ARE YOU REALLY SURPRISED?

BEING LOVED

  It was almost like being in a newsroom with alert bell rings. Friends and former colleagues from around the world forwarded or texted information about the latest poll data that shows America's trust in the news media hit an all time low.

   As a former news director slugged his forward-"duh!"

My response, and in fact the attitude of many veterans of the news wars, is pretty much the same-why are you surprised? Watch any cable net and the morning news programs on the broadcast networks and it's obvious why viewership and trust are down. The product is terrible and getting worse.

    The 24 hour news networks are at their best when something needs covering.  Breaking news, pending votes, onset of disaster or war, the kind of event that needs constant attention.  Remove that need and you have 24 hours to fill and, sadly, instead of deep investigative or explanatory reporting the time is filled with hot air and gas bags.  And it is all done with such hype and breathlessness as to be a caricature of itself. So many of the on air talent are self conscious and self absorbed you'd think it is all about them.  Oh, sorry, of course it is all about them.

    The broadcast nets still offer a decent product on their marquee evening programs, but not as good as they used to be when issues mattered more than celebrity and pop culture.  Foreign coverage on the American nets is abysmal.

Too much of the "reporting" in Washington is recycling the 

spin product of media manipulators.  The current White House press corp is a pansy assed cartoon compared to a generation or two ago.  Dan Rather is reported to have said to a lying and prevaricating Ron Ziegler, "you either talk to me or I'll kick your ass."  That doesn't happen any more.  Heavens, you might not get invited back to the next social.

    The network morning shows are hardly news. How can you justify talking about the latest network drama, or contestant show as being "news?"  Those shows are full of hype, shill, gossip, chatter and drivel.  CBS is trying something a little more solid and I hope it works.

    Broadcast nets with 30 minute evening programs caught in a 24 hour news world where Cable nets talk and hype and puff, morning shows that care more about ratings than information and networks that stake out ideological positions, what do you expect?  So, no one should be surprised by the low confidence and respect level.  They don't deserve respect. 

    And a final thought poached from a friend who has managed presidential and senate campaigns and who has advised major corporations and governors.  Much of the proof of the under performing of the news media is the state of government today.  

    The quality of the House and Senate and their legislative record, the ethics of the membership, the rampant power of lobbyists and special interests all reflect a media that has lost its way. Where is the watchdog role?  Sadly the gruff old watch dog of the public's good has been replaced by a lap dog sitting on a millionaire news talents lap being fluffed and pampered with the same care and devotion that a Khardashian gets.

DAY FILE

ODD GARDEN SCENES IN CAMBRIA

An inventive display area at Grow-a Cambria succulent merchandiser.   

    I know this is a plant holder, but at its height on the cross bar of a fence above a flower bed it looks like a backboard for gopher basketball.  
    See you down the trail.

WHEN LIFE IMITATES ART

IT HAPPENS

      Around America there are running conversations about Aaron Sorkin's new HBO drama The Newsroom.  

     I posted earlier about the superb "ballistic monologue" by Jeff Daniels as a cable net news anchor in responding to a question about America's "greatness." The truth was withering. 

      Episode 2 provided its great moment when the same 

character opened a broadcast and apologized for the failure of American journalism.  Again Sorkin speaks truth.

      Lana asked if seeing the drama made me miss my days as a news executive or news anchor.  It did fire those synapses that John Chancellor, the late NBC anchor, used to call "the fire horse instinct,"  answering the bell.  Seeing the election night scenarios brought back memories of many such nights.  Election night was always the most "fun" and it required a decompressing that only those who have been there can fully understand.

      There were other memories, however.  The battle between the head of the news division and the network president over the network's need to curry favors with congressmen because their votes were vital to the network's business interests. It was a scene familiar to me. Been there and done that. Stood my ground on ethics and common sense.  Further comment would do no one any good, except a few lawyers. Some things I don't miss.

     Sorkin wrote of something conscientious broadcast journalists have said for years.  The news should be void of sponsors, it should be provided as a public service.  That would help remove it from the tyranny of playing to the ratings. Networks and television stations make plenty of money, even in recessions and they can afford to staff and air news without selling out.  Oh, the budget battles! There's another memory.  Something else I am happy to live without.

      It is merely a drama and an entertainment show, but there is truth in this fiction.

DAY FILE

THE ROCKER IN SHADOWS

      As the afternoon light was beginning its transition to 

that magic "golden hour" I noticed how the oak rocker in

my study was being lit and how it was caught in and cast shadows.  A perfect lightbreeze moment.

See you down the trail.

FLASHES-BACK & FRICTION POINTS

A FLASH BACK

     It was on this day, July 9 in 1962 that some of Andy Warhol's 15 minutes of fame began.  The Ferus Gallery in Los Angeles opened an exhibition of the pop artist's iconic work pictured here.

