Town Hall on Term Limits

SPJ hosted a town hall meeting tonight on term limits. On the panel: radio hosts Lloyd Daugherty, Hubert Smith and Hallerin Hill, Sentinel columnist Georgianna Vines, WBIR anchor Robin Wilhoit and myself. It was ably moderated by Dean Rice of UT.

In the audience were many of the write-in candidates who are vying for spots on the August ballot.

What I learned tonight is that we (in the media) need to do a better job of explaining the write-in process for the May 2nd vote. And we should stop always referring to the term limit controversy as "confusing," something we often do (see post below).

By framing the issue as "confusing" we may be driving voter apathy. If its difficult for us, then viewers may conclude its hopeless for them to try to understand it.

I also learned that it's not just us who needs to do better. It's more than a one-way street.
The candidates can't sit back and expect media to handle this. They have to get out and work.

And the voters have to work too. If they're not willing to educate themselves on the process, on the candidates and on how we got here in the first place, then no amount of work by media and the candidates will help.

I also learned that my friend Robin Wilhoit dislikes the idea of reporters blogging. She is not alone in that assessment. Some of my other friends agree with her.