My wife antiques and I am constantly amazed at the things she brings home. A few years ago she brought home a great old console TV set. It probably sat in someone’s den back in the 1950s and 60s. She took it to a TV repairman and he made a few adjustments to the picture tube and the set was good as new.
For a 1950s-era television set, that is.
We had a lot of fun with it because it was an accurate reflection of what use to pass for TV in this country. One forgets how spoiled we have become until you watch a set that we needed a rabbit ears antenna with “tin foil” stretched across it to get acceptable reception.
The great thing about this TV is that it is a classic, but it’s not very practical anymore. Since the conversion to digital broadcasting, it doesn’t even get a picture anymore. I guess you could hook a DVD player up to it and play old TV reruns, but that’s about it. Maybe old sets like that are destined to wind up in a museum someplace because the value of them will be so high in the future. Most people have thrown away their old analog sets or recycled them, opting instead to buy a new digital set that allows them to see programs in High Definition. Still, I know a lot of people who simply purchased converter boxes using those discount coupons.
Today, July 31st, 2009, was a milestone in the evolutionary saga of television. Today was the last day to use those discount coupons to buy converter boxes. The FCC tells us that of the 63.4-million coupons sent out, only 33-million have been redeemed. The government said 49,000 requests were received on Tuesday of this week by people still hoping to beat the deadline. So, if you still have your coupons hang onto them. Someday, they may be worth something to a TV collector, much the way people now collect POW bracelets and old drive-in speakers.
As for the Digital changeover itself, many people are discovering the biggest single factor affecting your TV reception is location. Thousands of Americans have lost television reception completely, simply because of where they live. I got an email this week from a longtime KRBC viewer who, for the first time in 15 years, was unable to see the station after converting to digital TV. He used to have to use a 20-foot antenna to get us, but even that doesn’t help anymore. The sad fact is that he may just be out of our range now because our digital pattern is not the same as our analog pattern was. I feel really bad about that because I think he wasn’t told the whole story about this digital conversion. The industry spent a lot of time selling the public on the benefits and somehow neglected to mention that some people would lose TV coverage in the process. In the end, digital was an “all or nothing” process…and as some are now finding out, it has been a frustrating and expensive process, too.
Downing Bolls
Friday, July 31, 2009
Thursday, July 23, 2009
Lessons Passed Down By My Elders
Goodnight, Mr. Cronkite ... Wherever you are.
I got a call over the weekend from a newspaper reporter at the Abilene Reporter News. He was doing a reaction story about Walter Cronkite’s death and wanted to get some thoughts from local TV News anchors. In reflecting back on Cronkite’s life and death, I couldn’t help but remember the times in which he lived, for I think that they to played a part in who Mr. Cronkite was. In the field of behavioral study, there is a formula that goes like this: B=P+E -- Behavior is shaped by two factors: personality traits and environment.
No doubt that Walter Cronkite was an icon in the field of news. But, if Walter Cronkite became an icon, it may be a just as much a reflection on the times in which he lived as his personal style or presenting the news. The world has changed a lot since the Great Depression of the 1930s and the tide of history took a great many newsmen riding along on its coat tails. They grew up seeing first-hand world-changing events. They covered the Cold War, the Vietnam Conflict, the Assassination of President Kennedy, the Civil Rights struggle, the landing on the moon. How much the world changed in their lifetime, and yet Walter Cronkite was there to give those events some meaning in the larger context of our daily lives.
Now, I'm not goiung to compare myself to Walter Cronkite in any way. In fact, about the only similarity between myself and Walter Cronkite (and it is a very minute comparison) is that we both were lucky enough to have come up through the ranks. I didn't start in TV. I began my lifelong association with journalism literally from th ground up. I was a newspaper delivery boy. Remembering those times has brought me a lot of pleasure this past weekend.
I spent my formative years in Montgomery, Alabama. Those were the years of Rosa Parks, the Montgomery Bus Boycott, and “separate, but equal”. Everyone was talking about this charismatic Baptist minister named Martin Luther King. I attended an all white public school, but was too young to understand “why” it was all white. In 1960, we moved to Washington, D.C. I got my first “news” job when I was just 13 years old. I delivered the Washington Post, every morning – rain or shine – in the Washington suburb of Silver Spring, Maryland. I would always have one or two papers left over, so on my way back home each morning, I’d read the paper as I walked along, my “paper” bag draped across my shoulders. That is where I learned about current events and I think it was there where I first was bitten by the “news” bug. I began reading about history and being fascinated by how it all came together.
