Only Edition Cranford: Nice Day, Kid's Birthday Next Door Tomorrow
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Only Edition Cranford: Nice Day, Kid's Birthday Next Door Tomorrow |
| VOL I, No. 001 |
CRANFORD, NJ, SATURDAY, MARCH 9, 2002 |
No Cents |
| This is our first edition. Our
editorial philosophy is guided by the idea that not all of the news gets
"printed" by the major outlets. We are only going
to cover some of the news, as anyone who now thinks they may cover all
the news of any one category is deluding themselves. (We already
know they are deluding us).
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France, Spring '99
Patty and Katie in Cherbourg (it was s dark day) |
Favorite Links |
| To get things started much of our coverage
will be gleaned from the "Alternate Press", of which we are a
big fan. And let's be frank. The alternate press I'm
talking about has two objectives: first it believes the major
media has been taken over by corporate interests, and second, I'm only
talking about that portion of the alternate media which isn't dumbing us
down. To that extent, you will see few favorable reports of
much of "talk radio" or those networks which purport to give
"the other side" on these pages
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Why the "News' Dark Time"? It's been the Dark Time for News for a few years now. I date the dawn of the dark times from the birth of the words "Credibility Gap" in the North American dialect of the language we call English. (I'm working on Christopher Hitchens view of Churchill: I thought Sir Winny over-stated the importance of English as language defining the dominant culture). This "credibility gap" led directly to the election of Richard M Nixon, and the subsequent descent of the news media into a media frenzy. It might be possible to pinpoint this precisely to the success of "All the President's Men", the Movie. From then on, celebrity became valued for journalists. Make no mistake my familial roots are journalism and my respect for the field is borne by the notion that most are well-meaning and give their best every day. However, just as in Mozart's day, 90% of any field of endeavor is inhabited by well-meaning people, but only 10% are able to rise above the noise. And enough of the 90 are tempted by the celebrity of the other 10 to seek whatever advantage will give them their 15 minutes. Catalyzing events for journalists were Gary Hart offering the challenge for anyone to "get anything" on him. When that easy feat produced gold, the stampede began. Reporters have won (and had rescinded) Pulitzers for made-up stories, reports from Afghanistan and Pakistan are of "composite" youths, historians are found to be cribbing from their sources. All in the name of celebrity. Thank goodness for the web, where we may seek honest celebrity. Approaching 9/11 Anniversary! Stay tuned dear readers, as your editor will be tuned to as many of the MM outlets as eyes and ears will allow looking for the over-sentimental, under-critical reports of this milestone in our republic's life. Make no mistake, d.r., but your News' Dark Time Editor lost a friend on 9/11, a neighbor and featured on-line Opera buff: billiebobives on that tragic day. My hope that his memory, and the countless thousands of others we lost will be for the cause of showing us how futile the "Fantastic Enterprise" of a nuclear shield would be. Our current administration, with no plan other than "It's going to be a long (non-)war", will miss no opportunity to squander our tax dollars, in the name of patriotism on further Toys for Boys, year round. Watch this space for your NDT editor's review of the coverage of 9/11 + 6.
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| letters to the editor are welcome | hosted by: McGowans.Org |
