The Long Good-Bye to the Des Moines Register

By now you've heard the news about the dozens of Des Moines Register staff lay-offs that occurred on Wednesday, including Brian Duffy, award-winning editorial cartoonist and, according to Iowa Independent, the only front page newspaper cartoonist in the country. 

I can see why they had to get rid of him.  Who has ever made money selling quality and excellence?

Seriously though, one has to wonder if Gannett is trying to kill the paper rather than save it.  If they are merely trying to save a few bucks by cutting back on personnel, how much sense does it make to give the ax to a uniquely talented Iowa institution whose presence on the front page we must assume is there because it helps sell papers? 

It all feels so dreadfully familiar.  I am reminded of the uncomprehending feeling I experienced when Congress voted with Bush on the Iraq war, and again every time after that when they voted with Bush for tax cuts for the obscenely wealthy.  No matter how many times I thought it through and recognized political realities, etc., I could never get it to make sense for very long.  Or when the Supreme Court of the United States stopped the Florida recount in 2000 –  now as then, I sense an unseen, unknowable force at work.  

I am old enough to remember the Gannett take-over of the Register, and the loss of great columnists like Donald Kaul and John Karras.  Iowans have watched the paper's gradual decline in journalistic quality and excellence over the years.  

And it is not just the Register that has been affected – other Iowa media have undergone consolidation, bought out by the Sinclairs,  Gannetts and Clear Channels of the world or merely succumbed to the short-sighted, maximum profit orientation of contemporary marketing strategies.  WHO-Radio, KGAN-TV, Iowa Public Radio – to name a few  –  are today shells of their former selves.  

But enough about that for the moment.  I take a measure of comfort knowing that fellow media reform activists are, as we speak, working tirelessly to turn back the negative trends, and perhaps under an Obama administration we can gain back some ground that has been lost, but at least during this defining moment for Iowans, it is what it is.  

Today,  Blog for Iowa will honor the newly departed Des Moines Register employees and the history of excellence of the Des Moines Register, the paper Iowa depends on, by posting a few timely words from Donald Kaul, former writer of Over the Coffee, Gannett survivor, and my favorite columnist ever, alive and well and still writing great columns.  His topic today: the recession.    

But first, click here for Duffy's final cartoon:

The Depression is Starting to Look Good

by Donald Kaul

I don’t know what kind of Thanksgiving you had, but things were pretty mellow at our house. We had family and friends over for dinner, then gathered around the fire and sang old songs.  “Brother, Can You Spare A Dime?” “Nobody Wants You When You’re Down and Out,” “Can I Sleep In Your Barn Tonight Mister?”— the golden oldies. They don’t write songs like that anymore. I suppose they haven’t needed to, until now.

So OK, things were a little thin this year; I admit it. The past few weeks have taken a toll on my 401K. I’m considering giving it to my paperboy as a Christmas tip. But you know, I’ve always thought that this country had become too materialistic, too interested in “things.”

Well, George W. has taken care of that, hasn’t he? And to be honest, it wasn’t just George W. Bush. He had Dick Cheney to help him. When they said they were going to undo the excesses of the Clinton years, they weren’t kidding. I just didn’t think they were talking about excess income.

Not that I’m complaining. There’s still a lot to be thankful for.

Only last summer people were gnashing their teeth about $4-a-gallon gasoline. They couldn’t afford the gas to drive to their jobs, they said. You don’t hear much of that anymore. Gas is about $1.75-a-gallon and they’ve lost their jobs. Problem solved.

The people I feel the most envious of are the young people who are inheriting the environment we’ve created. Two wars. Economic crisis. Galloping unemployment. A budget deficit that threatens to block out the sun. A planet drying up with increasing speed. Sarah Palin.

I’d like to clear up one more thing. A couple of weeks ago, I wrote that the Republican Party had become the Party of Dumb. Many people objected to that. (Two-thirds of them Republican, one-third dumb.)

Let me say right now that I never intended to imply that all Republicans are dumb. Some of my best friends are Republicans and I know of many, many others (in the low two figures) who are of average intelligence or better. I merely meant that the Republican Party, over the years, has crafted its message to appeal mainly to the dumb, ignorant and uninformed. If you are a smart Republican, you have a quarrel with your party, not me.

I hope that makes things better.

Happy Holidays.

Catch Kaul weekly at MinutemanMedia.Org –  Donald Kaul is a two-time Pulitzer Prize-losing Washington correspondent who, by his own account, is right more than he's wrong.  

(Click here to read the entire article)