The League of Women Voters is a 104-year-old civic organization that works to empower voters and defend democracy. The organization counts men and women among its members and is active in Clark County and in Washington. It is up to several different things that are newsworthy.
First, at its recent national convention the league adopted a position in support of local news. The position stems from a 2022 Washington state report, “The Decline of Local News and its Impact on Democracy,” that was co-chaired by Dee Anne Finken, a retired Clark College journalism faculty member. Local chapter members Sally Carpenter Hale and Judie Stanton were also involved in producing the report.
The report detailed how more than two dozen Washington newspapers had closed, and nearly all of the rest had lost staff and as a result were publishing less local news. The study pointed out that a decline in local news reporting can be linked to a rise in misinformation, public corruption and reduced voter participation. Unfortunately, the trend has continued, and possibly accelerated, since the report published almost two years ago.
That’s where the national organization can help.
“The League of Women Voters of the United States believes it is the responsibility of the government to provide support for conditions under which credible local journalism can survive and thrive,” according to the newly adopted position statement.
The league isn’t calling for any particular remedy, but in a news release, it does point out that the federal government’s historical support of the news industry dates to 1792, when it subsidized postage rates for newspaper publishers.
Public lands debate
While the state and local chapters were busy celebrating their victory at the national convention, they were also organizing a debate among candidates for state commissioner of public lands.
The commissioner heads the Department of Natural Resources, manages the state’s wildfire fighting efforts and oversees 6 million acres of public lands, which are managed for a myriad of uses including raising money for school construction. Incumbent Democrat Hilary Franz is not seeking a third term and instead is running for U.S. House in the 6th Congressional District.
Five Democrats and two Republicans, including former Congresswoman Jaime Herrera Beutler, R-Battle Ground, are on the primary ballot. Most, if not all of them, are expected to take part in the debate, which will be at 6:30 p.m. Thursday at Clark College’s Gaiser Hall. The Columbian and The Reflector are co-sponsors.
If you’re interested but can’t attend in person, it will be streamed by TV Washington at tvw.org/video/.
Cascade voters’ guide
By now, you’ve probably received the official voters’ guide in the mail from Clark County Elections. The guide is full of useful information, including statements submitted by the candidates. But these statements are unedited and not fact-checked.
Recently, we partnered with Cascade PBS, a Seattle-based news nonprofit that operates the Crosscut news site and KCTS-TV, Seattle’s public broadcasting affiliate, on a journalistic statewide voters’ guide. It went live this week at crosscut.com/voter-guide/washington-statewide-voter-guide-2024. When I looked Friday, information we provided about our local races had not yet been added.
Not to worry — our local page, columbian.com/elections, is up and running and contains a sample ballot and links to all of our election coverage.
Your ballot will be in the mail at the end of next week, according to the elections office.
Craig Brown is The Columbian’s editor. 360-735-4514 or craig.brown@columbian.com
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