When to recall a foul ball
We see footage of The Star apologizing (Sorry if you were bugged when I grabbed your ass or stuck my hand up your shirt in the elevator) and snarling (Why are these women coming forward now? Isn’t that a bit suspicious?).
A couple of students in my UNR journalism classes are registered to vote in California. One, undeterred by what he’s heard, says he voted for Arnold. Another isn’t voting at all. We talk about voter apathy and sexual harassment and fascism and reports of Rush Limbaugh’s drug problem.
“My parents say they don’t believe the reports about Rush,” a student remarks.
“Well, of course, there’s that obvious liberal-media bias,” I say. “You can’t believe what reporters say unless they’re saying bad things about environmentalists or welfare recipients or public schools.”
It’s all a matter of selective perception. It doesn’t matter what we write or report on the radio or TV. You remember that with which you agree. You reach for stars.
At noon Tuesday, I have lunch with a friend. We talk about work and kids and California taxes. We don’t talk about Arnold or Cruz or Gray. We talk about job pressure, about being disappointed when you aren’t at your creative best as a writer and editor.
“You’re in the batting cage and someone has turned the speed up on the pitching machine,” my friend says. “It keeps throwing balls faster and faster, and you swing at every one, but not every swing is a home run.”
Some people let balls whiz by without trying. That’s one way to try to ensure well-placed hits. But base hits can help the team, and fouls make the world go around.
“We keep swinging—we just keep going because somebody’s got to,” my friend says.
An e-mail forward arrives with a message from writer and media activist Robert McChesney.
“Media corporations are getting bigger, and democracy is losing,” McChesney writes. “Journalism has become dumbed-down entertainment, we are deluged by advertising, and elections have become scripted horse races instead of forums for meaningful debate.”
He makes a plea for concerned citizens to write U.S. representatives about pending legislation regarding the Federal Communications Commission’s decision to make it “easier for media giants to get even bigger.” There’s a link to www.mediareform.net.