      Hard to believe this "modern art" is 50 years along. And 

a half century seems a long 15 minutes doesn't it?

MODERN TRAVAILS

     Thanks to the NEW YORK TIMES we know our cellphone carriers responded to 1.3 Million "demands" from law enforcement agencies last year. 

      Text messages, caller locations and other information was sought for investigations.  Congress is conducting an investigation of its own on what the TIMES says is "an explosion of cellphone surveillance."

      I read the full 9/11 Commission Report and recommendations  and have followed changes in intelligence, security and law enforcement agencies since. So I wonder, despite the gathering of all of this data, are our security agencies sharp enough to do anything with it?  As a journalist I saw how vital information was mishandled, miscommunicated, not shared, was amassed without appropriate analysis and even misinterpreted by federal, state and local law enforcement, security and intelligence agencies.  I'm not convinced, nor are experts and those in the field, that things have improved much. That does not, however, negate the serious questions the data collection raises. 

      Just another entry in the age of Information Wars.   

DAY FILE

THE SHORE

See you down the trail.

THE WEEKENDER :) IT IS WONDERFUL

IMMERSE YOURSELF

    I can't help myself.  When I see a solitary boat in a cove

my mind starts leaping through, where did it sail from, where is it bound, how did they choose this berth and those

all lead to the perpetual question, what would it have been like to sail into a new land for the first time?

    BTW sailing this part of the California coast is tricky and dangerous, so anyone putting into San Simeon has navigated   some difficult water and shoals.

SPEAKING OF THE WATER

   A dear friend visited from the Washington DC area recently.  Before coming he inquired about swimming in the Pacific. He and I have both shared the Atlantic chill, but when I told him the average water temperature was mid to high 50's he opted out.   Hey Frank-look at these guys-

 --they are either too young to know better or from some 

northern clime, where 59 degree water feels good!!!!

  My thanks to the BBC and several friends who suggested

this video would make a great WEEKENDER :) treat.

IT REALLY IS A WONDERFUL WORLD

Thanks to Sir David as well.

Enjoy the weekend.

See you down the trail.

WILL VOTERS CARE?

 SMALL STORIES- BIG OUTCOME
Political hacks are better than we are huh?

     From the far left to the far right and back, Americans  express dissatisfaction with the "royal" or "club privilege" treatment that Congress bestows on itself. There's more fuel on the prairie fire of discontent.

      The Associated Press got a look at the House Oversight and Government reform Committee report that shows hundreds of discount loans were made to buy influence with members of Congress, congressional staff, cabinet members, other government officials, and executives of the mortgage giant Fannie Mae.

      The giver of the largess, I will call them bribes, was none other than Countrywide Financial Corp who became infamous in the housing foreclosure crisis. Aside from buying favors, they helped pioneer the sub prime loans that helped begin the financial collapse. Big name Democrats and Republicans were on the take.

WERE YOU HIDING THAT MITT?

     Wonder if people will care that Mitt Romney has hidden an off shore investment portfolio for some 15 years.  It's based in Bermuda and has never been listed in his state or federal financial reports.  Sankaty High Yield Asset Investors Ltd is among several holdings that have never been fully disclosed.  

      Romney's campaign estimates his worth at $250 Million so you wonder why they've never included Sankaty. What's another few million dollars of value when you are at the quarter of a $Billion level?  It really shouldn't mean much to anyone unless, like many corporations, the portfolio is structured to avoid tax liability. That might not look good to voters.

      There is no hint of illegality here.  The day before he became Governor the Sankaty holdings were transferred to a trust owned by his wife Ann.

      Now before those of you who are Republicans and/or Romney supporters accuse me of doing a hack job on him-if I learn that President Obama has an off shore portfolio that generates wealth from investments and is beyond the reach of the IRS, I'll make note.  As I have previously when noting some companies that have government contracts are "based" on an Island and thus avoid paying Federal withholding on US citizens in their employ.   

     My point in this little exercise is to note that tens of millions of American citizens don't get the same "breaks," privileges and special treatment of those who have or sell influence.  Nor do most citizens employ teams of tax lawyers who engineer investments to avoid paying taxes. Only the wealthiest among us can afford that.

DAY FILE

JUST UP THE ROAD

See you down the trail.

TRULY INDEPENDENT

HOW DO YOU DEFINE RADICAL

   Today's sentiment was launched by thoughtful observations of Jed Duvall and Stephen Hayes who authors the extraordinary blog The Chubby Chatterbox.

   You can read Jed's thoughts in the comments of yesterday's post on the Gettysburg anniversary observations.

