December 21st has come an gone and we are still here. Much was made this past year that the ancient Mayan calendar supposedly called for the end of the world on December, 21, 2012. Seems that was the last day mentioned on the calendar, so that must have meant that the world end on that day. Well, that didn't turn out to be the case as I am writing this on December 30th, 2012, nine days later. But now we are one day away from plunging over the fiscal cliff, with Democrats and Republicans both acting like lemmings, following each other over the cliff with out hesitation. and maybe that is not a bad thing.
The Mayans were predicting the end of the world. Now we may be experiencing the end of the world as we have known it. For the first time in generations, the federal government may have to begin to try to live within its means, even if doesn't want to. Because the current group of Republican and Democratic leadership is so dead set against allowing the other side to benefit from any compromise that might keep us from going over the cliff, they appear to be ready to do nothing, which means there will be spending cuts and tax increases, which they all said they wanted to avoid. The lemming theory is proved to be fact. And as I said this may not be a bad thing.
The libertarian belief of less government is about to get a test, as is the belief that the federal debt must be paid down. The spending cuts that may or not not start in 2013 won't result in a balanced budget or anywhere close to a surplus budget, but the federal government would have to start to reduce spending so that sometime in the near future a balanced budget might come to be. There are two ways to balance the budget, cut spending and /or increase revenues, and we will also be facing higher taxes in the new year also. Can't say that I am thrilled at that prospect, but as long as everyone is paying more, I don't mind contributing my fair share. I would like to see a more consistent tax structure: a flat tax with very limited deductions - the fewer deductions allowed , the lower the tax rate or some form of national sales tax on non food /medicine items would be preferable to our current tax system.
While going over the fiscal cliff, we are looking at all kinds of ways to reduce crime and violence in our country, as mass killings and just everyday murders are on the rise, sometimes to record rates. Additionally, we were facing a major strike that would have shut down east coast and gulf cost ports, so many of the items we use everyday that are imported would not have been available. And in this country, the Mississippi River could be shut down to barge traffic south of St. Louis in a few days due to low water levels, which will affect the agriculture and energy industries in a big way. Not the end of the world as the Mayans predicted, but a major shift in our way of life in a big picture sort of way.
So as Congress grapples with the idea that if we can't do it my way, then we sure can't do it your way, which means that by default, we will do nothing and blame each other for our failures. Let us all be a bit more mature and understand that this allows us to take a evolutionary, or maybe revolutionary position, that maybe we don't really need the government spending money on all the programs and in all the areas it has past. And maybe we can make the tax system a bit more fair and realistic for everyone. But I am not holding my breath. To think that the threat that the world might end would spark some actual intelligent, thoughtful and meaningful discussions rather than mass hysteria and emotional reactions is panacea on my part.
Sunday, December 30, 2012
Sunday, December 16, 2012
The failure of the news media
Friday's coverage of the horrific shooting incident in Newtown,Connecticut has shown the news media for what it has become. A repeater of information that has not been thoroughly vetted and in some instances, just plain made up.
My first career was in radio and television, most all of it in radio or TV news. I graduated in 1977 from Southern Illinois University in Carbondale with a major in Radio-TV. I had begun working at my hometown's radio station when I was 15 and had by 3rd Class License, with Broadcast Endorsement from the FCC before my 16th birthday. This was in the day when you actually had to go to one of the FCC's field offices and take tests in order to get your license to be an broadcast engineer, and in the case of many small radio stations, to be on the air, because you were your own engineer/ board operator when you were on the air. Also at that time there were 3 over the air television networks, plus PBS, and only a handful of radio networks. If your station (either radio or tv) wasn't a network affiliate, you had to rely on a wire service, either Associated Press (AP) or United Press International (UPI), for your non-local news.
The station I worked for was an affiliate of AP Radio News and also an AP news wire affiliate. We had a teletype machine in the newsroom on which the station owner had mounted a closed circuit TV camera. The camera fed a monitor mounted in the main studio so that the on-air person could monitor the AP wire for breaking news. Anything coming across with more than three bells, (a bell mounted in the teletype machine went off once at the end of each article or to announce breaking news), was to be read as it came across the teletype. Major breaking news was proceeded by an apostrophe ( ' ) sign. Each apostrophe sign caused the bell to ring once. Three bells was an urgent message, five or more bells was a bulletin, up to ten bells. As the board operator / on air person we were to interrupt programming anytime we had a bulletin (five or more bells) , and read the bulletin live as it came across the teletype. We were at the mercy of the AP editors to make sure the news we were giving our listeners was correct. And most of the time it was. Quite often the event in a bulletin had actually happened minutes or even hours before. Unless it was something that was being followed closely, such as a vote in congress, a space mission or some other "planned news or sports event". News items did not go out over the wire until they had been confirmed, from at least two independent sources. And after the initial bulletin, the wire usually resumed its normal operation, until there was a update on the breaking news event. This was also the case with the television networks. A news anchor would interrupt normal programming for a brief announcement, ending with a reminder to stay tuned for further developments or to tune into that evenings newscast for the story. Not often did the networks go with continuous coverage of a breaking news event. News people understood it took time to gather the facts, check out the details and to write a clear, cohesive and comprehensive story.
