Answer two of the following three:

1. Read the attached article. The reporters conducted a "wide-ranging" interview with Checchi, so why did they choose to frame the story as they did? Do you think Checchi's responses were effective? If so, why? If not, how should he handle such questions in the future?

2. "The dominant corporations are bigger than ever and have more control than ever," says Ben Bagdikian, a retired University of California professor and former national editor of the Washington Post. "What they are aiming for -- and have gone a long way toward achieving -- is to control the origination of content and the national delivery system." Do you agree or disagree? Do the "new media" undercut his argument?

3. During the 1990s, has it become more difficult -- or less difficult -- for an American President to manipulate mass media coverage?

Your answers should display a thorough understanding of the readings and discussions. Write carefully and concisely.

• Exams should be typed, stapled, double-spaced, and no more than five pages long (including both answers). I will not read past the fifth page.
• Put your name on a cover sheet. Do not identify yourself on the text pages.
• Cite your sources. You may use either endnotes or parenthetical references to a reference list. In either case, put your documentation in a standard format (e.g., Turabian or Chicago Manual of Style).
• Watch your spelling, grammar, diction, and punctuation. Errors will count against you.
• Return essays to me in class on May 6.

No Public School for Checchi's Kids

Carla Marinucci, Robert B. Gunnison, Chronicle Political Writers

San Francisco Chronicle,Wednesday, April 22, 1998 A1

URL: http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?file=/chronicle/archive/1998/04/22/MN36988.DTL

Democratic gubernatorial candidate Al Checchi, who has made public education a cornerstone of his campaign, said yesterday he will not ``sacrifice my children's future'' by sending them to state public schools.

Checchi and his wife, Kathy, residents of Beverly Hills, one of the nation's wealthiest cities, have a son in college and two daughters, ages 17 and 12, in private schools.

In an interview with The Chronicle editorial board yesterday, the Northwest Airlines executive was asked whether, if elected, he would educate his children in California public schools to demonstrate his stake in the system. ``Of course not,'' he said. ``Why would I do that?

``By making the choices I have made, I am demonstrating that the public schools are not up to the par they ought to be,'' he said. ``I'm not going to sacrifice my children's future,'' he said, noting that ``(California) is 43rd in spending, 49th in computers per child'' in its public schools.

In a campaign that has focused so strongly on education, Checchi's comments could stir controversy, giving his opponents the opportunity to question whether the wealthy airline executive understands the problems of millions of parents who send their kids to public schools.

One of Checchi's two rivals for the Democratic nomination, Representative Jane Harman, whose two school-age children attend private schools in Washington, D.C., has said she would ``consider'' sending her children to public schools, if elected governor. Lieutenant Governor Gray Davis, the other competitor for the nomination, has no children. The likely GOP nominee, state Attorney General Dan Lungren, has three children, but all are college age or older.

In the interview, Checchi said he was ``in a very, very fortunate position . . . to send my children to private schools,'' but said he wished ``other people were in the (position to) get an education as good as my children.''

But when asked about school vouchers, which supporters contend would allow low- and middle- income pupils to attend private schools, Checchi strongly denounced them as ``a typical political trick. . . . I think they're a fraud.''

``The answer is to fix the public schools,'' Checchi said. Checchi also said he supports charter public schools as an alternative to state- paid school vouchers that would subsidize private tuition.

In a wide-ranging interview, Checchi also refused to back down on his hard-hitting television ads and his latest mailings which attack the political records of both Harman and Lungren.

``I'm not going to apologize for pointing out the record of a public official,'' Checchi said.

Checchi, who has spent about $20 million of his own estimated $550 million fortune on ads, has drawn editorial criticism for his campaign -- which he began last year with pledges to stay on the high road.

``I think it's just hilarious,'' he said. ``Public officials are simply not used to being held accountable for what they say or do,'' said Checchi, who has never held public office. ``I find it almost comical that these people are grousing.''

During the hourlong interview, Checchi also:

-- Acknowledged that he and his wife each donated $1,000 to Harman's campaigns in the past. ``We made a contribution to her, but does that amount an endorsement? Let's not descend into the absurd. I met Jane Harman. . . . She was very nice. She asked for a contribution. I made one,'' he said. ``I haven't made one to her since.''

-- Defended his past campaign contributions to Republicans Bob Dole and Steve Forbes, saying he has donated an average of $25,000 to political figures, ``98 percent of them Democrats.''

``My good friend Steve Forbes ran for president, and as a courtesy, I made a contribution,'' he said. ``I really don't think that's a statement about my political philosophy. . . . It was not an endorsement. . . . This is a nice game everyone plays of `gotcha.' ''

-- Said, ``I don't believe in quotas,'' and that if elected governor he would ask the Legislature ``to repeal Proposition 209, because I think we've made a mistake'' on the initiative that barred race and sex preferences in the awarding of state government contracts and admissions to state universities.

-- Said he did not support the efforts of some legislators to expand the death penalty to younger criminals, but believes that it should apply to repeat rapists and child molesters. ``I think it will create a disincentive to be a repeat (offender),'' he said. ``Our society has become much more predatory . . . and I happen to believe that destroying the spirit of a woman or a child is heinous.''

-- Said that, if elected, changing public education would be a top priority. ``It requires a change in the way we manage the school system . . . this vast bureaucracy being centrally managed out of Sacramento,'' he said. ``Decentralizing, flattening the organization, pushing more responsibility'' to local levels is the key.

Checchi argued that school vouchers would drive up the cost of private education without creating any new places for students. ``That's still not going to fix the problem for the mast majority of kids,'' he said. ``We have to fix the (public) schools for 6 million kids.''

Checchi said he advocates ``unlimited numbers of charter schools . . . which in its purest manifestation is really a private school functioning within the public school system.''

Checchi also has signed a pledge to state schools chief Delaine Eastin that he will support increasing per-pupil spending in California to the national average within five years.

Such an increase would cost an estimated $6 billion, but Checchi, who said much of the funding would come from the state's current economic boom, would not specifically identify a source of revenue.

Davis and Harman have not signed the pledge, citing concerns with the large amount of money needed.

Both Harman and Davis oppose school vouchers. Lungren supports school vouchers.