I saved enough money from my paper route to buy my first movie camera – a little 8mm Revere. I couldn’t routinely afford film for it, but once – when I did have film in it, I passed by a fire and ran up and started filming it. I still have the camera. The film of the fire is long gone.
When Martin Luther King, Jr. delivered his famous “I Have a Dream” speech, my parents took me down to the Lincoln Memorial the night before to see all the camera podiums set-up. I remember looking at all of those people climbing the steps of the Lincoln Memorial in the stifling heat of that summer night, realizing that it was the eve of some great event, wondering what would happen and what the world would say about it all.
Over the years, I have been blessed to have worked with some of the best in the buiness. They aren't names that you'd readily recognize, but they were champions to me. Those great reporters told great stories and shared those stories with young, fresh-faced kids just getting into the business. One of the best pieces of advice I ever got from a newsman was from an intoxicated former TV news photographer one night in a bar. He said, “Let me tell you something. Nobody cares what you think. Your job is to keep your mouth shut and your ears open.” He was absolutely right and that advice has served me well over the years.
Most people don’t know this but Walter Cronkite actually re-learned his speech patterns. He understood that for a TV audience, he had to read slower, and he taught himself to do that. You see, the story BEHIND the story is often much better than the story itself. That is what I think about when I think of Walter Cronkite...the story BEHIND the story. “Class” is the word that comes to mind wheh I think of Walter Cronkite. He was never bigger than the story he covered and never forgot that entering America’s living room each evening was not a “right”, but a privilege. You are a guest and don’t ever forget that.
Goodnight Walter and thanks for everything.
Downing Bolls
I got a call over the weekend from a newspaper reporter at the Abilene Reporter News. He was doing a reaction story about Walter Cronkite’s death and wanted to get some thoughts from local TV News anchors. In reflecting back on Cronkite’s life and death, I couldn’t help but remember the times in which he lived, for I think that they to played a part in who Mr. Cronkite was. In the field of behavioral study, there is a formula that goes like this: B=P+E -- Behavior is shaped by two factors: personality traits and environment.
No doubt that Walter Cronkite was an icon in the field of news. But, if Walter Cronkite became an icon, it may be a just as much a reflection on the times in which he lived as his personal style or presenting the news. The world has changed a lot since the Great Depression of the 1930s and the tide of history took a great many newsmen riding along on its coat tails. They grew up seeing first-hand world-changing events. They covered the Cold War, the Vietnam Conflict, the Assassination of President Kennedy, the Civil Rights struggle, the landing on the moon. How much the world changed in their lifetime, and yet Walter Cronkite was there to give those events some meaning in the larger context of our daily lives.
Now, I'm not goiung to compare myself to Walter Cronkite in any way. In fact, about the only similarity between myself and Walter Cronkite (and it is a very minute comparison) is that we both were lucky enough to have come up through the ranks. I didn't start in TV. I began my lifelong association with journalism literally from th ground up. I was a newspaper delivery boy. Remembering those times has brought me a lot of pleasure this past weekend.
I spent my formative years in Montgomery, Alabama. Those were the years of Rosa Parks, the Montgomery Bus Boycott, and “separate, but equal”. Everyone was talking about this charismatic Baptist minister named Martin Luther King. I attended an all white public school, but was too young to understand “why” it was all white. In 1960, we moved to Washington, D.C. I got my first “news” job when I was just 13 years old. I delivered the Washington Post, every morning – rain or shine – in the Washington suburb of Silver Spring, Maryland. I would always have one or two papers left over, so on my way back home each morning, I’d read the paper as I walked along, my “paper” bag draped across my shoulders. That is where I learned about current events and I think it was there where I first was bitten by the “news” bug. I began reading about history and being fascinated by how it all came together.
I saved enough money from my paper route to buy my first movie camera – a little 8mm Revere. I couldn’t routinely afford film for it, but once – when I did have film in it, I passed by a fire and ran up and started filming it. I still have the camera. The film of the fire is long gone.
When Martin Luther King, Jr. delivered his famous “I Have a Dream” speech, my parents took me down to the Lincoln Memorial the night before to see all the camera podiums set-up. I remember looking at all of those people climbing the steps of the Lincoln Memorial in the stifling heat of that summer night, realizing that it was the eve of some great event, wondering what would happen and what the world would say about it all.
