Category: Media Watch

* Major shout-out to Laura Reiley of the Tampa Bay Times for her in-depth investigation and subsequent writing of the two-part series, “Farm to Table.” This has journalism award written all over it. No, the California Culinary Academy grad is not your basic food critic.

* This media market lost one of its good guys last week with the retirement of Dave Wirth, the WTSP-Ch. 10 sports reporter and anchor. More solid and friendly than flashy, Wirth, 61, had been at Channel 10 since 1984.

* “We are in a race against time.”–United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki Moon, as 175 countries signed an international agreement to lower greenhouse gas emissions.

* “What we would like to do is to orbit Mars, make a landing, and rove around for reconnaissance in one mission, which is quite a challenge.”–China National Space Administration he Xu Dazhe, on China’s plans for a Mars mission in 2020.

* “Given the ongoing trends in the region, the United States will continue to increase our secure cooperation with our partners in the region, including increasing their own ability to defend themselves.”–President Barack Obama, at the summit meeting in Saudi Arabia with Persian Gulf allies.

* “It was hard to find any country that wishes Britain well that wants us to leave the EU.”–British Prime Minister David Cameron.

* “The world is changing Cuba faster than the Cuban state can cope. … The leaders are trying to square the mother of all circles–to have a rich society but without rich people; to have an entrepreneurial class but without losing the egalitarian solidarity; to have revolutionary socialism and also outside investment and growth, risk-taking and enterprise. —David Brooks, New York Times.

* “I know our candidates are going to say some things to attract attention. That’s part of politics. But we all need to get behind the nominee.”–RNC Chairman Reince Priebus.

* “I hate Ted Cruz and I think I’ll take cyanide if he ever got the nomination.”–Congressman Peter King, R-N.Y.

* “He’s (Cruz) still a certified loony. But he’s probably the only hope we have. Anybody but Trump.”–GOP fundraiser and former Jeb Bush supporter Al Hoffman.

* “Our goal is to have an open convention in Cleveland, where we are confident a candidate capable of uniting the party and winning in November will emerge as the nominee.”–John Weaver, chief strategist for the Kasich campaign.

* “To all the people who supported Senator Sanders, I believe there is much more that unites us than divides us.”–Hillary Clinton.

* “Listen to me. Old people run for office because they’re bored hanging out with their peers. Bernie is … having the time of his life on the hustings, a teen idol at last.”–Garrison Keillor.

* “We made history in March. … We are contributing to a positive future.”–Arnold Donald, CEO of Carnival Corp., in response to the Cuban government easing a ban on Cuban-born people returning to the island by sea. On March 21, Carnival’s Fathom brand became the first U.S. company in more than 50 years to gain approval to sail to Cuba.

* “Prince was a revolutionary artist, a great musician, composer, a wonderful lyricist, a startling guitar player. … Prince’s talent was limitless.”–Mick Jagger.

* “The people are ahead of the politicians and the press in this fight over the street. This conflict is over the transfer of power from cars to people.”–Janette Sadik-Khan, author of “Streetfight: Hand for an Urban Revolution.”

* “I am passing the torch. Old, fat and gray doesn’t sell as well as young and handsome.”–Attorney John Morgan, who why his sons now appear in more (“For The People”) TV ads than he does.

* “State government is just dysfunctional, and this causes me to rethink how I can best serve the people of North Florida and our state.  Floridians are hungry for new leadership, and I’m so excited to tell you … I’m seriously considering running for governor in 2018.”–U.S Rep. Gwen Graham, D-Tallahassee, who is not seeking reelection to Congress.

* “We’ve got to get back to being the America we once were. … It’s time to elect a warrior.”–Todd Wilcox, Florida Republican candidate for the U.S. Senate.

* “When you put people and machines together, there are going to be problems.”–Allegiant Air CEO Maurice J. Gallagher.

* “If we’re going to make West River work, then we have to make some public investments. … I knew if we were willing to do it and we are willing to make that investment, it would change that area forever. Forever.”–Mayor Bob Buckhorn, on the city’s ambitious plans for rebuilding Julian B. Lane Riverfront Park.

