MIRS launches new political podcast

There is a new political talk show in town, and for a political junkie like me that’s a great thing.

MIRS (Michigan Information & Research Service), the subscription only newsletter that covers the Capitol, launched an hour long podcast focusing on Michigan politics on Monday, and it will run weekly on Monday. The podcast is hosted by MIRS’ Editor Kyle Melinn. Panelists include MIRS’ Publisher John T. Reurink and Correspondent Susan Demas, who also writes for the Michigan Truth Squad.

It features discussion and interviews, and the best part is that even though MIRS is subscription only, the podcast is free.

I love podcasts, which are kind of like audio blogs. They are excellent for a slow day in the office because you can listen anytime you want and pause them anytime you want. Some podcasts are just recordings of radio shows, like the Stephanie Miller Podcast I subscribe to, but there are some great local ones, too.

One of my favorites that comes from a broadcast radio show comes from the Lansing City Pulse. The hour long show is broadcast on Wednesday evenings on 89 FM, the Michigan Sate University radio station, but its podcasts are archived on the City Pulse web site. The shows go all the way back to October of 2008, and they have filled some slow afternoons at the office. The show was, until last week, also hosted by Melinn and City Pulse Publisher Berl Schwartz. The show has guests that generally cover three areas: politics, the arts and the local Lansing area.

My favorite non-radio podcast is called “Two Guys Named Joe” put out about one a week by political consultants Joe DiSano and Joe Munem. One is a Democrat and one is a Republican, and they offer up lots of great inside information.

One of the newer but really good podcasts on Talk Lansing is “The Back Room: Michigan Politics” hosted by veteran journalist and radio host Walt Sorg. The show features a weekly rotating roundtable of mid-Michigan political activists that has included Ari Adler, former press secretary to the Republican leader of the Michigan Senate; Mark Grebner, Democratic political consultant and longtime Ingham County Commissioner; and Kathie Dunbar, Lansing city councilperson and head of the South Lansing Community Development Association.

The Michigan Truth Squad checks the Republican noise machine

With the Republican noise machine, the conservative media and millions of dollars spent on 30-second TV ads this election season, it’s hard to decipher the truth from hype and outright lies; enter the Michigan Truth Squad.

The Michigan Truth Squad is a project of the Center for Michigan, a "think-and-do tank” formed by Phil Power, the former owner and publisher of Hometown Newspapers, in 2006. The Truth Squad will promote honesty and integrity in the political campaign season.

The Truth Squad is enlisting the help of voters, and they can win prizes when you see a questionable claim in the political advertisements you see or hear this year. “If you hear or see a political ad - on TV, radio, in the newspaper, in the mail, on the Internet, via email- direct mail piece, individual campaign website, blog, press release, or other campaign material that raises questions in your mind,” send it to the Truth Squad. “ If a tip exposes an exaggeration, misinformation, an outright lie, or a distortion,” they will “call a “Foul!” on the candidate and campaign.” The tips can remain anonymous.

Tipsters will have a chance to win Truth Squad T-shirts, Flip Ultra camcorders and a grand prize two-night stay at the luxurious Greektown Casino-Hotel.

Doing the refereeing and investigating the tips will be Rick Haglund and Susan Demas. Haglund is a veteran reporter, covering Michigan business, economics and government at newspapers throughout the state. Most recently, at Booth Newspapers, where he wrote a statewide business column. He currently writes freelance for the Grand Rapids Press, Crain's Michigan Business, Detroit Legal News, The Center for Michigan, Dome magazine and others.

Livingston County residents will remember Demas when she briefly worked at the Livingston County Daily Press & Argus. She writes a weekly syndicated political column reaching 3 million readers every week, appearing in RealClearPolitics, the Detroit News, Lansing State Journal and eight newspapers for Mlive.com, the largest news site in Michigan. She currently writes for MIRS, Michigan Information and Research Service that covers the Capitol in Lansing.