Re: [Cal_Boats] Re: Heck of a Front
Information about this incident came via an Associated Press dispatch that mentions "officials," "authorities," and the "Maryland Natural Resources Police." It's unclear if the write-up is from a reporter on the staff of a newspaper member of AP (more likely) or whether it was written by an AP reporter (less likely) who made calls from his/her office after getting a tip from a police scanner or electronically from a public information officer (PIO).
It could be that the Maryland Natural Resources Police simply gave out an incomplete report and, given the hubbub in some newsrooms, the reporter simply ran with what's normally a reliable source for these kinds of on-the-water emergencies.
What would normally be a prime source for sailing news, the Annapolis Capital newspaper, used to have a dedicated sailing reporter. But that was prior to the era of down-sizing. Still, it ran a follow-up last night: http://www.capitalgazette.com/lifestyle/ph-ac-cn-severn-sailing-folo-1221-20161220-story.html
(Note that the DNR's public information officer in this story is Candy Thomson, herself laid off or buy-outted from her water sports reporter gig at the Baltimore Sun.)
Nice to know that there are fans of print journalism on this 'serve. I put many years into it.
Baxter Smith
Baltimore/Long Beach, CA
From: ccampbell cc… [at] lsnm.org [Cal_Boats] <Ca… [at] yahoogroups.com>
To: Cal_Boats <Ca… [at] yahoogroups.com>; Alfred Poor <ap… [at] verizon.net>
Sent: Wed, Dec 21, 2016 7:32 am
Subject: Re: [Cal_Boats] Re: Heck of a Front
On 12/21/2016 9:42 AM, 'Alfred Poor' ap… [at] verizon.net [Cal_Boats] wrote:
Just be thankful that you have a local paper at all. In the near future, they are likely to be written by bots, if they are published at all. It’s hard times ahead for traditional “journalism” and I think society risks losing a great deal as a result.
I'm a big fan of traditional journalism, which mostly means print journalism. I think it was Bill Moyers who referred to local TV news as "a 10-minute crime report with 20 minutes of ads." The newspaper, by contrast, has tried to cover many subjects, and to do so with some degree of objectivity. We have news articles, editorials and opinion pieces, and advertising. They are all distinct and obvious.
Of course, even good intentions cannot guarantee objectivity, an elusive and unattainable goal. What matters is the effort to approach it and to report news events as fairly as possible. By the latter part of the 20th century, serious news outlets had pretty good ethical standards. Those are the "mainstream media" that everybody with an axe to grind is quick to attack.
As an old guy, I have come to realize that the two most important professions in our society are the teachers and the journalists. Pause for a moment and think about where those two come in on the national pay scale.
This is the season when I catch up on reading. On boating subjects, I get Sailing, Good Old Boat, and WoodenBoat. These are not principally news publications in any strict sense, but they do give me news of the specialized field of sailing and boats, and I am grateful for the talented writers who share their thoughts and observations. There are many things that draw me to sailing but one of them is the almost limitless opportunities for learning.
Chris Campbell