Indiana Editorial Roundup

By The Associated Press

3:29 PM EDT, July 24, 2008

Excerpts of recent editorials from Indiana newspapers:

July 24:

Pharos-Tribune, Logansport, on federal media shield bill:

Senate leaders ought to allow their colleagues to vote on the Free Flow of Information Act.

The measure ... was authored by Rep. Mike Pence, an Indiana Republican. Sen. Richard Lugar authored a companion bill in the U.S. Senate, and Sen. Evan Bayh is a co-sponsor.

This measure has already passed the House of Representatives by a vote of 398-21, but time is running out for action in the Senate.

Without this protection, reporters will continue to be faced with a choice between going to jail and breaking a promise. The whole idea goes against the very concept of a free and unfettered press.

In the end, though, this bill isn't about protecting reporters. It's about protecting you, the public, and your right to know what's going on in the government your tax dollars support.

Now and then, a courageous public servant will come out publicly to blow the whistle on government wrongdoing or incompetence, but more often than not, these folks want to offer their information anonymously. Folks like Deep Throat of Watergate fame simply won't come forward without a promise of confidentiality, and reporters should not be required to go to jail to keep those promises.

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On the Net: www.pharostribune.com

July 22:

The Indianapolis Star, on BMV improvements:

Two years ago, customer service at the Indiana Bureau of Motor Vehicles had sunk so low that the governor felt compelled to personally apologize to angry Hoosiers.

The agency, for years one of state government's worst performers, badly bungled a long-planned computer upgrade in the summer of 2006. Frustrated motorists were forced to endure long waits in dingy, often dirty BMV offices to complete routine transactions. Even police chiefs from around the state complained that patrol officers were unable to retrieve timely information on drivers pulled over for traffic violations.

The BMV's turnaround since then, however, has been remarkable.

Official transaction times now average about nine minutes (down from 28 minutes in 2006). Customer satisfaction, according to the agency's surveys, reached 97 percent in the first half of this year. And many license branches have undergone an extreme makeover, including better lighting, more attractive color schemes and more customer-friendly floor plans.

The BMV has made such significant improvement, in fact, that it recently received a customer service award from the American Association of Motor Vehicle Administrators. That type of recognition would have been unthinkable throughout much of the BMV's troubled history. What once was a broken agency now is an example of how well government can work when the public demands accountability and elected leaders are forced to listen.

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On the Net: www.indystar.com