* “A new MOSI needs to be a reinvented  MOSI.”–Thom Stork, president and CEO of the Florida Aquarium.

* “After hearing Tampa Mayor Bob Buckhorn’s inspirational State of the City speech on April12, it is easy to see that our biggest challenge is our existing transportation system, which is not yet mature enough to play the role it needs to in a region approaching 4 million people.”–Ray Chiaramonte, executive director of the Tampa Bay Area Regional Transportation Authority.

* “WestShore is the strongest and most desirable retail market in Tampa Bay.”–Patrick Berman, senior director of retail brokerage services for Cushman & Wakefield.

* “There seems to be a high demand for rentals, especially high-end, and developers are all over it in recent years. Tampa is just another example of the trend.”–Nadia Balint of Rent Cafe, an online apartment search site.

* “I genuinely believe people are capable of providing supportive services to our schools without proselytization or forcing their ideology on those they are serving.”–Hillsborough County Schools Superintendent Jeff Eakins.

* Proactive Mayor Bob Buckhorn is doing more than contacting PayPal about North Carolina bathroom laws. The city is paying Facebook to promote its “State of the City” (“We Built This”) video–that has taken off on the Internet–in Charlotte and Raleigh. Of course there are those Riverwalk and skyline shots and a high-energy vibe, but, more to the point, Tampa’s diversity and inclusion is underscored. Game on.

And, yes, Charlotte has thought about baseball.

*In collaboration with Essence magazine, Money.com is out with its ranking of the “Best Colleges for African Americans.” Florida A&M finished fifth out of 1,500 surveyed. The criteria: graduation rates, affordability, earnings potential and diversity. FAMU’s graduation rate is 87 percent. The top four: Princeton, Harvard, Duke and Cornell.

* When Bill Maher sits down for a one-on-one interview at the beginning of his “Real Time” HBO show, the guest is inevitably someone with an agenda. As in a book, a movement, a candidacy. Think Charlie Crist, Al Gore, Elizabeth Warren, Rand Paul, Bernie Sanders and Cory Booker. Recently Maher sat down with Thomas E. Perez.

While hardly a household name, Perez, 54, has been secretary of labor for nearly three years. Before that, he had been assistant attorney general for civil rights. He’s Ivy League educated, his parents are immigrants from the Dominican Republic and he could be a high-profile–even ticket-balancing–player once Hillary Clinton is the official Democratic nominee.

* The Tampa Bay Times arguably dodged a bullet last spring when it enabled–as well as covered–the Ruskin mailman’s gyro-landing stunt on the front lawn of the U.S. Capitol building. The one where Doug Hughes flew through protected air space to deliver his message about the sleazy side of Citizens United. The one that–in this era of anything-goes terrorism–could have gone terribly, tragically wrong.

What the Times learned was not the lesson that the media should report the news–and not help make it. No, the apparent lesson was: We’re still a Hughes’ insider; let’s double down. Proof was in another Hughes-related, Sunday front-page piece with a full-page jump and minimal relevance.

* Brutally funny stuff in Doonesbury on Trump these days. But all the more reason for this political parody to be on the editorial page–not above Beetle Bailey and Garfield.

* “If you thought that the vote was going to go in favor of Brexit (British exit from the European Union), as a U.S. dollar investor, you would be most negative on domestic U.K. stocks. But you wouldn’t be bullish on the rest of Europe, either. It would highlight the fragility of the European Union.”–John C. Maxwell, manager of the Ivy International Core Equity fund.

* “Despite the deafening dearth of excitement among younger women, Hillary has cast herself as Groundbreaking Granny.”–Maureen Dowd, New York Times.

* “Notwithstanding the enthusiasm of the young for Bernie Sanders, the major tension is not between Mr. Sanders and Hillary Clinton. It is between Hillary Clinton and the legacy of Bill Clinton.”–Michael Lind, author of “Land of Promise: An Economic History of the United States.”

