As one who has read a lot of newspapers for a lot of years, briefly studied journalism in college and even more briefly worked as a general reporter for a chain of suburban Chicago newspapers, the older I get the more I truly relate to his view of “the media”. I think I’m getting “dumb and dumber” until I’m about to give up reading newspapers altogether before I become completely intellectually impaired.
Others seem to hold the same opinion, even in the “over 49 year-old” demographic (that’s us) advertisers all but ignore. At least the Bureau of Audit Circulation that tracks newspaper and magazine subscriptions indicates that circulation of U.S. newspapers continues to decline, dropping almost 3 % during the spring and summer of 2007 over the same period in 2006.
The NY Times says it’s because more and more people are getting their news from the internet. Having watched what one local newspaper, the Tampa Tribune (to which I have subscribed for 27 years or more), and its associated internet website, tbo.com,(which I use as my home page) is doing to a story, I think Will Rogers would be as frightened of the deteriorating state of journalism as I am.
I don’t profess to speak for all seniors. I leave that to the politicians who have the arogance to speak for “ All America” when they’re probably not able to even get along with their next-door neighbors. I can, however, speak for this senior. I don’t believe almost everything I read in the papers. There is always an agenda associated with stories these days following the Woodward and Bernstein revelations over Watergate. Every news-person seems to take on the persona of investigative reporter, yet don’t take the time or effort to investigate. Why?
I could speculate that the journalism schools aren’t doing their jobs. I recall talking to a well known CBS radio and TV newscaster, Neil Strawser, of some years past, who was a history major. He declared to me it was his history background that gave him perspective and not his reporting skills. What do the journalism schools teach in their big buildings now. I’ll bet it’s a lot different than the journalism classes I took which were part of the English Department at a small mid-western liberal arts college that shall remain nameless. (I was asked to leave after starting an underground magazine in the 50’s before it was fashionable to be in the underground. I was also a Republican from Chicago during the time of Mayor Richard J. Daley. Kinda gives you a picture of my early approach to life, doesn’t it?)
Journalism classes taught me to ask questions, questions and more questions, using the five W’s, What, Where, When, Who, and Why, and then write about the answers I got from questioning others, to those questions. Reporters weren’t to express what they thought the “why’s” were. The interviewees were to do that speculation. It seems now, however, journalists are interviewing themselves, not really listening to the answers of people outside the media and quickly coming to conclusions that often prove wrong after time provides perspective. Jumping to conclusions seems to be an occupational imperative for journalists and their readers these days.
A case in point is this story in Tampa, FL, that is creating a national blip on the networks. A correctional deputy of the Hillsborough County, FL Sheriff’s Office was caught on closed circuit video, dumping a disabled man from his wheel chair to the floor of the booking area of one of the county jails. The video equipment was operated by the Sheriff’s Office, since the Sheriff, David Gee is quoted as saying he installed the system.
The original story, appeared on-line, but was written by a Tampa Tribune reporter, Mike Wells. It was a pretty evenly measured piece and to use the Fox News slogan, mostly fair and balanced. The article was, however, accompanied by a copy of the video. The old saying, “One picture is worth a thousand words” makes a video even more compelling and dramatic. Now, enters a new element to journalism, instant videos. The result was 42+ pages of “ comments” by readers of the website, many of them redacted due to their inflammatory, some racist, very controversial nature; the majority calling for the scalp of the correctional officer and blasting law enforcement personnel in general and abusive correctional personnel in particular.
Before lawyers were even hired and had made press statements, literally hundreds of Hillsborough County citizens weighed in on the guilt or innocence of the CO. I wonder what that did to the jury pool in the county when the vast majority saw the event with their own eyes. It’s sort of like the story of the man caught in flagrante delicto with another woman by his wife, originally attributed to various womanizers, including Bill Clinton, and Richard Pryor, who reportedly said, “ Are you going to believe me or your “lyin’ eyes”.(Also a great Eagles song of the early 70’s, by the way.)
