Hi again, folks. Nice to see you again and I hope you and yours are doing well. It’s been kind of a sad last seven days for me. I lost a good friend and comrade in arms who was also an outstanding example of what humans can be in a society which appreciates compassion, dignity, gentility and, perhaps most importantly to the millions of listeners and viewers into whose homes he came five nights a week for well over four decades, integrity.
I was very young when my family acquired their first television set. Before that, the program I remembered the most listening to on the radio was Sergeant Preston of the Yukon. The first television show I ever watched was Sidney Lumet’s You Are There, sponsored by Prudential Insurance (Remember the Rock of Prudential?). It featured historical reenactments in which Walter Cronkite was the “attached reporter,” as it were.
Walt’s legacy is so much a matter of public record that it needs little further delineation here. As a journalist, I will miss him. He was an outstanding role model to reporters and editors of my generation, those who came before and certainly those who followed.
He proved that despite the prevalence of a national consumer passion for sensationalism, there was an audience out there for news gathered and reported, as factually and as unbiased as it was possible by deadline. He was also a nice guy and that meant something to him. It did, as well, to thousands of big city journalists and small town weekly editors and reporters.
It still does, at least to me, this being a good journalist and a good neighbour. When I hear criticism of a jaundiced media and am confronted with glaring examples of it, it hurts me because such reportage dishonours the likes of Walter Cronkite, Peter Jennings, Edward R. Murrow, Ernie Pyle, Dick Tregaskis and John Steinbeck.
All of them were journalists, the last four covered war from the front and Dick died on Guadalcanal. Yes, Judah, Guadalcanal Diary and yep, kidders, the Grapes of Wrath guy, Sweetheart. That John Steinbeck.
So for as much as I share the disgust and frustration, I need to remind myself that the media is a consumer-driven business. If you don’t like what you hear and see on (pick a station) or read in (pick a publication), thanks to some Constitutional guarantees that the Fourth Estate (“the media”) has had to defend often, you now have options.
If you don’t want junk news, quit buying it Look for people like Walt Cronkite and read them and the media they report for. Buy from people who carry their ads. You surely don’t think subscriptions pay that business’s bills.
So yep, Walt, we’re going to miss you but I know you’re up there somewhere, looking down and still being amused. And this week’s critter story will, I hope, Sire, bring a smile to that rugged but unimpeachably honest face.
This one comes right off my back porch, as it were and it’s the story of how a curious cat managed to get 35 feet up a tree above a raging river and finally get coaxed down after five days thanks to a small town putting a watch on this feline and NOT risking anyone climbing up that tree and dying for lack of patience. I can think of more than a few instances these days when that example might be applied creatively.
I’m not fond of bad news and especially when it comes from where I live. Like everywhere else, Seattle has a homeless population and, unfortunately, it’s growing. Despite a general trend among King County and City of Seattle officials to grant permits and to actively seek funds for housing and other assistance for these folks, State government seems to be lagging behind.
They’re evicting one homeless group for camping a little too long on an industrial site where they’re not really interfering with anything. A State Department of Transportation was quoted as saying that while their agency has the utmost sympathy for this particular group, they, the State DOT, are bound by state laws and they have no choice but to move these people on down the road.
To me, there is the letter of the law and there is the spirit of it. It takes awhile for laws to change and sometimes that change doesn’t come quick enough. This is Washington State and our legislators in Olympia have mostly understood that. When that’s happened, they’ve leaned on the spirit of the law in their interpretation of it and worked to correct for the letter.
That’s not being done in this case and as much as I’m proud to promote my home as a good example worth emulating, by the code of ethics which governs my profession, I am honour bound to present a bad example which could be avoided.
And in keeping with this overall theme of good media coverage and a honest, if not sympathetic and sometimes painful window on the daily life of the white collar unemployed, I highly recommend a blog called, with appropriate irony, Lords and Ladies of Leisure.
Since the problems it addresses are not Seattle’s alone, what I like especially like about this one is it’s also an invitation to share resources and it empowers by essentially saying, “Hey, this is a real downer but we can get through it. We’ve just gotta talk to one another.” She’s a breath of fresh air and rather than even naming her, I’m offering you this opportunity to go to her site and get to know her on your own terms.
Well, that’s it for this week, folks. Take care, stay well and God Bless. Thanks again for the ear and we’ll see you next week.
Rusty
NORTHSTAR RECOMMENDS
The Tomatoman Times – a life commentary blog with the blended stylings of John Steinbeck, Mark Twain, Jack London and Will Rogers. Poignant, at times rancorous but very contemporary and ultimate celebration.
Vinyl Cafe with Stuart McLean – Live from the smallest record store in North America. Canadian humor, entertainment and commentary at its maple leaf best. Popular on National Public Radio in the States.
Ask Barbie, Advice Columnist. -- a blog that delivers the amiable maternalism of Ms. Landers, the slightly off-centre humour of Erma Bombeck and the ingenuousness of an unreconstructed romantic with no axes to grind.
Sightline Daily (formerly Tidepool) – The “United Press International/Reuters of the American West/ Updated and informative news shorts with links to the source. It’s editors draw from a coverage area which includes Alaska, British Columbia,California, Idaho, Montana, Oregon, Washington. Update and informative collected news shorts from. They also put out an excellent weekly environmental edition.
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