* “Donald Trump announced he’s changing up his campaign staff and adding a convention manager. Which is the most creative way I’ve heard someone describe the word ‘bouncer.'”–Jimmy Fallon.

* “Our Republican system is absolutely rigged. It’s a phony deal.”–Donald Trump.

* “The process has been what it’s always been, which is political parties elect their nominees. If you don’t get a majority of the delegates in the primary, then delegates decide the nomination. … Political parties are private organizations who can choose their nominees basically, any way they want.”–Marco Rubio.

* “Just because Cruz has won some delegates in a state where we have the delegates voting for us is not relevant until and unless there’s a second ballot. There’s not going to be a second ballot.”–Trump senior adviser Paul Manafort.

* “Republicans seem utterly determined to lose a perfectly winnable race.”–Michael Gerson, Washington Post.

* “There is a Polarization Industrial Complex in American media today, which profits handsomely from the continuing climate of bitterness. Not surprisingly, polarization in the House and Senate is at its highest since the end of Reconstruction in the 1870s.”–Arthur C. Brooks, president of the American Enterprise Institute.

* “You can’t understand the Trump phenomenon without understanding how ‘New York values’ have made his candidacy possible. This starts with the New York media’s longstanding love affair with Trump, his intimate relationship with the city’s glossy magazines and tabloids and networks.”–Ross Douthat, New York Times.

* “It is an obscene amount of money. … It’s ridiculous that we should have this kind of money in politics. I agree completely. … (But) the overwhelming amount of money that we’re raising, and it is a lot, is not going to Hillary to run for president, it’s going to the down ticket.”–George Clooney, on the fund-raising dinner he hosted for Hillary Clinton at his home.

* “Just because you’re paranoid doesn’t mean they aren’t after you.”–Joseph Heller.

* “These days … The Times seems like a digital media company that happens to put out a newspaper.”–Margaret Sullivan, former public editor of the New York Times.

* “I think the climate’s changing. I think man’s had an impact, and we need to stop arguing about the science. I have a confession to make. I’m a Republican.”–U.S. Rep. David Jolly

* “It’s not the whole union. It’s the executive branch. I have major love for the police union.”–Tampa City Council member Frank Reddick.

* “I think it’s (Tampa) a great sports town. They’ve supported the Bucs, they’ve supported us, they’ve supported the Lightning. I would think they would support the Rays.”–New York Yankees managing general partner Hal Steinbrenner.

* “How do we capitalize the downtown cultural corridor? How can a child learn here, then move onto the Florida Aquarium, then take in a performance at the Straz Center?–Jennifer Stancil, the new president and CEO of the Glazer Children’s Museum.

* “Fellow Tampanians, we built this. The state of our city is good, and the future is within our grasp.”–Mayor Bob Buckhorn.

* “The largest opportunity of any downtown in the country.”–How St. Petersburg Chamber of Commerce CEO Chris Steinocher characterizes the 85-acre site where Tropicana Field sits.

* “In the Cold War the United States aimed at containment; in  the post-Cold War (the thrust) was transformation. The Cold War involved the defense of the West; post-Cold War foreign policy aspired to the political and ideological extension of the West.”–Michael Mandelbaum, author of “Mission Failure: American and the World in the Post-Cold War Era.”

* “As President Obama has noted about Cuban policy, we know what hasn’t worked. Maybe it’s time to try something different for Puerto Rico, too.”–James Gibney, Bloomberg View.

* “The president has seven or eight months left in the White House. He would like to believe that everything that he has done and is doing is written in stone, but the reality is I think you’re going to see a rather dramatic reversal.”–Florida Republican Rep. Mario Díaz -Balart, on the president’s efforts to normalize relations with Cuba.

* “It’s exactly the wrong time to blow up NAFTA. We would be doing China an enormous favor.”–Economist Gordon Hanson of the University of California, San Diego.

* “Cruz has gone from the insufferable nemesis of Republican traditionalists to their last, best hope, and the likes of Mitt Romney, Lindsey Graham and Jeb Bush have now given him endorsements–or approximations thereof–that will go down in political history as some of the most constipated hosannas ever rendered.”–Frank Bruni, New York Times.

