Normalizing press relations is a good thing
There was nothing beautiful about the Battle of Gettysburg
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Shortly after I became editor of The Post-Star 25 years ago, I got involved with a journalism organization called the American Society of Newspaper Editors. It was a big-deal organization that had a lot of clout in Washington, D.C.
I helped organize programming at its annual convention for small newspapers and eventually was elected to the board of directors.
The highlight of the annual convention was a speech by the President of the United States. Over the years I saw President Bill Clinton, President George W. Bush and President Barack Obama speak in person along with Vice President Dick Cheney.
As a member of the board of directors one year, I found myself on the dais as President Bush entered stage right. I was the first one to shake his hand.
It was heady stuff for a small-newspaper editor in upstate New York.
While I didn't like most of Bush's policies, I was respectful of the office. I considered him my president.
The fact those presidents appeared before the journalists showed a mutual respect; an acknowledgement of how important freedom of the press was for our democracy.
That ended with the Trump presidency and by 2018, the deteriorating newspaper business model drove ASNE out of business.
It was nice to see the White House Correspondents Association dinner return to some normality in recent years after Trump refused to appear during his time in office.
While some don't like to see the national press so chummy with the current administration, it reminds me that we are all Americans while showing support for those who report the news.
Saturday Night Live's Colin Jost was the host Saturday night. While his jokes about Biden received mixed reviews, his story about his grandfather received much praise.
He said his grandfather, William Kelly, was a long-time firefighter in Staten Island. He explained how his grandfather painted houses and worked as a substitute teacher to make ends meet.
“My grandfather, a Staten Island firefighter, voted for you, Mr. President," Jost said while looking at the president. "He voted for you, and the reason that he voted for you is because you’re a decent man. My grandpa voted for decency, and decency is why we’re all here tonight. Decency is how we’re able to be here tonight. Decency is how we’re able to make jokes about each other, and one of us doesn’t go to prison after..."
Policy matters aside, the two candidates for president are at opposite ends of the spectrum different in this regard.
Later, Biden showed it when he spoke directly to the press members:
“There are some who call you the enemy of the people. That’s wrong and it’s dangerous. … The defeated former president has made no secret of his attack on our democracy. He has said he wants to be a dictator on day one. And so much more. He tells supporters he is their revenge and retribution. When, in God’s name, have you ever heard of another president say something like that? And he promised a ‘bloodbath’ when he loses again. We have to take this seriously.”
It's what the coming election is all about.
“I’m sincerely not asking you to take sides," Biden told the press members. "I’m asking you to rise up to the seriousness of the moment. Move past the horse-race numbers and the gotcha moments and the distractions, the sideshows that have sensationalized our politics. And focus on what’s actually at stake. I think, in your hearts, you know what’s at stake.”
Then, there was this moment at the end that gave me chills.
Biden raised his glass and toasted a free press.
“To a free press, to an informed citizenry, to an America where freedom and democracy endure. God bless America.”
That's what America is all about.
Let's hope we never lose that.
Gettysburg - Oh my!
My son worked three summers at Gettysburg National Military Park giving tours for the National Park Service.
He heard stories about Trump's first visit to Gettysburg as a presidential candidate. More than one person said, "Trump doesn't get it."
Anyone who paid even a little bit of attention during high school American history has heard of Little Round Top, Pickett's charge, and of course, Lincoln's Gettysburg address.
But it was not surprising that Trump's latest visit to the battlefield, nearly a decade after the first, showed even less understanding of the carnage and the significance of what happened there.
Here is what Trump said in April:
"Gettysburg, what an unbelievable battle that was. The Battle of Gettysburg. What an unbelievable ― I mean, it was so much and so interesting, and so vicious and horrible, and so beautiful in so many different ways.”
It was the first time I ever heard the battle described as "beautiful."
"Gettysburg. Wow. I go to Gettysburg, Pennsylvania, to look and to watch," Trump continued. "And the statement of Robert E. Lee ― who’s no longer in favor, did you ever notice that? No longer in favor ― ‘Never fight uphill, me boys, never fight uphill.’"
At this point, Trump quoted Lee with an Irish brogue.
"They were fighting uphill. Wow, that was a big mistake. He lost his great general, and they were fighting. ‘Never fight uphill, me boys!’ But it was too late.”
After I shared Trump's thoughts with my son this week, he responded, "People would tell us all the time `Oh I wish I could have witnessed the battle,' and we always thought that was insane, because it was not `beautiful' it was ugly. It was men being vaporized by canister shot from cannon and beating each other to death with the butts of rifles, rocks, anything they could find. Some local children even lost their lives in the weeks and months after because they would go looking for stuff to pick up and would disturb unexploded shells. There was nothing beautiful about the Battle of Gettysburg any more than there was beauty on the Dog Green Sector of Omaha Beach on D-Day."
NPR troubles
Apparently, NPR's troubles are also financial.
The New York Times reviewed internal documents and interviewed some two dozen current and former public radio executives and discovered that NPR is struggling like so many other media companies with declining audience and falling revenue.
The Times wrote this: "NPR’s traditional broadcast audience, still the bulk of its listenership, is in long-term decline that accelerated when the pandemic interrupted long car commutes for millions of people. The network has begun to sign up digital subscribers who pay for ad-free podcasts, but that business has lagged far behind that of its competitors."
It sounded remarkably like the problems that community newspapers have faced in recent years.
The one bright spot for NPR is that it is ranked in the top five in most popular podcasts, but the audio business is getting competitive now as well.
He said that?
The Poynter Institute's Tom Jones, who follows media coverage, pointed out this political gem last week.
During an appearance on Fox News' "Media Buzz," former Republican Speaker of the House Kevin McCarthy argued it was Democrats who were trying to "deny democracy" which led McCarthy to say this:
"I mean, has Hillary (Clinton) ever said she lost the 2016 election?"
Fox host Howard Kurtz immediately responded: "Yeah, she called Donald Trump and conceded."
Jones described McCarthy's response this way: "McCarthy was stumped just momentarily, made a dismissive sound and then said, `But she never in (the) press said that.'"
Then Jones repeated what Hillary Clinton said the day after the election:
“Last night, I congratulated Donald Trump and offered to work with him on behalf of our country. I hope that he will be a successful president for all Americans. This is not the outcome we wanted or we worked so hard for and I’m sorry that we did not win this election for the values we share and the vision we hold for our country.”
That's what all television hosts should be doing when it comes to interviewing politicians no matter the party. It was nice to see it come from a Fox News host.
Ken Tingley spent more than four decades working in small community newspapers in upstate New York. Since retirement in 2020 he has written three books and is currently adapting his second book "The Last American Newspaper" into a play. He currently lives in Queensbury, N.Y.
President Biden's toast, your son's words and calling Kevin McCarthy out.......all hopeful signs that the tide may be turning. War is hell, we know that intellectually, but to have experienced it firsthand is nothing to glamorize. Trump is a seriously damaged person.
Throughout my limited years on the earth, I have only been afraid in regard to our politicians once. It was during the Nixon years. I was young but I knew that man wasn't right and his intentions were not about what was best for the country. As you say, I respected the office and knew that even though I may not agree with policies (Reagan cut all of our early intervention services for handicapped children), their priorities were not mine but they also weren't their own personal agendas. There is such a stark difference now-so clearly good vs. evil. Just the quotes you wrote from Trump showing his ignorance and nonsensical blathering frustrate me. I think I might need to be placed in an induced coma following the election. With so much on the line for our country, the fall is going to be a bit stressful.