Over the years, I have been blessed to have worked with some of the best in the buiness. They aren't names that you'd readily recognize, but they were champions to me. Those great reporters told great stories and shared those stories with young, fresh-faced kids just getting into the business. One of the best pieces of advice I ever got from a newsman was from an intoxicated former TV news photographer one night in a bar. He said, “Let me tell you something. Nobody cares what you think. Your job is to keep your mouth shut and your ears open.” He was absolutely right and that advice has served me well over the years.
Most people don’t know this but Walter Cronkite actually re-learned his speech patterns. He understood that for a TV audience, he had to read slower, and he taught himself to do that. You see, the story BEHIND the story is often much better than the story itself. That is what I think about when I think of Walter Cronkite...the story BEHIND the story. “Class” is the word that comes to mind wheh I think of Walter Cronkite. He was never bigger than the story he covered and never forgot that entering America’s living room each evening was not a “right”, but a privilege. You are a guest and don’t ever forget that.
Goodnight Walter and thanks for everything.
Downing Bolls
Friday, July 17, 2009
Learning From the Past: What They Knew 116 Years Ago
Dish It to Downing
I came across an Abilene newspaper from 1893 the other day. Abilene only had one paper back then; the Abilene Reporter, and it came out in the afternoon.
Now, what made this interesting was reading the front page. You’ve got to remember that Abilene was just 12 years old then and it had growing pains. The railroad had come through and the only thing lacking in the “Future Great City of Texas” was a “great future”.
The editor of the paper, though, did something pretty cool. First, he had reporters out collecting the latest “happenings” in our town. They didn’t write a lengthy story, just a sentence or two about the latest little tidbits of news. “Jimmy Smith is back from visiting his sister in Syracuse and shared a railroad car with some survivors of the big floods in Mississippi. They say the death toll has been great and it will be a logtime before the State returns to its southern greatness.” That kind of stuff. It wasn’t just local either. It was the kind of material that people would sit on their porch and talk about in the evening. Second, and perhaps even more important, the paper kept a running tally of the needs of our city: electric lights, paved streets, better plumbing, etc. One column said “WHAT WE HAVE”: the other said “WHAT WE NEED”. You should remember that lots of little towns up and down the railroad were having the same problems growing that we were. But, even if we already had a furniture store, the paper was sharp enough to understand that a second furniture store impacted the tax base and meant competition and competition not only help the city grow, but was beneficial to the consumer, as well.
These people were visionaries and I couldn’t help but think about them as I watched the story about the push for a new Career Tech High School in Abilene.
On July 13th, a group of Abilene businessmen and community leaders began soliciting signatures for a letter to be presented to the school board. Some members of this group have served on school district committees studying the need for a Career Tech High School. Just over a year ago voters rejected the idea for this kind of facility. Career Tech supporters believe the voters rejected it because it was part of a larger bond package. They want the board to put this one, single issue before voters in November.
I learned a long time ago in this business not to second guess the will of voters. They may have had all kinds of reasons for their vote, but they did vote and in this country the majority wins.
What follows here is neither an endorsement of the project nor a criticism. But this much I do know:
- Abilene is a great place to raise kids.
- And, it’s a great place to retire.
It’s what happens between those events that we need to be concerned about, I think. About the time kids get out of high school, they move off to attend college in some other town or leave Abilene altogether to get a job where there is better pay and better opportunities. The only kids who stay here are those who seem to think they have no future. Meanwhile, those who move away are benefitting someone else during their most productive and creative years.
I guess what concerns me is that it seems okay to most people. That’s the way we like it here - “friendly”. We even have a name for it: the “friendly frontier”. It’s laidback, pastoral, peaceful. It’s “where the deer and the antelope play”. For the record, “Home On the Range” was written about Kansas, not Texas! We have spent a lot of time hung-up over “branding” and it seems to have taken it’s toll. I think that if you went back and talked to those people who settled this part of the country, they’d tell you that the frontier was anything, but “friendly”. Living here meant overcoming a lot of adversity, but they were able to do it with the help of their friends, working together. For most of the people who settled here, THIS WAS THE END OF THE LINE. The drive and desire to seek a better life and the determination to make it happen had to take place right here.