* “Ted Cruz is worse than a puppet–he’s a Trojan horse, being used by the party bosses attempting to steal the nomination from Mr. Trump.”–Donald Trump campaign statement.

* “God bless the great state of New York.”–Ted Cruz.

* “Some Americans are eager to follow a man who tells them to punch whomever they don’t like in the face. Donald Trump doesn’t exhibit a classically fascist ideology. But he is a rabble-rouser who has found his rabble.”–James Traub, author of “John Quincy Adams: Militant Spirit.”

* “We’re in a new world where attitude seems to count more than facts.”–Bob Schieffer, CBS News.

* “The post-1968 reforms abolished the system whereby governors, bosses and other party poo-bahs decided things. In the modern era, to reach down to the No. 3 candidate–a distant third–or to parachute in a party unicorn who never entered the race in the first place would be a radical affront to the democratic spirit of the contemporary nominating process. A parachute maneuver might be legal, but it would be perceived as illegitimate and, coming amid the most intense anti-establishment sentiment in memory, imprudent to the point of suicide.”–Charles Krauthammer, Washington Post.

* “In our republican system, it is parties that choose nominees; not primary voters.”–David Brooks, New York Times.

* “He’s (Trump) at risk of having the nomination denied to him because grass-roots party activists fear he’s so widely disliked that he can’t possibly win.”–Ari Fleischer, press secretary to President George W. Bush.

* “Conservatives do not need to be ‘liberal-lite’–no ideology has a monopoly on good ideas. On the other hand, when your base is the Ku Klux Klan, Ted Nugent and people sucker-punching strangers at rallies, it’s a sign that a little self-reflection is overdue.”–Leonard Pitts, Miami Herald.

* “I would like to see a woman elected.”–Vice President Joe Biden.

* “I want our next president–whoever she or he might be–to be somebody who is interested in women in Afghanistan and who will continue U.S. policies.”–Laura Bush.

* “The Sanders campaign has brought out a lot of idealism and energy that the progressive movement needs. It has also, however, brought out a streak of petulant self-righteousness among some supporters. Has it brought out that streak in the candidate, too?”–Paul Krugman, New York Times.

* “I think Jeb Bush broke some really important federal campaign finance laws and, having seen him get away with it, candidates in both parties are going to do the same thing in coming election cycles. Our view is that under well-established, long-existing campaign finance laws, Jeb Bush was a candidate for many months before he admitted it publicly.”–Paul S. Ryan, senior counsel for the Campaign Legal Center.

* “It would be ironic if the next president happens to be a Democrat and chooses someone who is far to Judge Garland’s left.”–Sen. Susan Collins, R-Maine.

* “In Wyoming, Nevada and Delaware, it’s possible to create these shell corporations with virtually no questions asked.”–Matthew Gardner, executive director of the Institute on Taxation and Economic Policy.

* “We desperately need train service between Tampa and Orlando now! Have you driven that stretch lately? It is dangerous and congested. Tourists and Floridians are competing with semi-trucks for what has become a crowded and tight space. How will our state be in 15 years with 30 million residents? We had better plan now before it is too late.”–Alex Sanchez, president and CEO of the Florida Bankers Association.

* “I’m concerned that weakening protections will lead to a decline in the manatee population. I urge you to withdraw this proposal.”–U.S. Rep. Vern Buchanan, R-Sarasota, to the head of the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service about keeping manatees on the federal endangered species list.

* “Don’t tell me what political party you belong to. Tell me what your solution is.”–Mayor Bob Buckhorn.

* “We are actively talking to cruise lines about what we can offer them. It helps that we have such a rich cultural connection in Tampa. Our goal is to increase cruise capacity in Tampa overall, and Cuba is one way for us to do that.”–Greg Lovelace, director of cruise marketing at Port Tampa Bay.

