Up here at
the Old Place, we find out things the old fashioned way, word of mouth. So when
it comes to “the news” it had better BE
news. For current events, the Picayune is available at the store. Tim has an old black & white TV in the
Wildlife and Fishies office that can pick up “local” stations, mainly in case
of a hurricane. Cell towers have never sprouted nearby, and it is likely to stay
that way. While we have a cross section
of humanity, and some diverse backgrounds up here, there is one thing all of us
have in common, well-oiled BS detectors.
Not those new-fangled digital models either. Ours are the old mechanical
kind with gears and wind up springs, easy to maintain, easy to use, 99.4%
accurate and best of all, unhackable!
The word, “News”
has so many definitions that a Webster’s quote is pointless. Back in the day, American
journalist Charles Anderson Dana, probably gave us the best definition, “When a
dog bites a man that is not news, but when a man bites a dog that is news.” In short, if it’s new, it’s news. Of course, that Presupposes
Ignorance on the Part of the Listener,
which is precisely what the big network “Cs” choose to believe. It is, in effect, their business model.
G. K.
Chesterton wrote, “Journalism consists largely in saying, “Lord Jones Died” to people
who never knew Lord Jones was alive.” What makes matters worse, journalists have
to compete and work faster than ever before to produce news, which does not
leave much time for accuracy. The motivation to be first to copy, incredible, the
rewards, staggering, news, Be Damned! Whatever Edward R. Murrow had to do 80 years
ago must still be done today, the same way, but time, shoe leather and
journalistic integrity are things of the past.
The late Fred Friendly, once president of CBS News, said,
“My job is not to make up anybody's
mind but to make the agony of decision making so intense that you can escape
only by thinking.” A great concept back in Friendly’s day, when voters
were more willing to think things through. Now, Col. Jim, who has time for that? Today, the young are bombarded by so much, so
fast, that they tend to take the “Cs” presentations at face value.
I have never given homework before but if you are willing,
here is your assignment. Pick a major national news network: ABC, CBS, NBC and
CNN. You can substitute PMS-NBC if you can stomach it, but BBC and Aljazeera
are out. Fox is also out because the “Cs”
actually created Fox, without even realizing it. This can be done morning or
evening but only on the TV, no phone or computer.
Watch and listen to each commercial, each story, and each
talking head. Then STOP – think. St. Luke said
that, after being given news by the shepherds the Blessed Mother, “treasured
these things and pondered them in her heart.”
After pondering for a time, sit quietly and ask yourself:
·
What did I learn that I can realistically use to affect
the outcome of the story?
·
Were the products and stories of any real interest to me?
·
Will buying the products or reacting to the stories make
me richer, healthier, and safer or make me a better son, daughter, friend,
spouse, parent, employee or person? Will
it help me to improve other people’s lives, indeed will it save lives?
I
challenge you, turn off the “Cs” once and for all. There is nothing there for us. So, what’s it got to do with safety? An hour in the morning, a couple of hours in
the evening. . . what could you do with a 27 hour day?
Sitting in
a rocker at the Old Place, I am, Col. Jim.
