Wednesday edition of The Post with election results for our subscribers.
I'll be updating this blog as much as possible throughout election night, so you'll want to be checking this out regularly.
That being said, along with offering tidbits on the nationwide and local races, there's two other elections I'll be keeping track of:
Illinois Governor: No, not the Democrat and Republican candidates--I want to know what's happening with write-in Tim Nieukirk. The blog of Ryan Sabalow of the Redding Record Searchlight pointed me in the direction of the "Get Nieuked" write-in campaign. I'm rooting for him.
Phoenix, Ore. Mayor: I want to see if Murray LaHue (no relation) pulls it off. It's such a rare last name here on the West Coast, I can't help it...
On a side note, if you're not keen on any of the governor candidates, show your displeasure by writing in Kelly Reed.
While writing a story on journalistic influences and ethics, one of my old college professors said something interesting.
What was it? Well, some journalists hold the concept of neutrality so strongly they don't even vote.
Two days before the election, this is an issue I struggle with. Should I, as a journalist, forfeit my voting rights in order to maintain a presentation of neutrality to the public?
A well-known example of a journalist who does not vote is Jim Lehrer. But, as this Larry King Live transcript from 2000 shows, Lehrer talked about his personal reason for doing so.
KING: You are so impartial, you do not vote, right?LEHRER: Yes, but that's not a big thing, Larry.
KING: Well, the editor of the "Washington Post" doesn't vote.
LEHRER: I know. I know. In my case, I was covering politics in Texas as a newspaper man in the 1960's.
KING: You were there at the assassination.
LEHRER: Yes, absolutely. But there -- the politics was just really an emotional thing in Texas at the time. And then you had to go into your polling place to vote in a primary. And you had declare publicly whether you were a Republican or a Democrat. And I walked into there to do that one day when I was the political editor of the "Dallas Times Herald." And everybody was staring at me. You know, I had to choose between the two parties. And I walked out, because I didn't want the word to get out: Oh, well, he's a Republican or a Democrat. Lehrer is writing politics. And the politics was ferocious. And I just decided: OK, I'm not going to do this. And so I stopped voting. And it's not a big deal. I don't suggest this for journalists or anything. It's not any creed of mine. It's just something that I do.
I'm conflicted in this situation. This will be my first election where I'm registered in the same place I'm working as a professional reporter. (Until last month, I was still registered in Siskiyou County)
I'm always concerned about presenting issues fairly to readers. In order to do this in a way that pleases as many people as possible, I consider it necessary to even make personal sacrifices in my life. I didn't join certain political clubs while at Chico State, even though I really wanted to.
I know that by voting, those who are desperate to paint the media as being against whatever they stand for (sound familiar to anyone?) will attempt to use that against me and then hold every other journalist on the planet accountable for what I did. It comes with the territory.
But, at the same time, when it comes to voting, I should be participating, because I do believe voting is the right thing to do. My dad didn't serve along the Korean DMZ, my mom didn't grow up a Navy brat and my grandpa didn't get shot up with shrapnel in Europe for me to sit on the sidelines.
But now I've determined the best way to go about this.
If it's an issue I've covered deeply, I'm not voting. There's too much at stake with questioning the neutrality of my reporting for me to risk that — even in the secrecy voting allows.
But everything else is fair game. On those subjects I don't write about, I'm just another person.
So, for this upcoming election, this means I'll be participating in full — with the exception of the District 3 Board of Supervisors race, which I'm eligible to vote in. Even though, by the end of this week, I won't be covering the supervisors anymore.
Call it a happy medium, where everybody wins.
Well, in a figurative sense at least.
UPDATE: Just to note I'm not the only one talking about this issue.
I'm recommending people Fr. Foppiano's latest post.