* “The sports market is a great market to bring fans to town, who will prolong their stay and spend money on our attractions. Our mission is to put heads in beds in our hotels and further economic development.”–Santiago Corrada, president and CEO of Visit Tampa Bay, on Tampa becoming a “sports destination.”

* “That there was NO cell service for anyone. That was the true step back in time.”–Rays owner Stu Sternberg, on what his favorite moment in Cuba was.

* “China and the U.S. have a responsibility to work together.”–Chinese President Xi Jinping, in Washington for a nuclear security summit.

* “As long as Iran and Saudi Arabia are going at it, there will always be another ISIS. Which is why the ‘peace process’ the Middle East needs most today is between Saudi Arabia and Iran.”–Thomas Friedman, New York Times.

* “For the industry, it’s a game changer.”–Eddie Lubbers, founder of Cuba Travel Network, commenting on having Americans brands, such as Starwood Hotels and Resorts, joining the hotel market in Cuba.

* “I think we’re sitting on an economic bubble. A financial bubble.”–Donald Trump.

* “Trump has no actual ideas or policies. There is no army of Trumpists out there to carry on his legacy. He will almost certainly go down to a devastating defeat, either in the general election or–God help us–as the worst president in American history.”–David Brooks, New York Times.

* “You could put the Sanders, Clinton and Cruz foreign policies on a recognizable ideological spectrum, left to right. But not Trump’s. It inhabits a different space because it lacks any geopolitical coherence. It’s all about money.”–Charles Krauthammer, Washington Post.

* “(Vladimir) Putin is something of a chest-thumper. The two leading GOP candidates, Donald Trump and Ted Cruz, are also chest-thumpers. Given that, it is not difficult to imagine a scenario in which the world’s two leading nuclear-weapon states are led by presidents who lack the temperament to handle a rapidly deteriorating confrontation.”–Mike Moore, retired editor of The Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists.

* “Running for president: It’s not a take-home exam.”–Former Mitt Romney campaign staffer Kevin Madden.

* “They say a Trump nomination will set their party back decades. I agree. But Donald Trump didn’t come out of nowhere.”–Hillary Clinton.

* “Trump is taking his campaign straight to the haters, and he’s gotten the roots of that old Wallace crowd.”–Joe Reed, Alabama Democratic Party official.

* “(We need) a moral economy–not an economy based on greed and selfishness.”–Bernie Sanders.

* “We’ve gained 10 million private-sector jobs since Obama took office, and unemployment is 5 percent. … Just imagine the boasting we’d be hearing if Mitt Romney occupied the White House.”–Paul Krugman, New York Times.

* “The U.S. travel industry has spent millions between different associations, like Brand USA, to position the U.S. as a very welcoming destination. Mr. Trump would work against that.”–Arnie Weissmann, editor-in-chief of Travel Weekly.

* “The data and trends showed it was either a SeaWorld without whales or a world without SeaWorld.”–SeaWorld CEO Joel Manby.

* “Gawker and other new media often lack the journalistic integrity that has helped shape privacy guidelines for traditional news sources. The new media includes individuals with bad judgment, no limits and the capacity to reach the entire planet.”–University of Florida law professor Jon Mills, former speaker of the Florida House of Representatives.

* “After the United States Supreme Court issued its ruling, one might have expected immediate, unequivocal acceptance. Not so for the state of Florida.”–U.S. District Court Judge Robert L. Hinkle, on gay-marriage reality after same-sex marriage bans were struck down nationwide by SCOTUS.

* “The enemy of Enterprise Florida is not the Legislature; it is an adherence to the free market.”–Incoming Florida House Speaker Richard Corcoran, R-Land O’Lakes.

* “The Tampa Bay region has a robust enough business community that we should be able to generate significantly greater corporate support than we have, and we’re going to make that a major focus of the next few months.”–Tampa Bay Rays President Brian Auld.

* “The market has great potential. Obviously Florida is a growing state. There is really great broadcast potential … I remain hopeful that in Tampa Bay we will find a way to get a facility built that will improve the attendance for the club.”–Major League Baseball Commissioner Rob Manfred.

