Media Nation

Media Nation’s purpose for being is not to track the career of WRKO talk-show host Scott Allen Miller. But following last week’s dust-up between the two of us (I wrongly accused him of claiming that Boston taxpayers had picked up the bill for refurbishing the Kenmore Square Citgo sign; he wrongly claimed that taxpayers were getting stuck with the electric bill), it’s only fair that I point out his role in a minor but interesting state political story.

If you read today’s Boston Globe, you’ll learn (if you hadn’t already seen it elsewhere) that Deval Patrick has a disconcerting habit of not voting in local elections in Milton, where he lives. Globe reporter Andrea Estes credits the Boston Herald with having broken the story yesterday. Dave Wedge’s Herald story from yesterday notes that Patrick’s voting record had “sparked criticism” from Miller.

In fact, Miller was the first to dig up evidence of Patrick’s lackadaisical attitude toward voting, reporting on his blog that he’d obtained Patrick’s voting records after filing a request under the state’s public-records law (click here and here).

A big deal? No. But not a bad little hit on a candidate who’s built his entire appeal around the notion of re-engagement with civic life.

Update: Citizen Kane notes that Miller is highly selective when it comes to non-voting by gubernatorial candidates. Rosebud.

Here’s a possible solution to balancing the desire (OK, my desire) for a one-on-one debate between Deval Patrick and Kerry Healey with the reality that two other candidates are on the ballot: a series of one-on-ones featuring everybody.

If it were up to me, I’d pair them like this: Grace Ross versus Christy Mihos; Mihos versus Healey; Ross versus Patrick; and then, finally, Patrick versus Healey.

Mihos’ major critique is with the Romney-Healey administration’s management of the Big Dig, so it makes sense that Mihos gets to take Healey on directly. As for Patrick, it would be interesting to see what his progressive supporters would think of his performance if he’s challenged by a genuine lefty.

My preference would be four one-hour debates. But I’d settle for a prime-time, two-hour extravaganza, with a half-hour for each segment.

What about it, folks?

My old Phoenix running mate Seth Gitell flips the “on” switch for his new blog with a post on Terrell Owens’ weird news conference.

Denver filmmaker Steven Delano’s documentary “No Bigger Than a Minute” will premiere on PBS this coming Tuesday. Delano is a dwarf who was in denial for a good part of his life, and who finally decided to come to terms with that part of his identity.

Delano interviewed me during the Little People of America national conference in 2003, just before my book about dwarfism, “Little People,” came out. I have yet to see the film, but I was impressed by Delano’s thoughtful approach to telling his story.

Looks like I’ll have to remember to set the VCR — according to this, WGBH will show it on Channel 44 next Wednesday at 3 a.m.

Boston Herald columnist Margery Eagan today riffs on a piece Maureen Dowd wrote in yesterday’s New York Times. Nothing unusual about that — except that Media Nation, a paying TimesSelect customer, could not find Dowd’s column yesterday.

See for yourself. Here is the lineup for yesterday’s opinion pages. I figured Dowd had the day off.

When I choose Door #2, I have no problem finding Dowd’s column (sub. req.). But I’m not supposed to have to do that. Am I?

A bit of post-debate clean-up before moving on:

— Media Nation commenters obviously don’t like the idea of excluding anyone from future gubernatorial debates. Fair enough. But I still think that at least one or two debates ought to focus on candidates who actually have some remote chance of winning. If it were up to me, I’d have a few debates featuring just Deval Patrick and Kerry Healey, and a few with Christy Mihos and Grace Ross as well. (A Mihos-Ross match-up? Sure, why not? Anyone going to televise it? Uh, I don’t think so.)

But one point that comes up over and over really needs to be addressed, and that’s the notion that anyone who qualifies for the ballot deserves to be invited. Ballot qualifications are determined by the government; debates are sponsored by non-governmental bodies. It used to be the League of Women Voters. These days, more often than not, it’s a media organization.

For debate organizers, the fact that a candidate is on the ballot is merely one consideration to take into account. It’s amazing to me that people who are otherwise quite independent think the media ought to take dictation from the government regarding debate invitations.

— This has been much-blogged-on already, but in case you missed it elsewhere, you’ve got to see Emily Rooney’s post on the “amateurish” performance of WFXT-TV (Channel 25), which sponsored the debate along with the Boston Herald.

— Ditto for sharp-eared Phoenix writer Adam Reilly, who was listening when Jim Braude and Margery Eagan, on WTKK Radio (96.9 FM), revealed that “ordinary voter” Shonda Schilling not only isn’t ordinary — she also isn’t a voter.

Here’s a thought. Later this week, a respected, nonpartisan organization ought to poll the Massachusetts governor’s race. And anyone who’s not hovering at 10 percent or more ought to be excluded — maybe not from all subsequent debates, but certainly from a few.

In many respects, Christy Mihos and Grace Ross dominated yesterday’s gubernatorial debate. Good for them. Let’s see if they changed enough minds to get within striking distance. If so, they should be heard from again.

But if not, it’s time for at least a couple of forums at which Deval Patrick and Kerry Healey can go at it one on one. In particular, Mihos’ relentless attacks on Healey put the lieutenant governor on the defensive the entire night and allowed her principal opponent, Patrick, to stand above the fray.

That was unfair to the voters, who deserve to see how both major-party candidates perform under pressure.

A Boston Globe editorial today makes the same point.

Miami Herald columnist Leonard Pitts recently wrote a terrific piece on the downside of blogworld. His subject: the conspiracy theories that started making the rounds once again following the anniversary of 9/11. Read the whole thing, but here’s a key excerpt:

You might call it cynicism, but cynicism is quaint and 20th century compared to this new tendency to reflexively reject any facts provided by government or the dreaded mainstream media. Conspiracy theorizing is not new — ask Elvis next time you see him — but what is new is that the Internet has broken the government/media monopoly on the dissemination and definition of news.

While that’s good in many ways, one troubling byproduct is this new notion that you cannot truly understand the great and terrible events of our time without access to some ”factier” facts promulgated by some website most of us never heard of with an ideological slant that conveniently mirrors one’s own.

Thanks to Media Nation reader M.S.

Well, this was inevitable. The Boston Globe reports that WTKK Radio (96.9 FM) has consigned yipping ninny Michael Graham to nights so that it can bring back Jay Severin, the loathsome but listenable host whom Graham replaced.

Here is ‘TKK’s announcement.

This is certainly bad news for Howie Carr, who’ll once again be competing head to head with Severin on WRKO (AM 680). Severin was regularly beating Carr before departing for a syndication deal. I haven’t studied the ratings lately, but Graham couldn’t possibly have been giving him as much trouble as Severin did.

Update: Brian Maloney’s take on Severin is absolutely brutal, but lots of fun.

A 6 p.m. gubernatorial debate? You’ve got to be kidding. I captured the live stream on the WTKK Web site, transferred it to my iPod, and listened to the first half while doing other things. I’ll finish it on the drive to work tomorrow.

My first impression of the first half: Deval Patrick and Kerry Healey were both so slick and cautious that neither did any damage or helped themselves much. But Patrick won because Christy Mihos was kicking the bejesus out of Healey while leaving Patrick pretty much alone. And to the extent that Grace Ross took sides, she was pretty hard on Healey, too.