I wonder what they would say to us in these tough economic times we live in today. Perhaps, “It’s okay to be “friendly”, but don’t forget that sometimes you have to kick a little back side. So, let’s dust ourselves off and get back in there and start pitching again.
These are times that demand innovation and creativity. If we can’t do that, we are doomed to continue a pattern that sadly has become our legacy. I think our future and our children are worth fighting for – don’t you?
Those are my thoughts… what are yours?
Downing Bolls
I came across an Abilene newspaper from 1893 the other day. Abilene only had one paper back then; the Abilene Reporter, and it came out in the afternoon.
Now, what made this interesting was reading the front page. You’ve got to remember that Abilene was just 12 years old then and it had growing pains. The railroad had come through and the only thing lacking in the “Future Great City of Texas” was a “great future”.
The editor of the paper, though, did something pretty cool. First, he had reporters out collecting the latest “happenings” in our town. They didn’t write a lengthy story, just a sentence or two about the latest little tidbits of news. “Jimmy Smith is back from visiting his sister in Syracuse and shared a railroad car with some survivors of the big floods in Mississippi. They say the death toll has been great and it will be a logtime before the State returns to its southern greatness.” That kind of stuff. It wasn’t just local either. It was the kind of material that people would sit on their porch and talk about in the evening. Second, and perhaps even more important, the paper kept a running tally of the needs of our city: electric lights, paved streets, better plumbing, etc. One column said “WHAT WE HAVE”: the other said “WHAT WE NEED”. You should remember that lots of little towns up and down the railroad were having the same problems growing that we were. But, even if we already had a furniture store, the paper was sharp enough to understand that a second furniture store impacted the tax base and meant competition and competition not only help the city grow, but was beneficial to the consumer, as well.
These people were visionaries and I couldn’t help but think about them as I watched the story about the push for a new Career Tech High School in Abilene.
On July 13th, a group of Abilene businessmen and community leaders began soliciting signatures for a letter to be presented to the school board. Some members of this group have served on school district committees studying the need for a Career Tech High School. Just over a year ago voters rejected the idea for this kind of facility. Career Tech supporters believe the voters rejected it because it was part of a larger bond package. They want the board to put this one, single issue before voters in November.
I learned a long time ago in this business not to second guess the will of voters. They may have had all kinds of reasons for their vote, but they did vote and in this country the majority wins.
What follows here is neither an endorsement of the project nor a criticism. But this much I do know:
- Abilene is a great place to raise kids.
- And, it’s a great place to retire.
It’s what happens between those events that we need to be concerned about, I think. About the time kids get out of high school, they move off to attend college in some other town or leave Abilene altogether to get a job where there is better pay and better opportunities. The only kids who stay here are those who seem to think they have no future. Meanwhile, those who move away are benefitting someone else during their most productive and creative years.
I guess what concerns me is that it seems okay to most people. That’s the way we like it here - “friendly”. We even have a name for it: the “friendly frontier”. It’s laidback, pastoral, peaceful. It’s “where the deer and the antelope play”. For the record, “Home On the Range” was written about Kansas, not Texas! We have spent a lot of time hung-up over “branding” and it seems to have taken it’s toll. I think that if you went back and talked to those people who settled this part of the country, they’d tell you that the frontier was anything, but “friendly”. Living here meant overcoming a lot of adversity, but they were able to do it with the help of their friends, working together. For most of the people who settled here, THIS WAS THE END OF THE LINE. The drive and desire to seek a better life and the determination to make it happen had to take place right here.
I wonder what they would say to us in these tough economic times we live in today. Perhaps, “It’s okay to be “friendly”, but don’t forget that sometimes you have to kick a little back side. So, let’s dust ourselves off and get back in there and start pitching again.
These are times that demand innovation and creativity. If we can’t do that, we are doomed to continue a pattern that sadly has become our legacy. I think our future and our children are worth fighting for – don’t you?
Those are my thoughts… what are yours?
Downing Bolls
Thursday, July 9, 2009
Michael Jackson: Cutting Through the Hype
Okay, I admit it.
I watched Michael Jackson’s Memorial Service on Tuesday.