* “The investment the city seeded in the Riverwalk is going to multiply tenfold with development funded by private capital.”–Mayor Bob Buckhorn.

* “We are 20-30 years behind our competition. We are trying to compete in a Model T when they are driving Teslas. Time is not our friend at this point.”–Hillsborough County Administrator Mike Merrill, on the need for more transit options.

* “I sat there for eight years and I never thought it was my job to be a mini mayor. … They have nothing to do with the day-to-day running of the city or the effectiveness of the departments.”–Mayor Bob Buckhorn, on City Council plans to push for authority to order audits of city departments.

Talk about your teachable moments.

The last fortnight has been embarrassing for the University of South Florida’s advertising and mass communications school. Its director, Samuel Bradley, was placed on paid administrative leave after it came to light that he left his previous position–at Texas Tech University–under less than honorable conditions. Way less. As in reports of intimate relations with some students.

As in leaving before you get fired.

He also came to USF–in 2013–sans references, never a good sign, especially for someone who was ticketed for tenure. And then there was last year’s apparent non-presentation at a conference in Puerto Rico where he was supposed to present. But he apparently did present himself at a sex shop called Condom World with a young woman near the hotel where he was staying for the conference.

No, you can’t make this up.

Seemingly, due diligence is still due. Or maybe Condom World is where the accountability rubber finally met the road.

This is beyond bad. USF’s communications department has had five directors since 2010. Enrollment, not just prestige, has been dropping. And USF voluntarily allowed its accreditation–from the Accrediting Council on Education in Journalism–to lapse three years ago.

Too much has been going right at USF for it to have an outlier school bring disgrace upon the well-earned brand.

And how ironic that we’re talking about a school of advertising and mass comm, which brings us back to that teachable moment. Wouldn’t this be quite the case study for journalism students and, especially, those in the PR sequence?

This is about overdue diligence and outing those who never properly vetted Bradley. This is about scrutinizing a systemic breakdown and fact-checking through the bureaucracy and pursuing truth, however salacious. You don’t need to watch “Spotlight” for motivation.

And this is about proper, professional damage control.

Being honest and up front about screw-ups and lack of diligence. Instituting better hiring practices. Being cooperative with a media that you want your students to be proud members of some day. And if you have to bring in a Hill & Knowlton to clean this up and hire a heavy-hitter to run this reputation-challenged school within USF, then so be it.

But it’s about more than rehabbing a reputation. It’s also about protecting–literally– your students.

* “After 14 years of the ‘war on terror,’ we are no closer to achieving peace. The fault does not lie with any one administration but with the assumption that war can defeat terrorism. The lesson of the Islamic State is that war creates terrorism. After all, the organization was born in the chaos and carnage that followed the 2003 invasion of Iraq.”–Arun Kundnani, author of “The Muslims are Coming! Islamophobia, Extremism and the Domestic War on Terror.”

* “A terror cell made up of two brothers cannot be infiltrated. It’s the most secure network possible.”–French security analyst Claude Moniquet.

* “Tunisia is a start-up democracy. It may be small, but its leverage for the future of the region is enormous.”–Former Tunisian Prime Minister Mehdi Jomaa.

* “Creo en el pueblo cubano (I believe in the Cuban people).”–President Barack Obama.

* “Cuba has emphasized the role and rights of the state; the United States is founded upon the rights of the individual.”–President Barack Obama.

* “We know that years back it was hard to hear our music in Cuba, but here we are playing. I also think the times are changing.”–Mick Jagger–in Spanish–last Friday to a massive crowd at a free, outdoor Rolling Stones’ concert in Havana.

* “Our courts should be above politics, not an extension of politics. Because this is bigger than a few news cycles, or even a single election. It’s about the integrity of our system of justice.”–President Barack Obama, on his nomination of Federal Judge Merrick Garland to the U.S. Supreme Court.

* “It’s a great way of communicating, as far as I’m concerned. Between Twitter and Instagram, I have about 16 million followers. But I’m not going to be doing it very much as president.”–Donald Trump.

