PERSPECTIVE FROM THE 19^TH HOLE:  This is the title I chose for my personal blog, which is meant to give me an outlet for one of my favorite crafts – writing – plus to use an image from my favorite sport, golf.  Out of college, my first job was as a reporter for the Daily Astorian in Astoria, Oregon, and I went on from there to practice writing in all of my professional positions, including as press secretary in Washington, D.C. for a Democrat Congressman from Oregon (Les AuCoin), as an Oregon state government manager in Salem and Portland, as press secretary for Oregon’s last Republican governor (Vic Atiyeh), and as a private sector lobbyist.  This blog also allows me to link another favorite pastime – politics and the art of developing public policy – to what I write.  I could have called this blog “Middle Ground,” for that is what I long for in both politics and golf.  The middle ground is often where the best public policy decisions lie.  And it is where you want to be on a golf course.

It’s not enough apparently to face off against the coronavirus pandemic.

We also have to contend with:

• An epidemic of inept government officials who cannot impart honestly and effectively about the dissemination of vaccines.  [True, the genesis of this may rest with the Trump Administration, which is not surprising.]

• An epidemic of inadequate media coverage that cannot get facts straight and reported well.

• Or both.

The three statements above, obviously, are generalizations.  But, as with any generalization, there are germs of truth in each.

And, for those who consume information from government and the media, the result is frustration.

With an inadequate federal government, it might be possible to excuse officials in Oregon for getting mixed up, for example, in how many vaccine containers would be available in the state and, thus, when to advise citizens in various categories to make appointments for shots.

Further, Governor Kate Brown did not win friends and influence people when she appeared not to recognize the work of an advisory committee she had created expressly to advice her on vaccine distribution.

Comments over the last few days spark nothing but confusion, even, as I do, if you grant that state officials are not intentionally trying to mislead the public.

The fact is that know many of those involved at a high level, including Brown and Oregon Health Authority Director Pat Allen.  They are credible, but, unfortunately, the information they provide is not.

So it is with media reporters and editors.  On one hand, they have to contend with inadequate information, but, as a former journalist, I wish for a more substantial level of enterprise.  It has been provided to a degree by two sources – Oregon Public Broadcasting and Salem Reporter. 

But, aggressive reporting beneath the surface should be emulated by more outlets.