I am rising right now—for a limited time only—to make an important commercial announcement. It is this:
VOTE.
From the presidential primary all the way down to county commissioner, there are important races for both Republicans and Democrats tomorrow. Good candidates with diverse views across the board. They deserve your attention and a few minutes of your time in the voting booth. Yes, there’s the old saw that if you don’t vote, you have no right to complain, but I think it’s deeper than that. It’s about having a stake in the system and about being part of something that is larger than yourself. There are real and important differences between the candidates, so who gets elected does matter to each of us. But that said, one of the real long-term dangers to our system of government —to me at least—comes from disinterest. So VOTE.
Now, I am putting the soapbox in storage for a while.
Good read: A friend recommended the book Goodbye to a River, by John Graves, which is an eloquent tale of the Brazos River and the history of Texas and life and learning in the 1950s. Part travelogue, part personal journey, part elegy to a vanishing landscape, it is heart-breaking and uplifting, sad and joyous.
Your host is Ken Otterbourg, the managing editor at the Winston-Salem Journal. It's a forum to discuss the media, from
Ken,
I did vote early today.
I know this space sometimes is reserved for criticism of the Journal. I plead guilty to some of it but I think the Journal’s election coverage has been pretty damn solid. I give the journal an B+ and almost an A-. With all the speculation and talk of the problems facing the Journal and print media in general, I actually don’t think the Journal has worthy competition from any of local TV outlets. It’s a no contest and it’s also unfortunate because competition makes everyone better.
I’m fairly new to the area but the coverage from local TV stations before and during the primary cycle has not been, to be kind, inspiring. I’ll not single any one station out and to be fair to all I’d rate them each a solid F.
I would prefer much more local coverage from both the Journal and TV. National & international news is available from so many other sources. I am convinced that local stories done in the right manner by local reporters the old fashioned way by pounding the pavement is a winning proposition that somehow is lost on the powers that be. I only wish I could articulate my vision well enough to the Media General corporate types that for a local shop to be successful it must focus on the local or area coverage first, first and first. Otherwise just call it Media Newspaper Inc. and be done with it.
Rant complete. Please excuse typos.
I appreciate the nice words. And I agree on our shortcomings. Talent and ambition and planning can take you a long ways, but in the end, it’s feet on the street that matter the most—regardless of the area of coverage you are talking about. We have a good crew here, and they work very hard each day. I can be pretty demanding and am occasionally disappointed about what we didn’t get to, but more often than not, I’m proud of what we are able to do.
This is a big day for you and I wish you all the best. It sounds like you and your team are making great strides and many appreciate it. Your community is lucky to have someone so passionate about their work and role in society. That comes through in your postings.
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