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Highlands Today

The Truth Is Too Valuable To Lose

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By BUD MORGAN Guest Column

The Tampa Tribune

Published: March 25, 2009

The newspaper has been the informational conduit in our lives since the beginning of the United States of America. In our nation's infancy, the newspaper was small - as small as one side of one page, but what a colossal impact such a small print space had on the development and preservation of this nation.

Newspapers nestled into the bosom of American integrity and truth, and those honorable qualities guided us from the revolutionary period through the Civil War and into the modern era. Newspapers such as the Rocky Mountain News and the San Francisco Chronicle recorded America's western surge.

From the remote regions of the frozen ice cap of Greenland to the scorching desert of Saudi Arabia and from the war-infested regions of Iwo Jima to Afghanistan, United States military personnel serving abroad have been kept abreast of the civilized world through reading "The Stars And Stripes" newspaper. During the Second World War, street corners witnessed newsboys shouting, "Extra, Extra-Read All About It" as they barked the newspaper headlines of the day. People lined up at newsstands to receive the headlines and in-depth stories of domestic and worldwide news.

At the age of 8, this writer earned the privilege and financially rewarding opportunity of bringing informational delight to his neighbors in the small limestone-mining village of Snowflake, W.Va. He was the sole deliverer of the only newspaper in the village (and in most of rural America, at that time) - the "Grit." For this venture into the realm of capitalism, this newsboy netted the huge some $2.50 per month, however, the joy of receiving the "Grit" was displayed in the smile on every customer's face, and that made the effort worthwhile.

Later, when the family moved to Daytona Beach, this 13-year-old newsboy further advanced his entrepreneurial and social skills by delivering the daily Daytona Beach Morning Journal. Twice a month, the newsboy knocked on the customers' doors and collected unbelievable sums of money (perhaps, an overstatement).

Two famous customers were on the Daytona Beach route. One was a rather reclusive actor named, Montgomery Clift. The other was the famous Penney family (J.C. and his brother, Roswell). Ironically, the otherwise reclusive Mr. Montgomery always paid in person and always gave a substantial tip. The Penney family always paid by sealed envelope and was always absent even the hint of a tip.

Now, sadly, this American icon of courage is being rushed to the emergency room where it will immediately be placed on life-support. Day by day another newspaper faces bankruptcy. Others are experimenting with new methods to aid in their financial survival; however, in the final analysis, all newspapers must depend primarily upon subscriptions and advertising. Both of those essential ingredients are becoming increasingly illusive as newspapers compete for the attention of the information consumer.

Those failed and failing newspapers will not be magically resuscitated by government bailouts; rather, they will be transferred into cyberspace where they will be morphed into inferior form. The reason for such a transformation is particularly unsettling, because it will reflect a growing tendency for American news consumers to sacrifice truth and quality for expedience. The loss will be profound.

Gone will be the Norman Rockwell-like symbolism of newspapers over coffee at the American breakfast table. Gone will be our extended family of characters in the comic pages - characters that have been a pleasurable part of our lives ranging from "Li'l Abner" and "Dick Tracy" to "Garfield" and "Beetle Bailey." Gone will be the comforting smell of ink on warm, soft newsprint. Gone will be the unique elixir of knowledge unfolding within the crinkly pages of researched facts and snapshots of contemporary places, people, things, or events. Gone will be one of the most dogged institutions in the fight against governmental abuse of power, corruption and lies.

Of course, consumers can always access national and international news from radio and television, but those media outlets rely too heavily upon negativity and sensationalism to draw the public's attention. Also, missing from radio and television is the journalistic ethic that places truth above sensationalism and completeness above entertainment.

Newspapers are designed (through sectioning) to separate journalistic news from opinion and ideology. Cable television, for the most part, allows for no such separation. There are people who gain from 75 to 100 percent of their domestic and international news from either the conservative Fox News or the liberal MSNBC news outlets. Do these people really and truly believe that they are receiving factual, unbiased news from Sean Hannity or Bill O'Reilly on Fox or from Keith Olbermann or Rachael Maddow on MSNBC?

When one looks at media survey statistics that indicate the huge numbers of people who gain their news solely from one of these two cable networks, it demonstrates just how dangerously misinformed millions of Americans are becoming. People who are so easily and blindly led down ideological paths pose a real and present danger to the preservation of our democracy.

Newspapers also present bias and a lack of objectivity; however, the difference is that newspapers label their bias viewpoints. It is called, the "Opinion Page." The news portion of a newspaper presents the reader with the good, the bad and the ugly. Like Sgt. Joe Friday of "Dragnet" fame, newspaper writers pride themselves in presenting, "just the facts, ma'am." It will be a sad day for communities and this country if newspapers are allowed to die.

Bud Morgan lives in Avon Park.

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