Reviving the American Dream

An essential part of the American ethos is having the next generation prosper more than its predecessor. But for many Americans, especially those in the lower rungs of the economy, the future may hold a dimmer prospect.

The Economic Mobility Project, a product of The Pew Charitable Trusts, warns that growing income inequality in America threatens the age-old dream of each generation climbing the economic ladder.

It already is relatively uncommon in America to move from the lower class to the middle class, according to Pew researchers, let alone to the upper class. While two-thirds of Americans earn more than their parents after adjusting for inflation, the gain is fairly small and reflects general economic growth in the country more than a leapfrog to a bigger pond.

Erin Currier, director of the Economic Mobility Project, told NPR that data doesn't support the widely accepted notion that America is the world's land of opportunity. "This notion that we have about ourselves, as America being somehow exceptional in terms of our opportunity, is not accurate," Currier says. "The data show that the United States actually has less relative mobility than Western European and Canada."

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Old Poll Echoes Today

Cleaning out your garage can be clarifying on multiple levels. You create space for new stuff and you discover old, nearly forgotten stuff — like polling data from 1982.

"I am very saddened by the priorities that were cut. I am not convinced that a balanced budget is an absolute necessity..."

"Basically big companies are not paying taxes, and we're paying more taxes."

"I think the worst in the economy is still ahead…"

"We're going to appreciate the important things more and do away with some of the frivolous things."

"I believe in greater good than in greater harm. It's going to hurt. It's going to hurt fort a long time, but we must begin."

"Defense should be cut and welfare, social programs, education and the arts should have more added back."

Sound familiar? These could be quotes from a focus group last week instead of one held April 1982 in Richmond, Virginia. Back then the debate centered on Reaganomics. Today it touches on mortgage securities, derivatives and hedging. And, of course, ObamaCare.

Maybe as the world changes, it stays the same — or at least the problems stay the same.

However, as I reflected on these long-stored nuggets of polling wisdom, I was struck by a sense of voter bewilderment about what course to take to preserve jobs in America, liberty at home and peace abroad. That bewilderment continues today, spiced by more partisan and rancorous rhetoric.

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The Primordial Power of Storytelling

Since we learned to draw on cave walls, mankind has been telling stories. Now a Seattle senior center is demonstrating how storytelling can be a successful communications tool for dementia patients — and perhaps proving the technique's worth in reaching any distracted or disinterested audience.

Elderly persons suffering from dementia lose their memory. That lack of memory can generate deep frustration in trying to communicate with loved ones they don't recognize.

In Seattle, storytelling is treated like therapy, according to a piece aired by NPR. Patients are shown interesting photographs and asked to compose a story about the life of the person in the picture. Since these aren't personal pictures, patients don't need to struggle to recall faces, names or places. They just make up the stories, which creates a form of release. Patients can communicate without the burden of a failing memory.

The Notebook, a highly regarded romance movie released in 2004, centers around an elderly man (James Garner) reading a passionate love story to an elderly woman with dementia (Gena Rowlands). The story captivates Rowlands' character, but it isn't until toward the end of the movie that you realize the love story is about these two characters when they were young. The story's happy ending jogs a burst of memory in Rowlands' character, and she recognizes Garner as her lifelong love. Their embrace is sadly fleeting, but deeply revealing.

Whether storytelling can actually revive memory in dementia patients is debatable, but there is no doubt storytelling can spark interest in all kinds of people and all kinds of subjects.

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What’s your Voting IQ?

With Election Day in Oregon only two weeks away, how aware are voters about platforms of the two major political parties?

One letter writer to The Oregonian humorously suggested that “Democrats always seem to rail primarily about what they have seen Republicans do in the recent past, while Republicans always seem to rant primarily what they imagine Democrats will do in the near future.” 

That’s an amusing bit of analysis but, according to the latest “The News IQ Quiz” by the Pew Research Center for the People & the Press, not the right answer to the question: “What [does] the public know about political parties?” 

Before reading the rest of this blog, take the quiz and see where you rank in comparison to about 1,000 other Americans, Click to take the quiz. 

What was your score? Thirteen questions are asked and a majority of those surveyed could correctly answer at least 10. As far as what they know, American’s are more aware of the positions of party leaders than they are of the positions advocated by Republican or Democratic parties, according to the survey. 

“Most Americans can correctly identify the relative positions of the Republican and Democratic parties on the major issues of the day. But a review of what Americans know about the political parties shows that the public is better informed about the partisan affiliations of two popular recent presidents — Ronald Reagan and Bill Clinton — than it is about the positions of the parties on key issues that dominate the current national debate,” Pew editors say.

“About seven in 10 (71 percent) know that the Republican Party is considered to be the more conservative party. And majorities can correctly place the parties relative to each other on current issues that define the liberal-conservative divide, such as taxes, gay rights, abortion, and defense spending,” the survey report states.

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PR Upswing Keys Integrated Solutions

A reputable study says private and nonprofit organizations are using social media more and relying on public relations professionals to assist them. Nonprofits rely on social media more heavily than private businesses because it is more cost-efficient than paid media.

These findings come from the seventh biennial Generally Accepted Practices report on PR, produced by the University of Southern California's Annenberg School for Communication and Journalism.

The report marked huge increases in Facebook, Twitter, blogs and online video since 2009, when the last study was conducted. More energy is being devoted to search engine optimization and less to wikis and virtual worlds.

One of the most striking findings is that business and nonprofit executives view social media as the domain of PR professionals who generate content. But increasingly, executives also believe PR pros should take charge of messaging for customer relations and internal communications.

Increasing numbers of PR professionals have a seat at the table of top executives in their organizations, which translates into communications strategies becoming a more critical part of overall strategy. As consumers demand a larger voice in brand decisions, organizations have turned to PR professionals to make effective connections.

The bad news for PR firms is that corporations are discarding the concept of "agency of record." The percentage of companies with a single PR firm fell from 58 percent in 2002 to 18 percent for private companies and even lower, 15 percent, at public companies.

Despite the reliance on PR to manage social media and brand conversations, PR budgets are up only slightly, according to the report. Flat budgets may not be cause for a party, but they are better than plunging advertising budgets, which have shuttered some agencies. In-house marketing departments also have suffered declines.

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