The Paradise Progressive is an effort to cover, analyze and comment on news affecting the Paradise Coast of Southwest Florida that is overlooked, ignored or avoided by local traditional media. It does this to fulfill the role of a free and independent press in a democratic republic.
As The Washington Post states in its motto: “Democracy dies in darkness.” But we add: “Liberty lives in light.” Our goal is to shine a light as best we can to dispel the darkness.
The Paradise Progressive is not affiliated with any political party or organization. It was begun on Dec. 20, 2018. The Paradise Progressive can also be viewed on its Facebook page, which features links to other Florida-related postings, and on its original WordPress blog. Videos can be seen on The Paradise Progressive YouTube channel.
In September 2018, the League of Women Voters of Collier County, Florida, set a date for a debate between the two candidates running for Congress in Florida’s 19th Congressional District, the coastal area running from Cape Coral to Marco Island in Lee and Collier counties.
One, Democrat David Holden, accepted immediately. The other, incumbent Republican Francis Rooney, informed the League that he had “no availability” on that date—and “no future availability.” What was more, he had no need to debate because “everyone knows my positions.”
Candidate debates are a pillar of American democracy, so much so that they’ve become a cliché. But beyond their more frivolous aspects, they’re how ideas are exchanged and candidate records are examined. Most of all, however imperfectly, they’re the way for voters to compare the policies, personalities and positions of the people who seek to lead and represent them. As a general principle, debate results in discussion and discussion is the essence of democracy; where there is no debate, there is no discussion and where there’s no discussion there’s only disaster—or dictatorship.
From a tactical campaign standpoint at this time, Rooney’s dismissal of the League’s invitation made sense: he was relying on heavily conservative, traditionally Republican voters to return him to office for a second term no matter what he did.
Such thinking was hardly surprising for a political candidate. But what was startling was the reaction of all the local institutions that normally uphold democratic norms, values and practices.
Southwest Florida’s print and broadcast media said nothing about Rooney’s refusal. There was no outrage, no protest, no coverage. The League of Women Voters expressed regret but did not in any way hold him accountable or ensure that their debate took place. The local political parties were mute.
Ultimately, Rooney paid no price for refusing the debate and went on to win the election.
What this thundering silence meant in a larger sense was that none of the normal guardians of democracy—media, civic organizations or the voters themselves—were ready, willing or able to stand up for democracy in Southwest Florida. No ideas would be exchanged, records examined or positions challenged and defended.
Contrast this with what happened that year in the Democratic Party primary in New York’s 14th Congressional District. There, Rep. Joe Crowley, a 10-term incumbent, chose to skip a debate with his primary challenger, sending a surrogate instead. This disrespect and dismissal of the debate—of the very institution of debate—and his opponent caused so much anger and outrage throughout that district that it was a factor in his defeat by his challenger, Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez.
In Southwest Florida, however, democracy had no champion of its sacred norms, values and practices. A wealthy, entitled, candidate from the majority party, in service to an autocratic, demagogic president, could simply ignore democracy’s foundation and pay no price or face any protest. The voters were mute and remained uninformed. What was more, there was no indication that such a situation would change in the future.
This is the darkness in which democracy dies. But this was also the spark that led to The Paradise Progressive.
For the media to properly play the role envisioned for it by the Founders of the United States to inform the public, it must at a minimum cover three broad topics.
1. Governance
Governance is how people are governed. What decisions are made by officials in authority affecting their lives? How are those decisions made? What factors are taken into account? What are the implications and consequences of those decisions?
2. Representation
Representation is how people are represented to higher government bodies like state legislatures or the national Congress. What actions do officials representing a jurisdiction—a district, county, city or state—take to express or advance the interests of the people in that jurisdiction? What are the statements, arguments, and positions they take that reflect the wishes and needs of their constituents?
3. Elections
Elections are what people ordinarily think of as “politics.” But what is really crucial here is selection—how people select the officials that govern and represent them. What are their qualifications, their positions and their arguments for holding office? Elections are the mechanism by which this is done in the United States but it is not the only mechanism available. At other times and in other places people were simply appointed by a monarch or an autocrat. Beyond all the hoopla and horserace aspects of political campaigning in American elections, the media’s role is to examine the candidates from all angles and provide voters with as much information as possible to make an informed choice.
In Southwest Florida the media did not perform these functions. Newspapers and television stations—with the exception of one or two individual journalists—did not examine, scrutinize or analyze the actions, representations or positions of elected officials or candidates.
It was to provide some coverage of the governance, representation and elections in Southwest Florida, at a time when democracy was under unprecedented pressure and assault, that The Paradise Progressive began publishing in December 2018.
David Silverberg is a writer and editor with extensive experience covering political, military and security topics. He conceived and launched numerous specialized media outlets, both print and digital during a 32-year career based in Washington, DC.
While serving as managing editor of The Hill, a weekly newspaper covering Congress, he authored the book Congress for Dummies, a comprehensive and accessible guide to lobbying the US Congress, part of the widely-known Dummies series.
On Sept. 11, 2001 during the terrorist attack on the Pentagon, Silverberg organized evacuation of The Hill’s offices in downtown Washington, DC and ensured that the newspaper was produced, printed and distributed on time.
Moved by the 9/11 attacks, he turned to covering homeland security, first as editor in chief of Homeland Defense Journal and then as founding editor of the monthly magazine Homeland Security Today, which he led over nine years to a position as the premier publication of homeland security insight and analysis. He is also the 2009 recipient of the first “Journalism That Matters” award from the American Society of Business Publication Editors for coverage of an issue that triggers a tangible change within government or industry. He also served on the board of the Virginia Association of Chiefs of Police.
Between 1981 and 1983, he served as assistant editor of Near East Report, the newsletter of the American Israel Public Affairs Committee. From 1987 to 1993 he served as the international trade reporter for the newspaper Defense News, traveling widely around the world.
He also served as the founding editor of numerous other media platforms including BorderNewsNetwork.com, Military Information Technology, Military Training Technology, Missiles & Munitions magazines for Kerrigan Media International and his own Journal of Information Policy. As part of his coverage of homeland security emergency management, he authored the book Masters of Disaster: The Political and Leadership Lessons of America’s Greatest Disasters.
Since moving to Naples, Fla., in June 2013, he has written for the magazines Mother Jones, Gulfshore Business, Gulfshore Life and Turquoise. In 2014 he won a silver Charlie award from the Florida Magazine Association for excellence in in-depth reporting.
In 2018 Silverberg served as the communications director of the David Holden for Congress campaign in the 19th Congressional District.
In December 2018 he began producing The Paradise Progressive blog to cover Southwest Florida politics that he felt were not getting sufficient attention from local media.
Silverberg’s writing has appeared in a wide variety of publications, from the popular to the academic, and he has made numerous media appearances.
Liberty lives in light