My kinfolk come from West Virginia, from parts that were pretty wild back in the day. I’ve heard stories about relatives who were undertakers in Elizabeth, the Wirt County seat on the Little Kanawha River.
They drove an ambulance on many a hair-raising ride through the mountains, responding to calls of crashes. And when they picked up a body from a scene, if the poor sod looked dead, they’d just take him back to their funeral home.
No need to bother with a middle man.
Thankfully, emergency crews have to observe some formalities these days. Rules and regulations have been established to ensure that fatalities are confirmed by those with the expertise to do so. A body is turned over to the authorities and released to next of kin, all according to the proper procedures as set down by the people authorized to do so.
We’ve come a long way since those days, with the pendulum swinging toward a more sophisticated system that ultimately protects the people.
This is true for reporters, too. Take, for example, the days of “yellow journalism” around 1895, during the big metropolitan newspaper wars, where they emphasized the sensational over the factual.
According to the U.S. Department of State Office of the Historian on the topic of yellow journalism, “During its heyday in the late 19th century it was one of many factors that helped push the United States and Spain into war in Cuba and the Philippines.”
So much for yellow journalism.
Thankfully, this job doesn’t work like that anymore. In the years since then, journalism has been transformed into a profession requiring skills and years of training and ethical behavior, along with fair and balanced reporting.
As with the wild days of undertakers driving ambulances, the ink-stained wretches of the old days of yellow journalism were transformed into the respected reporters who cover the community, tell the readers what they have learned and then will stand and be held accountable for it.
As our nation’s history is likely to show, the years leading up to this time of “fake news” have, arguably, been the highest and best use of reporters and photographers since our nation was founded.
Citizens have had these community newspapers at their beck and call. Whether or not they realized the power of what they had is an open question now. Regardless, their local newspapers were there for them.
That isn’t the case in many communities now. The pendulum is swinging once again. Now we have AI in our midst being used in scurrilous ways many don’t recognize.
So the need for solid, trustworthy news coverage is greater than ever. Yet every news organization has fewer reporters now and a lot of important news to cover and not enough people to cover it.
How can we turn this situation around?
I can lay out the many challenges we face as an industry, but those of us buried in the daily demands of news production may be blind to the obvious. If readers care about the continuation of local news, how can they ensure its well-being? Ultimately, it’s up to them.
I got a call the other day from a reader who’s worried about the future and he wants to bring Record-Eagle readers together. That sounds like a great idea to me. Once we nail down a date – it will likely be the week of Sept. 28 – we’ll let you know.
All readers who care about the Record-Eagle and local news are welcome to join this news boosters group.
This can be the start of something rare and wonderful, with readers driving it.
No need for my kinfolk and their ambulance here.