Rochester report: 40% of youth live in poverty
Vice President Harris listed 13 recommendations to address some key issues outlined in the report, including the revelation that an estimated 42% of children in the city are living in poverty.
The following results came from community feedback and expert testimony:
Number 1: The City of Rochester should, collectively with all levels of government, local funders, organizational partners, and the community put an end to poverty.
Number 2: The City of Rochester should continue to invest in strategies that promote job creation, workforce development, and economic inclusivity.
Number 3: The City of Rochester should continue to pilot programs that support generational wealth building.
Number 4: The City of Rochester should invest in neighborhoods and listen to the residents.
'This is the most important part of this, I would say, and the more of that that we've done, that we do, the more progress we'll make,' Harris said.
Number 5: We should also invest in affordable housing and accessibility and health and housing stability.
Number 6: We should also make sure that youth development equitable opportunities for all.
Number 7: We should build family support at the R-Centers and libraries including programming that provides youth with leadership skills, job skills training, and hands-on experiences.
Number 8: Based on the findings of the Community Food Systems plan, the city should continue to move forward with innovation strategies and policies to have access to healthy and nutritious foods.
Number 9: The People, Parks, and Public Works Committee will continue to explore opportunities to amplify and implement the findings and recommendations of this report.
Number 10: Invest in safer neighborhoods
Number 11: Engage in federal advocacy to protect and secure essential social safety netprograms and funding for Rochester families.
Number 12: The city should engage in New York state advocacy for changes at the state level to advance upward mobility and address the root causes of childhood poverty.
Number 13: The city should engage in advocacy at the county level to adjust childhood poverty
Laid out in a 265-page report (see end of article), Vice President Harris said the city emphasized investing in affordable housing and accessibility, and health and housing stability.
'I have found new hope that we can work together as elected officials and local leaders to bring meaningful change to our city today,' Harris said.
Recommendations also included fully funding and investing in the recommendations of the New York State Child Poverty Task Force, which would establish a statewide food and rental assistance program.
This research is meant to help mothers like Qutisha Britt. She shared her story on how she feels the cost of living makes it difficult to afford necessities.
'One of the best things New York State, Monroe County, and the City of Rochester can do is get more money into the pockets of families living in poverty on a consistent basis, I know what my child needs most, and having the money to afford healthier meals and a better place to live is the easier way to provide for her,' Britt said.
Britt said a recommendation for the state would be to pass the Working Family Tax Credit to put money directly into the pockets of families. Britt, Harris, and Eamon Scanlon from Rochester's Children Agenda said regardless, more needs to be done.
'We can cut child poverty in our community and the entire state if we are willing to adopt transformational policies,' Scanlon said. 'Rate of child poverty is the result of policy choices, not personal failures.'
The full report is available below. The Rochester City Council, People, Parks, and Public Works Committee is expected to consider the adoption of the report at its next meeting on April 8.
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The Hill
a day ago
- The Hill
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Time Magazine
2 days ago
- Time Magazine
What Paramount's Settlement With Trump Says About Free Press
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Fundamentally, that means less news and information for Americans, and that's anti democratic.' Organizations representing journalists at CBS have offered a statement in support of their workers. 'The Writers Guild of America East stands behind the exemplary work of our members at '60 Minutes' and CBS News. We wish their bosses at Paramount Global had the courage to do the same,' it said in a statement. 'Paramount's decision to capitulate to Trump threatens journalists' ability to do their job reporting on powerful public figures.' Trump has long accused the media of being biased against him and painting him in a negative light. Distrust in the media and perceptions that it has a liberal media bias are widely shared among many conservatives. Gallup's poll found that just 12% of Republicans trust the media even a fair amount, a notably lower figure than for either Democrats or independents. In the statement praising the settlement as a win for media accountability, the spokesperson for Trump's legal team said that 'CBS and Paramount Global realized the strength of this historic case and had no choice but to settle.' What does the FCC have to do with it—if anything? Under Trump, the FCC has been putting the press under greater scrutiny. The agency, which regulates broadcast, television, radio, wire, and satellite in the U.S., opened investigations into PBS and NPR, both of which receive federal funding, in January over concerns that they could be violating federal law by airing commercials. The following month it opened a 'broadcast news distortion' probe into CBS over the '60 Minutes' interview. The FCC's broadcast news distortion rule is an informal policy that directs the agency to oversee incidents involving the misrepresentation of 'a significant event and not merely a minor or incidental aspect of the news report.' Amid the investigation, the agency is also charged with either approving or rejecting a potential merger between Skydance and Paramount, which is valued at some $8 billion. Paramount Global has denied that the lawsuit had anything to do with the 'Skydance transaction and the FCC approval process," stating that it "will abide by the legal process.' But Bob Corn-Revere, chief legal counsel at the Foundation for Individual Rights and Expression (FIRE), a nonprofit civil liberties group, said the FCC's deciding power in regard to the merger might make it more difficult for the media company to 'stand on legal principle.' The organization is representing Selzer in the lawsuit Trump filed against her. All the settlement does, he says, 'is show that bullying tactics sometimes work, but it doesn't change what the law is.' The $16 million Paramount is paying in the settlement will go to Trump's future presidential library, another aspect of the agreement that has raised concerns. Democratic Sen. Elizabeth Warren of Massachusetts on Wednesday called for an investigation into Paramount and a potential breach of anti-bribery laws, saying the settlement appeared to be 'bribery in plain sight.' due to the pending merger. Sen. Ron Wyden of Oregon expressed a similar sentiment, calling on state prosecutors to 'make the corporate execs who sold out our democracy answer in court.' The FCC's lone Democratic commissioner, Anna M. Gomez, said in a statement on Wednesday that the settlement 'marks a dangerous precedent for the First Amendment, and it should alarm anyone who values a free and independent press.' Saying that 'the transcript and video of the 60 minutes interview show no evidence of wrongdoing,' Gomez asserted that 'this Paramount Payout is a desperate move to appease the Administration and secure regulatory approval of a major transaction currently pending before the FCC.' A group of conservative advocacy groups expressed its own concerns about the investigation, telling the FCC in March that while there are legitimate worries about conservative media being held to a different regulatory standard, the best thing for the agency to do was to drop the case and not pursue news distortion investigations into media content. The groups said they feared a ruling against CBS would be 'regulatory overreach' and could set a dangerous precedent.
