When it comes to civics, the students get it -- but does anyone else?

            The village’s annual Civics Forum is scheduled for Monday, Oct. 23.  It is a great display of civic engagement by students from Buffalo Grove and Stevenson high schools who team up to discuss and debate matters of civic interest.

            Which is more than most residents do.

            The longtime event is coordinated by Village Clerk Jan Sirabian, who probably knows the importance of civic engagement more than most village officials – just ask her about voter turnout for village elections.

            A key component of civics education and civic engagement is a vibrant news media – just ask the Illinois State Board of Education, the Center for News Literacy or the News Literacy project.

No matter which side of the fence you may be on, the news media is more vibrant and important today than it has been in the decades. It is not perfect, but without a vibrant and independent media, news consumers – in this case Buffalo Grove news consumers – are left out in the dark.

            And it is getting darker.  For years residents had options for local news – the Daily Herald, the Journal-Topics, the Buffalo Grove Patch and the Buffalo Grove Countryside.  There have been others, but they have vanished.

            While local media outlets still exist, they are limited in the breadth of their coverage. The Daily Herald is anchored by veteran journalist Steve Zalusky.  But his gig with the Herald is part-time and there’s only so much one part-timer can do.  The Journal-Topics covers meetings and runs some press releases, but finding the paper is a challenge. Patch, which used to have a reputable reporter in Cristel Mohrman, is just plain useless without any credible reporting.

            Which leaves us to Pioneer Press. In its heyday – a long, long time ago, each Pioneer paper had local reporters to cover features, schools, and municipalities.

            That was, a long, long time ago.

            In more recent times, the Countryside has relied on community columnists Aileen Simons and Susan Dubin and staff writer Ronnie Wachter.

            Simons and Dubin provide editorial content that I have never been a fan of. These columns go back to the time when feature sections were called “Women’s News.”  Fortunately, we’ve moved forward. The society and gossip columns morphed into stay-at-home moms (seriously) who wanted to earn some extra money writing about things in their world. While, as noted, not a fan, Dubin and Simons provide a voice and outlet for local information, albeit at times a bit more personal than community information.

They used to rotate weeks. But not anymore. To save money, Tronc, which used to be Tribune company, pared Simons and Dubin back to once a month. This move no doubt will save thousands of dollars and will allow Buffalo Grove readers to get caught up on events in Harwood Heights, Barrington or Itasca.

            And then there’s Wachter. He’s been around Pioneer for what seems like decades and became a fixture at Village Board and school board meetings. He also wrote news and features about Lincolnshire, Long Grove and where ever else the folks at what used to be known as Pioneer needed him.

            But it seems that either Wachter got too expensive or the folks at Tronc decided that local news just ain’t worth it because Wachter, along with other veteran local journos are gone.

            Local news is important. So important that Report for America has embarked on a program to get 1,000 journalists trained and in local newsrooms (Report for America local initiative).

            But apparently Tronc doesn’t think so.

            Local media is essential in keeping local government agencies such as village boards, school boards, park boards, etc. accountable and transparent. This is not intended to point the finger at any agency in Buffalo Grove because it is the case in any city.

            It is difficult to get residents engaged if they are unaware of what is happening in their community. There are important issues that need independent and well-trained journalists covering them. Posts on social media just doesn’t do it.  All you need to do is look at the “Everything Buffalo Grove” Facebook page to see the rampant amount of misinformation that spews forth from emotional wags who have probably never set foot in Village Hall.

            What seems to be left for local news consumers is a smattering of news stories about local issues.  What’s fading are stories about everyday people who make a difference by volunteering, or who take an extra step in business or in their personal life.

            Yes, the delivery system of news has changed as have the habits of new consumers.

            But the need for civic engagement has not diminished, which is why there is now a mandatory civics education course in every Illinois public high school. In pursuing the course, the Illinois State Board of Education’s task force on civics education cited the need for essential news literacy skills from an independent news media.

            It is essential, perhaps now more than ever. Monday night’s Civics Forum is not a knee-jerk reaction to the times in which we live. Buffalo Grove has been at the forefront in working with high school students for nearly 20 years. It is a labor of love for Sirabian and she is disappointed when the audience is limited to village staff, students and, with luck, a parent or two. The key word is luck.

            Without a strong and vibrant community press, many people will not hear about the work done by the students.

            Which is, to say the least, too bad.

            If residents want to facilitate positive and constructive change, the need to be informed and become civically engaged.

            Attending Monday’s Civics Forum is a good place to start.

            We can all learn something from the students.

The annual civics forum is scheduled for 7:30 p.m. on Monday, Oct. 23, in the Jeffrey S. Braiman Council Chambers at the Buffalo Grove Village Hall, 50 Raupp Blvd. For further information, call village hall at (847) 459-2500.

Got news or story ideas?  Send them to me at gaggininthegrove@gmail.com

Not a blizzard of votes -- or a mandate

Jane Byrne had the blizzard.

            Harold Washington had his coalition.

            Beverly Sussman had the downtown proposal.

            Last month’s election results, while surprising to many, should not come as a surprise.

            Elections, whether urban or suburban, are often fueled by emotion as opposed to civic interest and responsibility.

