Confessions of a news junkie

Hello, my name is Linda and I’m a news junkie. Like most addictions it began small with Newsweek cover stories like the Watergate break-in, the Jonestown Massacre in 1978; and the Iranian Hostage Crisis in 1979.

Television news journalists I’ve admired: Peter Jennings when he reassured me through his own tears that the heartache I felt as I watched the images of the Challenger falling back to earth like a spent firework was widely shared; Ted Koppel when he reported that my cellphone might somehow be responsible for sponsoring a child soldier in the Democratic Republic of the Congo because of a little known mineral, tantalum or coltan.

On the whole I view the profession of a journalist as a sacred trust with the masses. A quote by Thomas Jefferson, “Our liberty depends on the freedom of the press and that cannot be limited without being lost.” is part of the masthead for one local paper and reflects what I believe to be an undeniable truth; but it is also a weighty responsibility.

I’ve had a firsthand opportunity to see how the news is brought to the masses, how by the simple framing of an issue opinions can be swayed – messages imbedded. It isn’t for nothing that there has been a concentrated effort on the part of City Hall to frame certain decisions to spend monies as being for the ultimate benefit of beavers. For those like me who are committed stewards for the beavers, the message is intended to pacify, for those who wish the beavers to be done away with, a waste of resources and for those who have ambiguous feelings – the message is intended to whittle away support.

I had a pretty candid conversation with Councilman Ross when we first decided to seek a stay in court. Ross mentioned phone calls he was receiving from citizens, after the city’s campaign to sell this as an emergency project, questioning the rationale beaver supporters had in light of the certain toppling of the retaining wall. I was warned we were losing support due to our perceived rigidity.

Ask any military man/woman if they’d rather be in an offensive or defensive posture and I’ll bet you dollars to donuts they’ll say offense is best. Yet while there was still a slim chance a decision from City Hall was forthcoming on the disposition of the beavers – we all were on defense. I had to defend the placement of pliable willow trees along the creek while the Mayor questioned whether the trees would conceivably block flow – a concern given rise by the same individual who ultimately was responsible for a two foot encroachment into the creek by a steel retaining wall.

I have had to defend the notion of bringing a beaver festival to locals and tourists alike because we might not have beavers next year or the year thereafter. Then there were the headlines like beavers are chewing through a ten million dollar flood control channel that needed to be defended against, and lest we forget I had to defend the notion that a drainage ditch was in reality a living body of water that supported a wide array of wildlife, all because we (I) let others define our message.
It wasn’t until two journalists called on the heels of the completed steel wall that message began to change. Questions were raised, and rightly so, that begged the answer ‘was this a justifiable emergency or not’?

Yes it was disappointing to see that the reporting of a four hundred thousand dollar expenditure wasn’t, in my opinion, given the overall attention it deserved. Particularly in light of national sentiment for gross expenditures like AIG executives taking themselves on lavish ‘team building’ retreats at the taxpayer’s expense. In addition to being a news junkie I’m also an idealist who believes the same level of umbrage expressed for federal earmarks and pork should be expressed at the local level.

Was it a conspiracy or maybe just awe at a having a front row seat to history in the making that proved to be the distraction? I don’t know. But what I do know is there was and continues to be an overwhelming sense that our government officials, at all levels, have forgotten their solemn promise to act on the behalf of ‘all’ their constituents.

All I seek from those who hold the responsibility of informing the masses can be gleaned from Dragnet’s Sgt. Joe Friday, “Just the facts, ma'am' ... Just the facts”.