Los Angeles Times
2 days ago
- Los Angeles Times
Inside CBS News: Fear, anger and a silver lining after Paramount-Trump settlement
For months, CBS News has been roiled with trepidation that parent company Paramount Global would write a big check to make President Trump's $20 billion lawsuit go away. On Tuesday night, those fears came true. Paramount Global agreed to pay $16 million to settle Trump's legal salvo against '60 Minutes' over the editing of an interview with his 2024 opponent, then-Vice President Kamala Harris. Within the news organization, there was anger over what is widely seen as a capitulation to Trump in order to clear a path for Paramount's $8-billion merger with David Ellison's Skydance Media. The case was labeled as frivolous by 1st Amendment experts. But among some CBS News veterans, tempers were calmed by a sobering reality: that the outcome could have been worse. The biggest concern inside the news division since Trump's complaint was that the media company would be strong-armed into making an apology or statement of regret over a case that they believed had no merit. Amid the internal anger over the settlement, there is relief that that did not happen. 'Everybody knew that was a line in the sand,' said a relieved CBS News veteran not authorized to comment publicly on the matter. Another journalist at the network, speaking on the same condition, said the thinking among many was that any financial payment of less than $20 million without an apology would count as a partial win. As the negotiations to end the suit lingered, it became more apparent that corporate interests overrode any concerns about the appearance of caving to Trump's demands. Trump filed suit in October, claiming '60 Minutes' edited an interview with Harris to make her look smarter and bolster her chances in the election, which Trump won decisively. CBS denied the claims, saying the edits were routine. 'If there wasn't a merger pending and they took this to court they would have won,' the journalist said of Trump's case. 'I think they understood that if they made an apology they would have an internal rebellion and they would have because there was nothing to apologize for.' Some say that the departures of former '60 Minutes' executive producer Bill Owens and CBS News and stations head Wendy McMahon were enough to satisfy the Trump camp's desire for an apology. Both executives were adamant that CBS News did nothing improper in the handling of the Harris of interview. Trump's legal team claimed victory. 'President Donald J. Trump delivers another win for the American people as he, once again, holds the Fake News media accountable for their wrongdoing and deceit,' a spokesman said in a statement. But while '60 Minutes' avoided the humiliation that would have come with a statement of contrition, the program that is the foundation of the news division now has to move forward in an era of media mistrust on the political right and disappointment on the left by those who believe courage is in short supply. According to several CBS News insiders who spoke to The Times, no one is expected to depart '60 Minutes' in protest of the settlement decision. Andrew Heyward, a former CBS News president who is now a consultant, said it will be up to the new owners of CBS to maintain the program's journalistic independence. 'If that's jeopardized in the future, that would be unfortunate for CBS News and the country,' he said. Though there is anger, many feared a bleak future for the news organization and the rest of the network if Paramount Global couldn't close the Skydance deal. The lawsuit was seen as an obstacle to the deal, which needs approval from the Federal Communications Commission, run by Trump appointee Brendan Carr. 'We can get outraged all we want, but the fact is we were in a really precarious situation,' said one of the journalists not authorized to speak publicly. 'If that merger went dead, I don't know if anyone would have come along and bought the whole company.' While ownership change usually generates fear and uncertainty through media organizations, insiders at CBS News say they will be happy to see Paramount Global's controlling shareholder Shari Redstone in their rearview mirror once the Skydance deal is done. The feelings inside the news division regarding Skydance range from hope for new investment from deep-pocketed Ellison to resignation that 'it can't get any worse.' As for any damage to its reputation, CBS News is taking some comfort in the fact that ABC News hasn't noticeably suffered from its own $16 million settlement over anchor George Stephanopoulos mistakenly saying Trump was convicted of rape rather than sexual abuse in the civil suit brought by E. Jean Carroll. Stephanopoulos signed a new contract at the network amid the controversy and his program 'Good Morning America' hasn't suffered a ratings loss since. Viewers have high expectations for '60 Minutes,' which after 57 seasons still ranks as the most-watched news program on television (it's also the most profitable show on CBS). If the program is allowed to maintain the same standard of deep reporting it's known for, the audience will get past a bad corporate decision, according to Heyward. 'People on the right will say it's another example of mainstream media getting what it deserves,' Heyward said. 'People on the left will say it's another example of a corporation caving to President Trump for its own selfish interests. And most people will go back to watching '60 Minutes' and expect strong independent reporting without fear or favor — that's what really matters.'