Now we have 24 hour news networks and social media all pressing to present the news in real time, not sometime later this evening. Instead of a story like Newtown being given 10 minutes as the top story in the evening newscast, it now gets 10 hours or more of continuous coverage, which does not give reporters on site, who are on the air almost continuously on a story like this, time (and I will argue that many don't have the training or ability) to actually research the facts and report on the story. They are forced to report rumors, or "facts" that have not been checked out by producers or editors. In my day, unless you had at least two independent sources, you did not report something as a 'fact'. And twitter, facebook and other internet sites are not reputable, independent sources. Nor are other media outlets. Nor are"experts" brought in to interpret or give their opinions on the ' facts' of the story, which leads to more 'facts' that get added to the story continues to be repeated over and over.
We are now finding out on Sunday, that many of the 'facts' of the story as reported on Friday were wrong. But those 'facts' are still what people believe because they were repeated so often that they became the 'truth'.
Sorry to say, this is all too common in today's journalism. Stories are put out without proper research and editing. Unfortunately, good journalism takes time. Its fine to show raw video or sound of a news event, but don't follow it with "expert analysis" offered as 'fact'. Your guess is as good as mine in that situation, because neither one of us is there, nor have we talked to anyone who was. Let the reporters and field producers do their job and develop the story. A network can run a crawl on the screen with the basic known facts of the story on a continuous basis, as you report on the other stories of the day, and come back to that story whenever your resources have new information that is truly factual. I know there is pressure to be first with the story, but in my day, it was more important to be first and to be right than to be first and wrong. You didn't win viewers or increase your reputation by being wrong. As a reporter, if you were wrong too many times (which usually was more than once) or were wrong on a big story, you were out of a job, and probably had a hard time finding a new one. Now you are said to be aggressive, willing to go with your instincts or a risk taker. Sorry, you are still wrong, and that is not the way news should be presented.
So everyone back off a bit, do thorough and honest reporting. Give the story a chance to develop and make sure that before you go on the air, that you know that what your are reporting is correct and factual.
Sunday, December 2, 2012
Life, Liberty & The Pursuit of Happiness
As I said in my last post, I am concerned with the sense of entitlement that we Americans have come to expect. In the ongoing debate in Washington on the "fiscal cliff" there is a side debate over whether "entitlements" should be cut. The fact that "entitlements'' now make up a large portion of the federal budget is a travesty. Many of these were originally started as a safety net, to augment a person's ability to retire or to pay medical bills, or to tide them over between jobs, not to be their ongoing primary source of income or subsistence. People should expect the government to be their long term source of support, unless they are working for a governmental entity.
They should be able to use government support to enable themselves to get training or to support them while they actively seek a job, but it should only be for a finite time. Sometimes a person might have to take a job that isn't their ideal job, but gives them a chance to continue searching for that ideal job. Being not happy with your current situation should give you impetus to improve, not to whine or complain about how you aren't being treated fairly. Again, the Declaration of Independence says we should have the right to life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness. It doesn't say we will always be happy, and in a backhanded, way says, we might never be happy, just that we should have the ability to pursue happiness. My fear is that a whole generation of Americans now look to the government for that happiness. They feel they are entitled to all of their wants and needs being provided for by the government, with little if any pursuit or labor on their part.
This attitude of entitlement is not what made this country great. Most of our ancestors came to this country as immigrants, They may not have known the language or the customs, but they found jobs, sometimes menial sometimes not in the area that they had training for, but they took them and worked to make them selves better. There was a work ethic. They didn't expect and in many cases, didn't want to take hand outs from the government or anyone else. They had pride and would rather do without at the time than to take a hand out. And many of them prospered. The may not have gotten financially rich over their lifetime, but they were able to provide for their families and had a sense of pride and accomplishment as they looked back on their life. They built this country from the ground up. Many immigrants today, whether legal or illegal, are doing the same thing. They come to America because they see it as the one place that will allow them to better themselves and their families. Many work at jobs that "real Americans" won't take because they are too menial or below our status. Maybe its about time we look at our status and understand that sometimes we have to lower our expectations in order to succeed in the long run. In order to climb the ladder, we sometimes have to start at the bottom, and not half way up.
