Gerrymandering Is Ruining Our Democracy. Will Television News Ever Care?

[turbinetree]

Reprinted with permission from MediaMatters.

Broadcast and cable news’ reluctance to talk about gerrymandering, let alone address the outsized impact it has in state and federal elections, has allowed American democracy to quietly become less representative. As movements build behind redistricting reform, the question remains: Will TV news ever care about gerrymandering?

A yearlong Media Matters study found that cable news shows brought up gerrymandering in only five segments between July 1, 2016, and June 30, 2017. During that same time period, broadcast morning news programs and nightly newscasts didn’t discuss gerrymandering at all. And this isn’t a new trend; for years, media have shown a reluctance to discuss gerrymandering and redistricting. Given the outsized influence partisan and racial gerrymandering has on American democracy, these issues deserve more coverage.

Partisan gerrymandering is not exactly new, but since 2010, Republicans have taken it to a new level. The Associated Press (AP) found that in the 2016 election, gerrymandering helped create the conditions that led to “four times as many states with Republican-skewed state House or Assembly districts than Democratic ones.” Additionally, “among the two dozen most populated states that determine the vast majority of Congress, there were nearly three times as many with Republican-tilted U.S. House districts.” As University of Chicago law professor Geoffrey Stone wrote for HuffPost, “Although partisan gerrymandering has been with us from the beginning, it is now worse than ever, because computer modeling enables legislators to design districts that almost precisely maximize their political advantage.”

http://www.nationalmemo.com/gerrymandering-ruining-democracy-will-television-news-ever-care/


Its called Rat F*cked by David Daley it's a really good reading

[Danascot]

1. Was just reading about an academic group

developing mathematical analysis to help evaluate whether election districts are fair or nefarious.

http://www.newyorker.com/tech/elements/a-summer-school-for-mathematicians-fed-up-with-gerrymandering

[turbinetree]

2. There is now a lawsuit being filed and going in front the Gorsuch court to see if this issue

will over turned in what has been going on in WisCONsin, and now that this "guy" and other other four are in charge, hold on, the RAT F*cking will continue in my opinion, I think Kennedy will be the deciding factor, they have already told North Carolina twice to redraw, but it's always after an election in appearance and now the tar heel state is doing a different tactic.
I think there should be a lawsuit in every state and paper ballots mailed in

[Stargazer99]

3. Now you got it....paper ballots with secure procedures

[Brother Buzz]

4. Arnold Schwarzenegger has some thoughts on gerrymandering

[BigmanPigman]

5. The news won't cover it if their parent company is

Fux, Sinclair, or Circa.