I wasn’t originally going to do that because it was just getting to be too much. I mean, we love "celebrity" in this country and because we do, we can’t get enough of knowing every intimate detail there is. And so it was with Michael Jackson’s death. Now, four days after his service, I'm starting the get that creapy feeling I did when Anna Nicole Smith’s died. The media learned something very important back then: the public can't get enough. In fact, the bigger the celebrity, the bigger the audience and people won’t be happy until we know every intimate details there is.
In the end, I suspect we will wind up feeling just a little bit guilty. Someone will write a book, someone will make a lot of money telling their "exclusive" story on TV, and we will quench our insatiable desire to know all the “dirt”. People will blame the media for going too far, without ever acknowledging their own role in creating the environment for that to happen to begin with.
Sometimes, though, you just have to cut through the hype.
In watching Tuesday’s coverage, I was struck by two things. First, the commentator’s repeated use of the word “exploit”. “How will his survivors exploit his legacy?” they kept asking. There’s just something terrible sounding about that, but in truth that’s what it is. Who will gain by this man’s death and how? He has an estate to leave behind and it must be maximized to provide support for those who are left behind in the wake of his death: his children. Second, when you cut through all of the hype, you find a memorial service that was befitting a man who, in the final analysis, tried to make the world a better place by his being here. He made people happy, he tried to use the money he made to benefit those who were less fortunate, he knew how his world worked and used it to his advantage. He overcame a lot of adversity to do all of that. I learned Tuesday that a lot of what I thought about Michael Jackson was just wrong and whether we acknowledge it or not, Michael did positively affect the world in which he lived. In the end, the positives far outweigh the negatives.
The service started with sadness at the parting of this man and thanking God for his being here to begin with. It ended in a celebration of his life. But, nothing touched me like the images of his daughter, Paris, tearfully saying how much she loved and missed her father. In the final moments of this memorial, we were reminded that in its purist form, that Michael love his family and they loved him and that love was no different from that we hope our families have for us. It prompted me to look back on all the opportunities I had in my own life to make memories with my own children but didn’t because I was too busy worrying about the future and making a living. I’m staring at the man in the mirror and have just begun the second half of my life. I learned some thing from the first half that I don’t intend to repeat the second time around. I am moved to make a difference in my world … one hour – one day – one opportunity at a time.
Thanks, Michael.
I watched Michael Jackson’s Memorial Service on Tuesday.
I wasn’t originally going to do that because it was just getting to be too much. I mean, we love "celebrity" in this country and because we do, we can’t get enough of knowing every intimate detail there is. And so it was with Michael Jackson’s death. Now, four days after his service, I'm starting the get that creapy feeling I did when Anna Nicole Smith’s died. The media learned something very important back then: the public can't get enough. In fact, the bigger the celebrity, the bigger the audience and people won’t be happy until we know every intimate details there is.
In the end, I suspect we will wind up feeling just a little bit guilty. Someone will write a book, someone will make a lot of money telling their "exclusive" story on TV, and we will quench our insatiable desire to know all the “dirt”. People will blame the media for going too far, without ever acknowledging their own role in creating the environment for that to happen to begin with.
Sometimes, though, you just have to cut through the hype.
In watching Tuesday’s coverage, I was struck by two things. First, the commentator’s repeated use of the word “exploit”. “How will his survivors exploit his legacy?” they kept asking. There’s just something terrible sounding about that, but in truth that’s what it is. Who will gain by this man’s death and how? He has an estate to leave behind and it must be maximized to provide support for those who are left behind in the wake of his death: his children. Second, when you cut through all of the hype, you find a memorial service that was befitting a man who, in the final analysis, tried to make the world a better place by his being here. He made people happy, he tried to use the money he made to benefit those who were less fortunate, he knew how his world worked and used it to his advantage. He overcame a lot of adversity to do all of that. I learned Tuesday that a lot of what I thought about Michael Jackson was just wrong and whether we acknowledge it or not, Michael did positively affect the world in which he lived. In the end, the positives far outweigh the negatives.
The service started with sadness at the parting of this man and thanking God for his being here to begin with. It ended in a celebration of his life. But, nothing touched me like the images of his daughter, Paris, tearfully saying how much she loved and missed her father. In the final moments of this memorial, we were reminded that in its purist form, that Michael love his family and they loved him and that love was no different from that we hope our families have for us. It prompted me to look back on all the opportunities I had in my own life to make memories with my own children but didn’t because I was too busy worrying about the future and making a living. I’m staring at the man in the mirror and have just begun the second half of my life. I learned some thing from the first half that I don’t intend to repeat the second time around. I am moved to make a difference in my world … one hour – one day – one opportunity at a time.
