Your right to know, your obligation to respond
My old buddy and fellow editor Dave Butler is quick to point out that things tend to get darkest before they go completely black. Which ties in nicely to a conversation I had this morning with David Allen, our columnist at the Inland Valley Daily Bulletin, about our ever-growing lost sense of community.
It's sort of the "bowling alone" philosophy - that we've increasingly disconnected from things that historically have tied us together. It helps explain why membership is down in social and civic organizations, why in San Bernardino only about 20 percent of voters bothered to cast a ballot in the last mayoral election, and why, today, the two major presidential candidates seem able to sidestep the issue we all seem to care about the most - the economy.
It also helps explain the decline in newspaper readership over the past three decades, but that's a subject for a later post.
The point is, we can sit back and accept it as part of our natural aging process, or try to find ways to restore youth and vigor to a way of life we've come to take for granted.
As a newspaper editor, I see it all the time as it relates to First Amendment issues and your - repeat your - right to know. The code of silence surrounding Bill Postmus' reported drug problems while serving as chairman of the board of supervisors and as county assessor is a vivid example of government self interest trumping your rights as citizens and taxpayers.
It's no more comforting when a member of the board of supervisors claims he or she was unaware of what was going on - knowing that such a troubling admission will create little backlash from a public that by and large couldn't care less about government accountability.
Sadly, words like these are preaching to the choir, since people who engage in blogs and read newspapers tend to be more civic minded.
Which begs the question, how can we better shine a light on a situation that's getting darker by the moment? Let's not let it go completely black.
Comments
I live in a densely populated area. When I go out to get my morning papers, mine are the only ones out there. No one else, not one, subscribes to a daily newspaper. Now it might be they buy them elsewhere. (I doubt it.) It might be they read online. (I doubt that, too.) It is most likely that they get their news, such as it is, from broadcasts outlet snippets, or, Heaven help us, the "Daily Show," the "Tonight Show," or other such. I don't know why this is. Each of these places (mine being the exception) has a satellite dish for television. Last I checked the average price for that was about $40 on up, likely double that if you want anything more than the basic channels. So it is not a matter of expense. It is a matter of inclination. Maybe education. I'm in my 50s, about the demographic for newspapers. Now, I wouldn't mind being a print "dinosaur media" guy, as long as I knew that other people were in fact reading the Sun or whatever online. I simply doubt it from the conversations I've had. I expect if I asked about Bill Postmus, I'd get a blank stare. If I asked about Brad and Angelina's twins, I would get a more detailed answer than I would know. Or care.
It might be the newspaper business models have failed, and failing. USA Today was going to save it. The Sun was at one time home to happy Gannetteers. Maybe the single-paper community led to an insularity in newspaperdom, the joint operating agreements that gave advertisers one choice. In the meantime, the Web Godzilla arrived in the advertising department.
I don't know that the answer is. Today's papers are about the size of one or two sections of the robust papers of old.
Sigh.
Posted by: Endangered Specie: Readers | August 18, 2008 3:22 PM
Politicians would love to keep the taxpaying public in the dark like the proverbial mushroom. I, for one, have had enough of the BS they keep trying to feed us. From the county woes with Postmus to the San Bernardino city saga of Operation Phoenix, the attempt to keep us, the public, in the dark about what is going on is unconscionable. County Supervisor Josie Gonzales’ drug test screams “political grandstanding” however it is harmless although the questions about why one of his peers didn’t do something about his downward spiral is concerning. Mayor Patrick Morris’ attempts to hide the budget for and information about Operation Phoenix is unforgivable in light of Miller’s downward spiral, the victimization of minors, the deceitful of conduct of city employees, and the continued subterfuge from the Mayor Office. I hope that Councilwoman Estrada’s attempt to force the Mayor to release information isn’t political grandstanding as well – Councilwoman McCammack has a long history of challenging the Mayor for information on this so I don’t doubt her genuineness.
I am a registered voter. I volunteer in the community. I regularly let my political representative's know my thoughts on issues of concern. I implore every citizen of San Bernardino County and the city of San Bernardino to do the same. Without the citizenry demanding accountability from politicians the world would definitely go black.
Posted by: Cal Johnson | August 19, 2008 9:02 AM