I have changed careers three times in my lifetime. I decided as a teenager I wanted to be in radio. I went to one of the best colleges in the nation for that discipline and graduated with my baccalaureate degree in 31/2 years while working full time at a local radio station. After about twelve years, I came to the conclusion that this wasn't the line of work that was going to be my life's career. I didn't like the way the news business was evolving and was having a hard time finding a position that would support my self and my growing family. After looking for a new position for about a year, I made a switch to food service management and spent a number of years in it. I started to see this attitude of entitlement in that field, especially among a lot of the younger people we were employing. Again, I decided this wasn't a good long term fit for me, and I spent a couple of years trying various self employment routes before settling into my third career path - transportation and logistics. In my current position as operations manager for a local trucking company/ 3PL/ transportation broker, we use independent contractors / owner-operators almost exclusively. I am amazed at the lack of work ethic in many of these drivers. In simple terms, if they don't work, they don't make money. We will offer runs to them and if the runs don't pay top dollar, they have all kinds of excuses as to why they won't do them. Unfortunately in this economy, very few runs are "gravy" runs, but all can make the drivers some money after expenses. But many would rather sit and make nothing rather than work and make something. They don't understand that their truck costs them money everyday ( payment, insurance, etc) whether they are running or not, so an idle day actually costs them money rather than making enough to pay their expenses and some in their pocket. True, many are IC's / owner/operators because they want the freedom to determine their own schedules, etc., but then they call complaining that they aren't making any money, mostly because they have turned down a lot more jobs than they are taken. What's the old saying..a bird int he hand is worth two in the bush.
If you are on one of the government's "entitlement " programs, I'll admit, right now is not a great time to be looking for work, but there are jobs out there, just look in the newspaper or on-line or any number of places. It might not be the ideal job you are searching for, but there are jobs out there. Or take a chance and start and strike out on your own. Not every new business takes a lot of money to start, and yes it might to take some work to get it up and going, but the satisfaction of succeeding will more outweigh the sacrifices you invest in making it a success. Remember, you have the right to life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness, and the pursuit is the hardest part. .
They should be able to use government support to enable themselves to get training or to support them while they actively seek a job, but it should only be for a finite time. Sometimes a person might have to take a job that isn't their ideal job, but gives them a chance to continue searching for that ideal job. Being not happy with your current situation should give you impetus to improve, not to whine or complain about how you aren't being treated fairly. Again, the Declaration of Independence says we should have the right to life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness. It doesn't say we will always be happy, and in a backhanded, way says, we might never be happy, just that we should have the ability to pursue happiness. My fear is that a whole generation of Americans now look to the government for that happiness. They feel they are entitled to all of their wants and needs being provided for by the government, with little if any pursuit or labor on their part.
This attitude of entitlement is not what made this country great. Most of our ancestors came to this country as immigrants, They may not have known the language or the customs, but they found jobs, sometimes menial sometimes not in the area that they had training for, but they took them and worked to make them selves better. There was a work ethic. They didn't expect and in many cases, didn't want to take hand outs from the government or anyone else. They had pride and would rather do without at the time than to take a hand out. And many of them prospered. The may not have gotten financially rich over their lifetime, but they were able to provide for their families and had a sense of pride and accomplishment as they looked back on their life. They built this country from the ground up. Many immigrants today, whether legal or illegal, are doing the same thing. They come to America because they see it as the one place that will allow them to better themselves and their families. Many work at jobs that "real Americans" won't take because they are too menial or below our status. Maybe its about time we look at our status and understand that sometimes we have to lower our expectations in order to succeed in the long run. In order to climb the ladder, we sometimes have to start at the bottom, and not half way up.
I have changed careers three times in my lifetime. I decided as a teenager I wanted to be in radio. I went to one of the best colleges in the nation for that discipline and graduated with my baccalaureate degree in 31/2 years while working full time at a local radio station. After about twelve years, I came to the conclusion that this wasn't the line of work that was going to be my life's career. I didn't like the way the news business was evolving and was having a hard time finding a position that would support my self and my growing family. After looking for a new position for about a year, I made a switch to food service management and spent a number of years in it. I started to see this attitude of entitlement in that field, especially among a lot of the younger people we were employing. Again, I decided this wasn't a good long term fit for me, and I spent a couple of years trying various self employment routes before settling into my third career path - transportation and logistics. In my current position as operations manager for a local trucking company/ 3PL/ transportation broker, we use independent contractors / owner-operators almost exclusively. I am amazed at the lack of work ethic in many of these drivers. In simple terms, if they don't work, they don't make money. We will offer runs to them and if the runs don't pay top dollar, they have all kinds of excuses as to why they won't do them. Unfortunately in this economy, very few runs are "gravy" runs, but all can make the drivers some money after expenses. But many would rather sit and make nothing rather than work and make something. They don't understand that their truck costs them money everyday ( payment, insurance, etc) whether they are running or not, so an idle day actually costs them money rather than making enough to pay their expenses and some in their pocket. True, many are IC's / owner/operators because they want the freedom to determine their own schedules, etc., but then they call complaining that they aren't making any money, mostly because they have turned down a lot more jobs than they are taken. What's the old saying..a bird int he hand is worth two in the bush.
If you are on one of the government's "entitlement " programs, I'll admit, right now is not a great time to be looking for work, but there are jobs out there, just look in the newspaper or on-line or any number of places. It might not be the ideal job you are searching for, but there are jobs out there. Or take a chance and start and strike out on your own. Not every new business takes a lot of money to start, and yes it might to take some work to get it up and going, but the satisfaction of succeeding will more outweigh the sacrifices you invest in making it a success. Remember, you have the right to life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness, and the pursuit is the hardest part. .
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