Comments on: Fish Gotta Swim http://www.coreknowledge.org/blog/2008/07/10/fish-gotta-swim/ Closing the Achievement Gap: Teaching Content Thu, 08 Jan 2009 01:00:25 +0000 http://wordpress.org/?v=2.6 By: Robert Pondiscio http://www.coreknowledge.org/blog/2008/07/10/fish-gotta-swim/#comment-4231 Robert Pondiscio Thu, 10 Jul 2008 17:23:39 +0000 http://www.coreknowledge.org/blog/?p=561#comment-4231 That's precisely my point, Rachel. The real question is not what New York's DOE is doing, but what the function of communications staff in government roles is supposed to be in a democracy. The role has morphed and the numbers of staff grown over the last several decades. It's now an unabashed advocacy role. The question, in my opinion, is not the operational details, but the legitimacy of that advocacy function. I would never argue that there should not be a public information officer. That's absolutely vital to responsive government. A few quotes nicely chart the progression: "Let the people know the facts, and the country will be safe." --Abraham Lincoln "The flow of ideas, the capacity to make informed choices, the ability to criticize, all of the assumptions on which political democracy rests, depend largely on communications. --John F. Kennedy "The press secretary's job is to present the president's positions and thoughts in a manner that helps him advance his agenda, while also helping the press learn what the government is doing. It's a balancing act that requires careful judgment in service to two masters" -- Ari Fleisher, White House press secretary to President George W. Bush. That’s precisely my point, Rachel. The real question is not what New York’s DOE is doing, but what the function of communications staff in government roles is supposed to be in a democracy. The role has morphed and the numbers of staff grown over the last several decades. It’s now an unabashed advocacy role. The question, in my opinion, is not the operational details, but the legitimacy of that advocacy function. I would never argue that there should not be a public information officer. That’s absolutely vital to responsive government.

A few quotes nicely chart the progression:

“Let the people know the facts, and the country will be safe.”
–Abraham Lincoln

“The flow of ideas, the capacity to make informed choices, the ability to criticize, all of the assumptions on which political democracy rests, depend largely on communications.
–John F. Kennedy

“The press secretary’s job is to present the president’s positions and thoughts in a manner that helps him advance his agenda, while also helping the press learn what the government is doing. It’s a balancing act that requires careful judgment in service to two masters”
— Ari Fleisher, White House press secretary to President George W. Bush.

]]> By: Rachel http://www.coreknowledge.org/blog/2008/07/10/fish-gotta-swim/#comment-4230 Rachel Thu, 10 Jul 2008 16:55:54 +0000 http://www.coreknowledge.org/blog/?p=561#comment-4230 But reminders of the number of PR people on the public payroll tend to raise eyebrows. The public gets grumpy when it feels it is paying the people who are spinning it. But reminders of the number of PR people on the public payroll tend to raise eyebrows. The public gets grumpy when it feels it is paying the people who are spinning it.

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