Thanks, Michael.
Thursday, July 2, 2009
Dish It to Downing: Lighthouses In A Foggy World
People who know me well know that I am a “passionate” person. Not so much in the romantic sense but rather in my commitment to the things that matter to me. I have a strong sense of what is right and what is wrong. That makes it sort of hard to get along in a world where almost anything goes these days. This is the July 4th weekend and I think it’s important to spend a moment talking about two things I am very passionate about: our country and the First Amendment.
One of my favorite films is “Meet John Doe”, perhaps because a central theme is the power of the press. A businessman with some lofty goals has purchased a large metropolitan newspaper. Nearly all of the staff are being called in and laid off, including a columnist. She is told that she must complete her last column, so she concocts a story about receiving a letter from a man who calls himself John Doe. Doe is disenchanted with the state of the country and decides to protest by jumping off the roof of City Hall on Christmas Eve. The story captures the public’s attention only it’s a complete fabrication. So, the paper calls on “John Doe” to come in to talk about his plans. Every deadbeat in town shows up claiming to be John Doe. The columnist picks a down-on-his-luck former baseball player and the paper, under the direction of its publisher D.B. Norton, use the power of the media to build an entire movement around John Doe. Norton’s ultimate goal however is political power for which he will use the John Doe Movement.
One of my favorite scenes unfolds in a bar as the newspaper editor, Mr. Connell, tells John the truth about Norton and his plans for John Doe. Connell is one of those old newspaper stereotypes that smokes too much, drinks too much, and views nearly everything with an ounce of suspicion. In the scene, Connell is sitting in a bar, drinking to forget his troubles, when John walks in. The following conversation takes place:
“You're a nice guy, John. I like you. You're gentle. I like gentle people. Me? I'm hard—hard and tough. I got no use for hard people. Gotta be gentle to suit me. Like you, for instance. Yep, I'm hard. But you want to know something? I've got a weakness. You'd never guess that, would you? Well, I have. Want to know what it is? The Star Spangled Banner. Screwy, huh? Well, maybe it is. But play the "Star Spangled Banner"—and I'm a sucker for it. It always gets me right here— (Thumps his chest) You know what I mean? Yessir. I'm a sucker for this country. I'm a sucker for the Star Spangled Banner—and I'm a sucker for this country. I like what we got here! I like it! A guy can say what he wants—and do what he wants—without having a bayonet shoved through his belly. And we don't want anybody coming around changing it, do we? No, sir. And when they do I get mad! I get b-boiling mad. And right now, John, I'm sizzling! I get mad for a lot of other guys besides myself—I get mad for a guy named Washington! And a guy named Jefferson—and Lincoln. Lighthouses, John! Lighthouses in a foggy world!”
“Lighthouses in a foggy world”.
What a great analogy.
You know, of all the characters in the movie “Meet John Doe” I find that I most connect with Mr. Connell. I’ve been doing reporting the news so long that I have built up a thick skin, yet I find most offensive those who would use the public right to know to their own advantage. I learned the “greed model” long ago – to always look at things with a bit of suspicion, asking “what’s in it for them?”
My phone rang last Friday just after our six o’clock news. A guy wanted to “Dish it” to me about the coverage of Michael Jackson’s death. I could tell be his tone that he had a complaint.
“I hope you don’t take this wrong,” he said prefacing his remarks. “I’m not a racist or anything, but I think y’all have gone overboard on this Michael Jackson stuff.”
“Yes, sir?” I answered, acknowledging I understood his comment.
“It’s just been non-stop coverage and I just think that and Farrah Fawcett is just too much,” he said. Then, he got to the meat of his complaint.
“Young Americans are fighting and dying everyday in Iraq and Afghanistan and you don’t even mention that. I just think someone should. Don’t you?”
So, this is my answer to that question: Michael Jackson was a celebrity and, for whatever reason, we love “celebrity” in this country. Some might even argue that we worship it. I think as journalists we have an obligation to cover the story and if the story is that Michael Jackson is bigger in death than he was in life, then we report that. But, remembering the greed model, we must be mindful of our own role in that happening.