* “Leave Heidi the hell alone.”–Ted Cruz to Donald Trump, on his wife not being a proper political target.

* “To win, Republicans need to make this election about proposing solutions to the many challenges we face, and I believe that we should vote for Ted (Cruz) as he will do just that.”–Jeb Bush.

* “Some of the new Cruz devotees … expect Cruz to lose the presidency. But then they also expect Trump to lose it–and to lose it in an uglier, more decisive fashion that drags down Republicans running for the House and Senate too. This lose-with-Cruz faction figures that a reset of the party after a Cruz defeat would be possible, whereas Trump might not leave them with much of a party to reset.”–Frank Bruni, New York Times.

* “Despite the outstanding coverage of Trump, on the whole, we in the media empowered a demagogue and failed the country. We were lapdogs, not watchdogs.”–Nicholas Kristof, New York Times.

* “He stepped on to the presidential campaign stage precisely at a moment when the media is struggling against deep insecurities about its financial future. The truth is, the media has needed Trump like a crack addict needs a hit.”–Former “Today” show anchor Ann Curry.

* “Never believe anyone who says, ‘Believe me.'”–Kathleen Parker, Washington Post.

* “In some rare cases, political victors do not deserve our respect. George Wallace won elections, but to endorse those outcomes would be a moral failure. And so it is with Trump.”–David Brooks, New York Times.

* “We knew from Day 1 that politically we were going to have a hard time in the Deep South. But we knew things were going to improve when we headed west.”–Bernie Sanders after wins in Washington, Alaska and Hawaii.

* “I have as of now, gotten more votes than anybody else, including Donald Trump.”–Hillary Clinton.

* “Most of the advanced economies of the world have long moved into a new, postindustrial phase of development. … In the United States, manufacturing industries’ share of total employment has steadily fallen since the 1950s, coming down from around a quarter of the workforce to less than a tenth today.”–Prof. Dani Rodrick of the Harvard University’s John F. Kennedy School of Government.

* “Real economic growth was stronger than we thought late last year, and this makes us more hopeful that the first quarter will be better than expected.”–Chris Rupkey, chief economist at MUFG Union Bank of New York, on news that national GDP grew 1.4 percent on the October-December period.

* “I do know the only thing separating the public from the government of, by and for the special interests is us, the elected officials. It is possible to be a principled leader and an effective legislator. It really is.”–Tom Lee, R-Brandon, chairman of the state Senate appropriations committee.

* “What it reminds me of is what a diverse city we are and how important it is we celebrate that diversity and make sure that everybody’s value is treated the same.”–Mayor Bob Buckhorn during the Tampa Pride Parade in Ybor City.

* “We are 20-30 years behind our competition. We are trying to compete in a Model T when they are driving Teslas. Time is not our friend at this point.”–Hillsborough County Administrator Mike Merrill, on the need for more transit options.

* “I sat there for eight years and I never thought it was my job to be a mini mayor. … They have nothing to do with the day-to-day running of the city or the effectiveness of the departments.”–Mayor Bob Buckhorn, on City Council plans to push for authority to order audits of city departments.

* “The Tampa Bay region has a robust enough business community that we should be able to generate significantly greater corporate support than we have, and we’re going to make that a major focus of the next few months.”–Tampa Bay Rays President Brian Auld.

No, it probably won’t get much better. Pop culture, technology and the modern marketplace will likely co-opt major changes for better presidential-candidate media coverage. But having said that, too much is at stake to just surrender to the celebrity-stoked, bottom-line times we live in.

What we’ve been seeing–in this presidential primary season starring, so to speak, Donald Trump–has been a perfect societal storm of media enabling. It’s beyond embarrassing, especially for any journalist.

Not that we haven’t seen it coming.

Recall John McCain’s veep choice for his 2008 ticket. The shrilly uninformed Sarah Palin is now a cautionary tale–as well as a Trump hustings surrogate. Being in the wheelhouse of Fox and a godsend for Tina Fey should not amount to candidate bona fides.

