Debra Pickett

On WBEZ's 848 this morning, political reporter Ben Calhoun used a phrase that, I think, perfectly sums up the dominant attitude about the trial that wraps up today.

He said he was wondering if people were really paying attention to the trial, or if there wasn't a certain amount of "corruption fatigue."

Young people, in particular, are presumed to be totally cynical about politics (this study, "The Daily Show Effect" has some interesting things to say about that assumption) and, it's generally assumed that the decline in newspaper readership (which is, I am required to point out, a tragic reflection of social disengagement) reflects a kind of why-bother-caring attitude about all things civic.

I've long wondered, though, if, on some level, the opposite is true. What I hear from a lot of people is not so much cynicism as idealism, and a feeling of being overwhelmed. When I pester people (especially young-ish women) about voting, and, specifically, about why they don't vote, they often say that they don't feel like they know or understand enough about the candidates and issues to make an informed choice.

Of course, this is the sort of comment that drives a lot of reporters and media types nuts. "Read the paper!" they scream, "Get informed!"

But, in defense of the non-voters, that's a lot harder to do than it looks. Our stories about the great issues of the day are often so full of back references and "inside baseball" names and terms that we're almost taunting new readers with their ignorance.

If we want people to pay attention to what's going on, especially with all the intersecting scandals in Chicago and Illinois, without having to completely exhaust themselves with history lessons and organizational charts, we need to find new ways of presenting information, like an occassional "corruption score card" that would give a quick update on who's been indicted for what and how they connect to each other. I'd also like to see a flow chart that begins with, say, a dollar I pay in property tax or the cost of my city sticker or license plate and takes me through all the places where money is being wasted on jobs for political cronies or contracts for connected businesses. That's the sort of stuff that can jolt a person out of their fatigue.