            Suburban elections typically do not fuel a lot of interest – the numbers bear that out.  Tuesday’s Lake County turnout was 11.25% while Cook County officials speculate, according to media reports, that the turnout in suburban Cook County was barely 14%.

            In Buffalo Grove, the turnout in the Cook County precincts was 13.55 percent while the turnout in the Lake County portion of the village was above the county average with a turnout around 13.89 percent compared to a woeful 11.36 percent county wide.

            The reality is this:  Sussman and others like her who were elected or even re-elected during the April 7 elections, did not receive a mandate.

            This is not an indictment of the backgrounds of those who sought public office, but more of one for residents who seek to shirk their civic responsibility.  It seems as though local voters take the attitude is if “I don’t have a complaint, why get involved?”

            What happens then is a handful of folks who take an interest in their municipality or school board pretty much call the shot when it comes to selecting governing officials especially if there’s an issue or situation that generates considerable media coverage or impacts a specific neighborhood.

            Like a blizzard, a coalition – or a proposed shopping center.

            It’s sort of a good news / bad news scenario. 

            The good news is that the civic process works – sort of.   The ‘bad news’ is that it’s a selective process.  The troops like to be rallied when it’s a matter that is near-and-dear to them. 

            But what about the rest of the time?

            Civic involvement should, ideally, encompass the entire village and not just a specific area when an issue arises.  Quick glances at the voting trends from the April election yield just that.

            Sussman and the “Save Buffalo Grove” slate carried the areas that had proximity to the site of the proposed downtown development.  A look at the rest of the results indicates just the opposite as incumbent Village President Jeff Braiman garnered more votes than Sussman.

            Did the process work?

            Again, to some degree it did because voters who were passionate about an issue got the vote out.  But for whom?  For candidates who they thought would serve them well.

            Sussman has been on the Village Board for six years and Adam Moodhe is a regular attendee at Village Board meetings for years.  Dan Peterson and David Weidenfeld were both newcomers to the village politics and had it not been for the proposed downtown edifice, odds are they would not have run.

            When asked, people were hard-pressed to tell you why to vote.  One person told me Weidenfeld was a good candidate because “he’s a nice guy and a member of our havarah.”  Great; that will be help the next time the Village Board wants to hold hands, do a group hug and sing Kumbyah.  Not a pretty picture.

                This doesn’t mean he’s not qualified, but if you want me to vote for someone, tell me more than what he does with his social life.  Weidenfeld, who won a seat on the Board, has extensive background with the Lake County State’s Attorney’s office, so he is familiar with local and regional governments.

            Beyond that, however, there was not a lot of information available.

            Why?  Several reasons.

            Outside of aggressive social media campaigns by Steve Trilling, Jeff Berman and to a lesser extent Jeff Braiman, information about all of the candidates was limited to a plethora of signs that provided little, if any reason for voting any of them.

            This is why social media has become a key component.  Granted, information was available, but to varying degrees.  As is the case with paid advertising, social media posts are loaded with bias.  At least it was an effort to reach a broad base of constituents.

            If voters are to make decisions -- let’s make that intelligent decisions -- they need to be more civic minded and informed news consumers. This, of course, presents a new challenge – where can news consumers go to get that sort of information.

            The main media outlets that cover the village are the Daily Herald, the Countryside Reminder and the Journal Topics. Most of the coverage focuses on events, municipal meetings, pointless features or soccer mommies promoting friends. The lack of in-depth or watchdog coverage is not due to a lack of money or the misnomer that journalism is dead.  The Pew Center for research finds that it can be a mixture of things.

            Interestingly enough, Pew reports that the higher level of education, the less likely is someone may follow local news.  However, the more educated a resident is, the more likely he/she will digitally share local news. When it comes to the use of social media, local residents, especially those 18-34, have a higher rate of usage for local information than those over 50.  (The full report can be found at: Pew Center for Research: How Demographics Play Into Local News Habits)

None of this should be a surprise, but it does raise a question – what’s the best way to get information to residents so they can become civically engaged?

            Or perhaps a better question – why don’t more people care?

            As mentioned, April’s election had six candidates; three incumbents and three wanna-bes.  Aside from a candidates’ forum sponsored by Stevenson High School and the Buffalo Grove – Lincolnshire Chamber of Commerce, forums, if you want to call them that, were limited to gatherings at local residents.

            There was a time when the League of Women Voters would sponsor forums.  Now, however, the only chapters near Buffalo Grove are in Highland Park, Glenview and Lake Forest.  When it comes to local civic activity, aside from the longstanding and stellar Civics Forum coordinated by Village Clerk Jan Sirabian, there’s not much happening around here.

            Civic activity?  Civic responsibility?  The lack of both may be partly behind an effort by the Illinois State Board of Education’s task force on Civic Education to pursue a required civics education class.

            So what’s next? Interestingly enough, with Sussman now Board President, there’s a trustee opening that has attracted nine residents.  They include Kurt Baier, Robert Giddens, John Green, Joanne Johnson, Bruce Kahn, Adam Moodhe, Edward Osmon, Frank Sears, and Eric Smith.           