But there’s also this: Palin was vetted more than Donald Trump. The latter is a bullying billionaire con man with his own brand, millions of Twitter followers and a simplistic take on all issues who’s never been elected to any office. Embarrassment morphs into shame.

Let’s reflect on other eras for broader context. FDR gave us iconic radio. JFK was pitch perfect on television. They were using the media of their day to communicate with Americans.

But fireside chats and press conferences were means to an end: Get us through the Depression; get us through the Cold War. They were riveting, rallying and even entertaining. But ultimately, they were about substance and being presidential.

As to campaigns, go back to 1960, when Howard K. Smith moderated those black-and-white, John Kennedy-Richard Nixon TV debates. They were never compared to carnival side-shows–although Kennedy’s good looks and cool demeanor, as well as Nixon’s 5 o’clock shadow and facial sweat, were well-noted optics.

But no manhood mockery. No stature put-downs. No liar taunts. No spouse abuse.

Now let’s go back a few months, to August of 2015. Ten Republican presidential candidates were on the big stage for the first debate, which was hosted by Fox News. I can still remember the words of Megyn Kelly before ending the pre-debate portion a couple minutes before 9 o’clock. “Please stay with us,” she implored the record audience. “We’ll be right back with the show after these messages.”

She actually said “show” and no one either caught it–or thought it of note. It was, indeed, a preening audition, a “show”–hardly a serious exchange of views among statesmen. It has only devolved since, with the media, as we’ve seen, more caught up in its own snapshot polls, gotcha questions, conflict-incitement, viewer numbers, ratings, sponsors and Trump-chasing.

Obviously, none of this media hustle is good for meaningful democracy. Obviously, it doesn’t seem to matter.

It’s enough to make one nostalgic for that imperfect period that pre-dates mass video–whether online or TV–dominance. When political coverage was primarily the purview of print journalists–and not network personalities with market demographics and ratings mandates–the goal was information aimed at consuming readers. It was about viable candidates and their platforms, strategies and supporters.

And, yes, there were pandering, red-meat quotes, intimations of back-room intrigues and plenty of horserace scenarios. The human condition finds a way. Newspapers–broadsheets and even  tabs–printed it, side-barred it and analyzed it via editorial-page opinions and op-ed commentary.

Network television, which used to consider news a public-service loss leader back in the day, gave it images and immediacy and 15 early-evening minutes. TV’s role was manifestly limited–to entertainment and headlines. It was, as a certain popular comedian of the time once noted, “a medium: neither rare nor well done.”

Yes, before there was Jon Stewart and John Oliver, there was Ernie Kovacs.

No, there’s no going back, but we as a society–and as media–can still make this a better “show.” We don’t have to fall for bombastic con men. We don’t have to allow candidate manipulation because someone is great copy, however devoid of substance. We can spend more time, for example, explaining “super delegates” and how national committee convention rules can trump, as it were, certain delegate-gathering scenarios. We can demand answers to valid, necessary questions on domestic and foreign-policy issues.

We surely don’t have to play foil or straight man to the ultimate, ego-maniacal, misogynistic, empty-suit candidate just because he calls an ad hoc press conference or does a self-serving town hall. We don’t have to settle for the best Khardashian.

And we don’t, in the words of New York Times columnist Nicholas Kristof, have to become “lap dogs, not watch dogs.”

According to Marco Rubio, he’s “not interested in being vice president.” We’ll take him, for what it’s worth, at his word. He’s not Paul Ryan, taking one for Team Establishment.

We also know he’s not going to be the next governor of Florida or a U.S. senator again. What’s ahead is what’s been looming since he rode that tea party bandwagon into the Senate in 2010: Fox superstar status.

He’s telegenic, glib in two languages and almost always ready for prime time. The right-wing,  “fair and balanced” pander network is right in his self-serving wheelhouse. If the national media exposure could help Sarah Palin and Mike Huckabee gain Fox favor, it can elevate Rubio to GOPster grandeur with a forum and pulpit like no other.