Eye witness testimony is notoriously poor in determining the actuality of a situation especially if the scene is a picture or tape taken out of context. The psychological instrument used to determine emotional abnormalities, the Thematic Apperception Test is a classic example of situations presented to people wherein they project themselves, their prejudices, fears, problems, etc., into the scene. It is used by therapists to measure internal psychological difficulties, rather than external actuality. Forty two plus pages of comments showing racism, anti-authoritarianism, and the prevalence of “guilty until proven innocent” attitudes on the internet that caught the attention of “The Today Show” and the “Fox News Channel” is more than an indication of community outrage but an underlying frothing of unrest. This was within 8 hours of the first story appearing. Then all hell broke loose.
Published charges of reverse racism, and sexism (the victim was a white male, the corrections officer, an African American, female) were reported by the newspapers, on radio and TV and on the internet. They were, in turn, further commented upon. Then there followed more articles, more charges and counter charges and apologies by politicians who can always be counted upon to check the direction of the flag on the polls (pun intended) before throwing their subordinates to the wolves.
The real issue is, however, despite the video, as readers, we still don’t know what actually happened at that scene, but the behavior of the press, the Sheriff, and the public (as reflected by the comments on the newspaper website) were deplorable.
Questions abound, truth is not yet known and even if discovered may never be accepted. On the face of it, the CO, at best, displayed a terrible lack of judgment, at worst, to borrow a phrase from Hillary, she is a mean spirited individual, worthy of 3rd degree felony conviction that carries a sentence of up to five years in the state correctional system. What the CO did is wrong, no matter the provocation, but . . . .
On the other hand little is known of the victim. According to one of the Tribune’s editors who was queried about the continued use of “quadriplegic” to describe him, replied, “that’s how he described himself.” I submit this is less than satisfactory behavior from a senior journalist who is charged with providing the truth or at least both sides of an issue. It can however, generate controversy, unnecessary provocation, and, perhaps, unwarranted support for the victim if it proves technically correct but where, practically, he had use of his upper body sufficient to be a threat to the CO.
He, in fact, drove a specially equipped car and the warrant that brought him, under arrest, to the jail, was “alluding police while driving an automobile”. He has other traffic arrest incidents on his record, including driving on a suspended license without knowledge. Were I a CO I would have suspicions about somebody’s personal statement of condition versus their actual abilities, especially if there were any verbal abuse or belligerence on his part prior to the video. The newspaper was apparently not interested in any potential mitigating circumstances even though he was a wheelchair rugby player which is, on the surface, not a sport for passive people, but one where upper arm strength and aggression is of major importance.
The victim spoke of a prior incident involving this same CO in the booking process, for which he didn’t wish to talk details. What was that incident about? What occurred? He, himself, is facing 3rd degree felony charges for the warrant on which he was arrested. Could this be an act of intentional entrapment on his part. Having a Masters Degree from Gonzaga University, in Spokane, Washington indicates he’s not without intelligence just because he was injured in a wrestling match. We don’t know and nobody in the press is asking these questions. I asked some, however.
My several medical sources indicated that in injuries such as these, one’s strength and usage really depends on several variables; site of the injury, prior personality and mental condition, and ability to work with rehabilitation. They also indicated that there are components of depression, grief, and consequent anger over these kinds of injuries. None of this was “investigated” by the Tribune. They were too busy reporting on the CO being arrested. Is this an anti-law enforcement political agenda perhaps. I don’t know! Finally, how did a video of the incident, make its way to the internet, from a secure institution like the county jail? When did it occur? Who was the whistle blower. Why? There are some of those “W’s” again.
Certainly, before final judgment is made, these questions need factual answers. The CO’s defense attorney is well known for his high profile cases and will more thoroughly explore the mitigating circumstances. His task of fairly representing his client under the rules of jurisprudence where a person is assumed innocent, no matter how damning the evidence, however, has not been made easier by the Tampa Tribune and TBO.com. Just the opposite, in fact.
So the question for us seniors to ask now is, if we can’t believe what we read in the papers and the internet news includes people who are even more subjective in their rush to judgment, where do we go to find truth about the world around us.
I don’t have a complete answer but Will Rogers has another quote that provides a direction to explore. He said, “A man only learns in two ways, one by reading, and the other by association with smarter people.” I think I’ll take the latter course and start to listen to people who are smarter than me. That could mean a lot of listening. I may even read something other than the Tribune. There is another paper in town and its circulation has risen despite the general circulation decline. Magazines afford the opportunity to do more in-depth writing and have the advantage of a time perspective. As seniors, that perspective is something we all understand.
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