            Some names are familiar to Village Board meeting regulars, while some are either new or want to try village service once again.

            No matter who they are, questions remain.

            Who are they and why are they running? Do they have unique qualifications?  Do they have a personal agenda? Were some asked to run by the remnants of the Save Buffalo Grove group?

            Whatever the reasons the information needs to get out. I am pursuing information about each candidate via the Freedom of Information Act as the village is reluctant to release full applications without redacting “personal information”.

            No matter what the reasons, a few things are certain.

            The blizzard is over.

            The downtown proposal is dead.

            What’s at issue here is the need for an informed citizenry to know not only how government works, but who is involved.

            And perhaps get involved beyond Election Day.

Be a consumer, not a customer...

I stopped in the store the other day for some simple shopping.  Beer, peanuts and some Beef Jerky.  Maybe not the finest in culinary selections, but it was an easy trip to the store.

            Customer in, customer out.

            It’s a great model.  For groceries, shoes, luggage and generally most consumer goods and some services.

            But what would happen if it was customer in, consumer out.  What if customers became discriminating consumers?  Things could change depending on what was being consumed.

            One area where things have changed is in journalism.  Breaking news – journalism is not dead.  The delivery system by which we get our news has and as we become more technology savvy, so too has our ability to become strong news consumers.  Ask someone where they get their news from and you’ll find that all-too-often, they’ll say the internet, or Twitter or Facebook.

            They have no idea as to what the source is.  They are, in many ways, becoming more of a news customer than news consumer.  They know the site, but not the source.

            Large media organizations typically try to present stories that are, as they say in the world of news literacy, Viable, Independent and Accountable.  They focus on watchdog journalism and try (nothing is perfect) to present independent and non biased reporting.

            According to the Center for News Literacy at Stony Brook University, an organization that I am now associated with and have attended in-depth seminars at, news literacy, in general terms is “the ability to use critical thinking skills to judge the reliability and credibility of news reports, whether they come via print, television or the Internet.”  The goal?  To have educated news consumers who have the knowledge to engage in civic actions – whether it’s facilitating change in the community or voting in an election.  The late Daniel Patrick Moynihan was known for saying “everyone is entitled to their own opinion, but not their own facts.”  Or, as they used to say in the glory days of the old Chicago City news Bureau, “You say your mother loves you...check it out.”

            It makes sense.  But what if there was a media organization that treated its readers like customers?  Let’s say they just put information out there for the sake of putting out there without a trained, responsible editor to ensure its independence.  Sounds crazy, no?

            But in our little village of Buffalo Grove (with apologies to Sholem Aleichem) that has, and continues to happen.

            On Wednesday, Hale Global, the fine folks who bought AOL Patch from AOL, decided they could be a viable news organization without news personnel, so they laid off (there is other terminology that can be used..) hundreds of staff members who doggedly worked to cover one or two communities to give Patch the hyper-local coverage from which AOL had hoped to earn money.  Lots of it.

            Among the victims was Cristel Mohrman who covered Buffalo Grove for 3 ½ years.  Patch, which probably felt one community was just too easy, also tossed Lake Forest at Cristel as well.  Cristel was everywhere she could be covering events, taking photos and even video.  But that was not good enough for the folks at corporate.

            Silly girl.  You were treating our customers as news consumers.  That doesn’t make money.  Just get ‘em in and like sheep to the slaughter, we’ll record the hits to the page and make money.

            So now what?  Patch will be turned into a collection of PR releases, mommy blogs and public service announcements.  The folks at Hale Global probably think that the news consumers in Big Animal Grove won’t know the difference.  Independent reporting? Nah. Takes too long.  Bias free information?  Nah, too expensive.  Accountable news gathering?  You kidding? That cost money.

            So once again the news consumer comes up short.  Or as they say at the elevator company, they get the shaft.  And don’t think it’s limited to Patch.  Pioneer, which once had local offices, beat reporters, now slices and dices its editorial staff members so much the Popeil family would be jealous.  They too have focused more on quantity as opposed to quality.  To bastardize the New York Times slogan, it’s all the news that fits, we print.  Mommy blog? Sure, we’ll fill a page.  Old news, sure why not?  Seriously, in the Jan. 23 issue of the Countryside was coverage of Kristallnacht – which took place Nov. 9.  The prevailing attitude is that news consumers today are stupid, they’ll take anything, so just treat them like a customer – they’ll never know the difference.

            Yes they will.

            The push for critical thinking skills is allegedly at the heart of the common core curriculum for the nation’s high schools.  Unfortunately, it’s not a quantifiable skill like grammar, math and science.  And if you mention news literacy, many administrators gasp and say “we already have a journalism class.”

            We’re talking critical thinking skills here.  We’re talking about using the media as one conduit to encourage news consumers to use independent and nonbiased material when making decisions related to civic responsibilities.

            Media organizations that remove this opportunity are shirking their responsibility to news consumers, treating them instead like one-size-fits-all customers.

            In a perfect world, media organizations will step back and take stock of what is needed and do the right things to attract, enhance and inform news consumers.

            Let’s hope they don’t try to Patch things up.