Let’s take care of you readers
Is removing metal detectors from House of Representatives wise?
By Ken Tingley
We writers probably think too much of ourselves and what we write.
So before you read another word, let me thank you for opening this email three times a week. Thank you for reading, even if you don’t always get to the end.
The sad reality is that I and many others like me take you for granted.
We need to realize there are far too many people who don’t read at all.
Who are grossly uninformed.
And don’t value our perspective.
So for those of you who try to keep up with the news, who spend some your valuable time reading what I might have to say, you are to be applauded and thanked for the effort to be a good citizen.
Recent research from Reuters, an international news agency, shows that 38 percent of Americans have become “news-avoidant.”
That means one in three of us can’t take it anymore.
We’ve all been there.
We turn away from the latest “Breaking News” alert on television.
We avoid the details of today’s latest mass shooting.
Or the latest accusations of political corruption.
Reuters tells us people believe watching the news is impacting their mental health.
Nearly half of them believe the news “makes them feel worse emotionally.”
Pew Research says that two-thirds of Americans are “worn out by the news.”
I’ve been there too.
Days when I took pass.
When I left the newspaper unread on the kitchens table.
Maybe that’s why I wrote about Rosemary Armao and her trip to see the penguins in Antarctica.
Maybe that’s why I had to write about the documentary about the Mars rover Opportunity. I needed to be inspired again. I wanted my readers to be inspired again, to be entertained.
“Trust News,” a journalism website, wrote about the issue on Tuesday and cited a recent essay by Amanda Ripley in The Washington Post where she asked a question of all journalists: “If so many of us feel poisoned by our products, might there be something wrong with them?”
It made me think she might be right and I wondered what I could do as an author.
Trust News says we in the journalism field have to acknowledge that consumers can find the news overwhelming, depressing and hard to read. The Center for Media Engagement suggests offering solutions to the problems that journalists cover, give readers some hope.
Trust News believes we should tell readers to take the news is smaller doses if they feel overwhelmed. Give readers permission to step away for a day or two without feeling guilty.
Trust News suggests offering context to the news on how it might impact each of them personally. Newspapers do this in tax stories all the time so it is not unprecedented.
Apparently, the Christian Science Monitor puts “value” indicators besides headlines so readers understand which stories will be most important to them.
I’ll go one step further. Perhaps the subject matter has to be more entertaining, a little uplifting and inspirational. It has to be part of the daily diet.
I’ve been asked a couple times why I write about the things I do. Often, it is because the subject makes me angry. Maybe I’m trying to right a wrong. So maybe I also have to choose more subjects that get me excited, make me happy and here is the big one - give me hope.
Somebody has to look out for you readers.
And offering up a little daily hope is a good place to start.
Sunday interview
Had another great chat with Mike Morgan at Adirondack Broadcasting about “The Last American Newspaper,” journalism and Rep. Elise Stefanik.
Morgan wanted to know why I wrote about her so much and why I was so critical.
To hear the answer you will have to tune in to the “Community Issues” broadcast at 6:30 a.m. Sunday on Froggy 100.3 FM.
Rotary appearance
The Glens Falls Rotary Club has invited me to speak at its monthly luncheon on Thursday, Feb. 2 at the Queensbury Hotel.
My first appearance at Rotary Club was in March 1999 so this appearance is long overdue. I spoke last year during the pandemic, but since that was via Zoom, it doesn’t count.
Looking forward to touching base with Rotary folks in person this time.
Possible tweet?
Rep. Elise Stefanik has been so aggressive in her tweets the past month I expected she might try to blame Gov. Kathy Hochul - a Buffalo woman - for the Bills losing in the playoffs this weekend.
So far she hasn’t.
Is this wise?
One of the first bits of action that House Republicans did this month was to remove the metal detectors into the House chamber despite the fact that one of its members - Lauren Boebert - has been open about her intent to carry a concealed weapon onto the floor.
The public is not allowed to carry a concealed weapon into the Capitol.
Considering there was almost a fight amongst members during the Speaker of the House voting, this does not seem like the most prudent course of action.
Rep. Louis Gohmert of Texas and Rep. Andrew S. Clyde of George both had been fined for trying to bring firearms into the chamber.
I think the only time I had to back off on the news was during the aftermath of 9/11. I was watching on T.V., and reading about it in the paper, and I eventually got overwhelmed. Other than that, I want to be informed about what is going on in the world. You just never know when things can affect your life. I see nothing wrong with expanding your horizons away from your immediate space.
I worked in news and media for more than 60 years, so I could write a book...but wait, You 've done that, so I'll be quick. Once upon a time, "news" came in brief bursts, mainly mixed with entertainment in newspapers, but later in radio and tv. Sometimes, news included the details. Now, sadly, "news" is a 24-hour stream of headlines and opinion, delivered at peak volume. It's no wonder some people turn their backs on that. We'll never go back to the old days, so we'd better learn to be more discerning. (The return of the funnies would help.)