Mist on the Canal

On a rainy, dank morning it seemed the right thing to do to go to Lieberman's for donuts.  The air is warmer than the ice covering the river and the canal, and so there was a spooky mist in the wooded areas bordering Erie Avenue.  For photographers with a lot of stamina and patience, it would have been a good morning to capture one of those memorable pictures, the kind that evoke emotion.

Apparently, some of the stuff I've said in this blog over the past year is accurate.  Journalists have a terrible reputation among the populace and are not believed.  This is very troublesome.  As I've said before, the job of the journalist isn't to create news, adapt news, or skew the news.  Their job is to report news as accurately as possible.

Depending on what station you choose for your news reports, you may not be getting a true representation of what is going on.  Some stories are covered up, others are promoted unceasingly.  If a certain story would make a certain person look bad, you might not hear about it on some stations. 

Being a reporter is very interesting.  There is no routine, no humdrum, no boredom.  Each day brings new stories, new people, fresh challenges.  Depending on how much energy a reporter has, stories can have many layers of meaning.  You can seek out someone else's take on the story.  You can research more facts, dig deeper for information.  And yet, there are those who can't seem to stick to the basics.  Is it a power thing? 

Without balanced news, people who vote regularly in national and local elections don't have the information they need to cast an informed vote.  I think this has influenced a number of key races in the past few years.

Will it ever change?  I don't know.  But it is terribly wrong to abuse this position.  It's a sin. 

Journalists have always been taught to go after the story but to handle it professionally, as accurately as possible.  At least that's the way it was.  When does the corruption start?  When a journalist gets higher on the totem pole?  When the boss puts pressure on the reporters to report this, not that?

The best bet is to move around the channels for the news.  Don't stick to just one broadcaster if you want to know what is going on.  If you get your news from the Internet, then check out various sources for that as well.  Compare and contrast.  Who is saying what?  That will give you an idea of what sort of spin a particular news source is likely to take.

See what the newspaper says and then check an on-line source, for example.  Read the same story in both media. 

There was a time when politicians feared the media because they could change the game plan overnight.  But now it seems as though the media insulate and shelter politicians -- and that is definitely not the way it ought to be.  The news media should be politicallly unaffiliated.

Do you know something?  We're getting close to the year-a-versary of the blog.  It's been great for me, and I hope you have gotten something out of it.  If you have ideas for postings, let me know.  If there's something you would like to hear about, let me know that too.

Take care.  It's around 44 degrees out!  Feels pretty good too.  Enjoy.