Last night, after the 10 o’clock news was over and everyone had left the station, I sat down in front of a monitor in the newsroom and watched every story that had been fed the past week on Iraq and Afghanistan. That phone caller was right. Young Americans ARE fighting and dying everyday in Iraq and Afghanistan and we didn’t even mention that.
I think someone should.
“What’s in it for them – and us?”
Lighthouses in a foggy world.
One of my favorite films is “Meet John Doe”, perhaps because a central theme is the power of the press. A businessman with some lofty goals has purchased a large metropolitan newspaper. Nearly all of the staff are being called in and laid off, including a columnist. She is told that she must complete her last column, so she concocts a story about receiving a letter from a man who calls himself John Doe. Doe is disenchanted with the state of the country and decides to protest by jumping off the roof of City Hall on Christmas Eve. The story captures the public’s attention only it’s a complete fabrication. So, the paper calls on “John Doe” to come in to talk about his plans. Every deadbeat in town shows up claiming to be John Doe. The columnist picks a down-on-his-luck former baseball player and the paper, under the direction of its publisher D.B. Norton, use the power of the media to build an entire movement around John Doe. Norton’s ultimate goal however is political power for which he will use the John Doe Movement.
One of my favorite scenes unfolds in a bar as the newspaper editor, Mr. Connell, tells John the truth about Norton and his plans for John Doe. Connell is one of those old newspaper stereotypes that smokes too much, drinks too much, and views nearly everything with an ounce of suspicion. In the scene, Connell is sitting in a bar, drinking to forget his troubles, when John walks in. The following conversation takes place:
“You're a nice guy, John. I like you. You're gentle. I like gentle people. Me? I'm hard—hard and tough. I got no use for hard people. Gotta be gentle to suit me. Like you, for instance. Yep, I'm hard. But you want to know something? I've got a weakness. You'd never guess that, would you? Well, I have. Want to know what it is? The Star Spangled Banner. Screwy, huh? Well, maybe it is. But play the "Star Spangled Banner"—and I'm a sucker for it. It always gets me right here— (Thumps his chest) You know what I mean? Yessir. I'm a sucker for this country. I'm a sucker for the Star Spangled Banner—and I'm a sucker for this country. I like what we got here! I like it! A guy can say what he wants—and do what he wants—without having a bayonet shoved through his belly. And we don't want anybody coming around changing it, do we? No, sir. And when they do I get mad! I get b-boiling mad. And right now, John, I'm sizzling! I get mad for a lot of other guys besides myself—I get mad for a guy named Washington! And a guy named Jefferson—and Lincoln. Lighthouses, John! Lighthouses in a foggy world!”
“Lighthouses in a foggy world”.
What a great analogy.
You know, of all the characters in the movie “Meet John Doe” I find that I most connect with Mr. Connell. I’ve been doing reporting the news so long that I have built up a thick skin, yet I find most offensive those who would use the public right to know to their own advantage. I learned the “greed model” long ago – to always look at things with a bit of suspicion, asking “what’s in it for them?”
My phone rang last Friday just after our six o’clock news. A guy wanted to “Dish it” to me about the coverage of Michael Jackson’s death. I could tell be his tone that he had a complaint.
“I hope you don’t take this wrong,” he said prefacing his remarks. “I’m not a racist or anything, but I think y’all have gone overboard on this Michael Jackson stuff.”
“Yes, sir?” I answered, acknowledging I understood his comment.
“It’s just been non-stop coverage and I just think that and Farrah Fawcett is just too much,” he said. Then, he got to the meat of his complaint.
“Young Americans are fighting and dying everyday in Iraq and Afghanistan and you don’t even mention that. I just think someone should. Don’t you?”
So, this is my answer to that question: Michael Jackson was a celebrity and, for whatever reason, we love “celebrity” in this country. Some might even argue that we worship it. I think as journalists we have an obligation to cover the story and if the story is that Michael Jackson is bigger in death than he was in life, then we report that. But, remembering the greed model, we must be mindful of our own role in that happening.
Last night, after the 10 o’clock news was over and everyone had left the station, I sat down in front of a monitor in the newsroom and watched every story that had been fed the past week on Iraq and Afghanistan. That phone caller was right. Young Americans ARE fighting and dying everyday in Iraq and Afghanistan and we didn’t even mention that.
I think someone should.
“What’s in it for them – and us?”
Lighthouses in a foggy world.
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