    The Chatterbox, which is linked in the column on the right, got my wheels turning.

   This is always a day of melancholy. On the one hand it prompts a childhood sense of joy and delight. On the other it recalls true patriotism, devotion and sacrifice adjoined to how we modern Americans regard the day as little more than a reason to eat, drink, be merry and watch bombs that sparkle instead of those that have more lethal outcomes.

    After all is said, I come down on the thought that more than anything this is a day that should celebrate conviction and principle. John Adam's did not attend 4th of July celebrations, despite his contribution to our birth. He did not because he noted the Declaration was "declared" on July 2nd and he thought that should be the day of observation. The formal declaration was adopted on the 4th, but the actual separation from England occurred on the the 2nd.

The Second Day of July 1776, will be the most memorable Epocha, in the History of America. I am apt to believe that it will be celebrated, by succeeding Generations, as the great anniversary Festival. It ought to be commemorated, as the Day of Deliverance by solemn Acts of Devotion to God Almighty. It ought to be solemnized with Pomp and Parade, with Shews, Games, Sports, Guns, Bells, Bonfires and Illuminations from one End of this Continent to the other from this Time forward forever more. You will think me transported with Enthusiasm but I am not. I am well aware of the Toil and Blood and Treasure, that it will cost Us to maintain this Declaration, and support and defend these States. Yet through all the Gloom I can see the Rays of ravishing Light and Glory. I can see that the End is more than worth all the Means. And that Posterity will tryumph in that Days Transaction, even altho We should rue it, which I trust in God We shall not. (The Book of Abigail and John: Selected Letters of the Adams Family, 1762-1784, Harvard University Press, 1975, 142).

That is an example of the American spirit. 

JULY 4TH REFERALS

If you have not seen the Gettysburg post

from yesterday,Here is an easy link 

And a true reprise-worth considering again-

A UNIQUELY AMERICAN DAY

Do your self a great favor today.

Take a couple of minutes to read

the Declaration of Independence by linking here.

Here's something to add to your conversation at a barbecue or party today.

Two of the framers and signers of the Declaration

John Adams and Thomas Jefferson, the second and third 

Presidents of the US, died on July 4th 1826, the 

50th Anniversary of the signing.

Both men had been ill.  Jefferson asked his doctor

"Is it the Fourth yet?"

"It soon will be," Robley Dunglison replied.

Later Jefferson awoke to say,

"I resign my spirit to God, my daughter to my country."

Adams was asked if he knew what day it was.

"Oh yes.  It is the glorious Fourth of July. It is a great day. It is a good day. God Bless it.  God Bless you all."

He lapsed into unconsciousness. Later he awoke and said

"Thomas Jefferson.  Thomas Jefferson survives."

Actually Jefferson had died a couple of hours earlier.

It remains an amazing coincidence that the two men, infirmed and dying  held on to life until the 50th Anniversary of perhaps America's greatest day.

Happy Independence Day!

See you down the trail.

THE HISTORY THAT SHOULD BE TAUGHT

THIS TOO SHOULD BE REMEMBERED

     If you are like most, your knowledge of the Civil War is hazy or, if of a certain age, almost non existent.  Such is the sad state of how, all too frequently, history is or was taught.  
     The Gettysburg Address can be recalled by most. And most history lessons recall the Battle of Gettysburg and Pickett's charge, where on the last day of the battle Robert E. Lee ordered a confederate charge by 12,500 men, one half of whom were killed or injured.
     I've thought the history lessons were incomplete.

 This scene from July 3, 1913 is symbolic of a history lesson that is sadly under appreciated.  This is from the 50th Anniversary of the historic Battle of Gettysburg.

         53 thousand Civil War veterans, Blue and Gray, gathered to remember the terrible battle and days of fighting.
In the scene below, from the Gettysburg living history site, Pickett's Charge is memorialized by re-enactment of those who were there 50 years before.  
      On July 3rd, 1913 Union vets took positions on Cemetery Ridge and watched as the former Confederates came from the woods of Seminary Ridge.  This time when they came together they embraced in brotherly love.

 And why isn't this astounding moment being taught?

 This is from the 75th and final reunion and memorial, July 3 1938. The average age of the vets was 95, still 2000 men made the pilgrimage and again, embraced in unity, a final act of closure of the time when this nation tore apart and made war on itself.

    Even if history books, lessons and other media barely make note of those other historic 3rds of July, we note it here.

A POWERFUL VIDEO

Thanks to film and YouTube

here is a short but lasting remembrance of the

extraordinary final reunion.

   More images and information are available at                Gettysburg.com's 75th Anniversary site.

   Haunting and important moments to keep in mind as you prepare for and celebrate the 4th.

    See you down the trail.