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BARROW JOURNAL
WEDNESDAY, SEPTEMBER 21, 2011
Opinions
Georgia Press Association Best Editorial Writing 2010, 2011
Best Serious Column Writing 2011
Chris Bridges, editor • Email: cbridges@barrowjoumal.com
our views
A fair warning to bloggers for civility; apathy a problem, too
T HERE are a lot of important issues
facing Barrow County. The county
government is in turmoil due to inef
fective leadership; businesses are hurting in
the economic downturn; the school system
confronts some major challenges in academic
achievement; and the county’s largest town and
county seat, Winder, seems to be in a period of
economic and leadership stagnation.
In the coming weeks, county voters will have
a chance to address some of those problems.
Voters will get a chance to change the coun
ty government to a county manager system
from its current strong-chairman system. And
Winder residents will get a chance to overhaul
city leadership at the ballot box.
And yet, for all of these important issues hang
ing in the balance, too many Barrow Countians
are focused on petty and personal issues, or
they’re totally disengaged from what’s happen
ing around them.
That disconnect became very clear in the last
few weeks as comments by bloggers to our bar-
rowjournal.com newspaper website have taken
an even uglier tone than usual.
Last weekend, I posted a note to our bloggers
on the website calling for more civility in their
comments and for bloggers to stay on topic
with the story rather than wandering off into
unrelated issues. We get thousands of visitors
a week to the barrowjournal.com website and
what bloggers portray there is often the worst
side of Barrow County.
Alas, it didn’t take long for the blogging com
ments to my request for civility took on some
ugly comments and wandered off topic.
So much for my appeal to the angels of man’s
better nature.
Certainly, we have some ugly comments on
the websites of the other newspapers we pub
lish in the area. But nothing compares to the
vile, inane and insipid commenting that has
become routine in Barrow County.
I’m all for open discussion and debating.
I’m always suspicious of government agencies
where there is never any dissension or seri
ous debate. I embrace the concept that from
the arena of debate comes the best decisions.
Pretending there are
no problems and
holding hands while
singing together
doesn’t reflect the
real world.
Unlike many of my
colleagues, I don’t
really have a prob
lem with people
posting comments
behind a veil of ano
nymity. While I don’t
give much credibil-
ty to those who don’t
have the courage to
use their real names in comments, I do have
a respect for some of the ideas they express.
If you recall American history, it was a group
of men dressed as Indians who anonymously
threw tea in the Boston Harbor as a protest to
British rule.
But as one colleague also reminded me in
this debate, it was also men dressed anony
mously in white hoods and robes who terror
ized and murdered Jews and blacks in this
nation at one time.
So the veil of anonymity can be used for good
and bad. Today in Barrow County, that veil is
often being used in ways that remind me more
of the KKK than of our Founding Fathers.
And frankly, I’m tired of it. We provide an
open forum for people to debate important
community concerns and that forum is increas
ingly being hijacked by screwballs and small
minds whose comments foam at the mouth.
These people are engaged to the point of
obsession.
So we’re going to aggressively delete ugly
comments until the blogging community
begins to police itself. If you want to make vile
and personal attacks on others, then start your
own blog site and have at it. But you won’t have
an open stage with the Barrow Journal from
which to spew your garbage. We’ve been liberal
in allowing comments, hoping that the more
vile bloggers would get bored and move on.
They didn’t and the delete button is my new
friend.
But perhaps just as bad as those nutty blog
gers are those in the community who just don’t
care, people who are mostly disengaged. For
all the intense coverage of events in Barrow
County, there is a large degree of apathy in
some areas. Many citizens appear to just tune
out any kind of public discussion.
Perhaps that’s due in part to the nature of
the community where so many people live, but
commute to work elsewhere. They have a bed
in Barrow, but their focus and time is spent in
other places.
This disengagement appears to be espe
cially true with newer residents to the county.
The divide between these “newcomers” and
Barrow’s “old-timers” is wide. The integration
of Barrow’s new residents into the political,
social and cultural fabric of the county has
been slow. One’s pedigree of nativity and
family connections continues to play a large
role in the political and social structures of the
community.
Whatever the reasons, there is a deep dis
connect between some Barrow residents and
the larger community they live in. That’s a very
unhealthy situation. No new leadership will
grow unless it is cultivated and today, those
fields appear to be fallow.
So to all the bloggers a fair warning: Keep it
clean and on topic, or you will be deleted.
And to all of those who are disengaged with
the community, we need your voices to be
heard, too.
Mike Buffington is co-publisher of the Barrow
Journal. He can be reached at mike@main-
streetnews.com.
mike
buffington
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Keeping it all in perspective
“Perspective: the capacity to view
things in their true relations or rela
tive importance. ” - Webster’s dic
tionary
THIS PAST week has been a mess.
The story I helped write for this
paper (it had already been covered
nationally and internationally) about
the pageant mom who dressed her
three-year-old daughter like a hooker
from a movie caused a firestorm of
online comments. Some were pro:
some were con; some were angry
and/or incoherent; some were just
downright mean. And some of them
were about me, personally. Ouch!
Then, my washer broke - not fix-
able; time for a new washer. Then
the front tire of my car shredded on
the way to Atlanta; time for new tires.
(All four had been bald for a while,
so the good Lord and the angle of the
interstate were looking after me by
getting me to my destination without
an accident.)
Then Mr. Clark made some exqui
site concoction of olive oil, eggplant
and who knows what else that
clogged up the disposal and kitchen
sink pipes so badly that four bottles
of extra strength Draino, a new super
industrial plunger and some kind of
toxic professional-grade sludge from
the hardware store did not unclog
it. I haven’t had a kitchen sink for
almost three days now; the dish
washer is full of dirty dishes; there
are dishes stacked all over the coun
ter. A plumber is rumored to be on
the way, but no sign of him yet...
Last night, as I was trying to get
my stories for this week done, my
internet gave out - or it might be my
ancient computer - or it might be the
black box that talks to the internet - or
it might be a cable that runs from the
black box to
my computer -
or, who knows
what else. All
attempts at
diagnosis suc
ceed for a few
minutes - just
long enough to
get my hope up;
then “Crash!”
again. Rumor
has it there is
also supposed
to be an Internet technician on the
way. No sign of him yet either; maybe
he’s having a long leisurely lunch
with the plumber...
Since life without the Internet is
unlivable in the newspaper business,
off to the office I go to displace one
of my coworkers and get the stories
that have to be done this morn
ing done. On the way, in the mist,
I discovered one of my car wind
shield wipers doesn’t work - yep, the
driver’s side. Did I mention what a
great time I’m having? When it rains,
it pours, literally.
Step back; take a breath. One of the
stories I had to get done was about
an elderly man who lives in a hos
pice and wanted to go fishing one
last time. He has fished his whole
life (or “fed the fish” as he says) and
loves it. “Nothing quite like a day on
the lake,” he says....So, the hospice
people arranged a trip to the lake at
Fort Yargo State Park for him and the
folks at Camp Twin Lakes out there
helped make it a fine day of fishing.
When I went to photograph this
event I was still caught up in the pag-
eant-toddler-hooker-costume mess,
so mentally, I wasn’t really there. But,
as I looked at the pictures I took and
started to write the story, the reality
and poignant beauty of something
as simple as that fishing trip started
to sink in and by the time I finished
writing the story I was in tears.
How can I be feeling so sorry for
myself over a bunch of things like no
dishwasher and no Internet? Shut up
and go wash the dishes in the bath
tub. There are people in this world
who simply want one more fishing
trip...just one more fishing trip. How
self-centered and clueless do I need
to be?
The man’s name is C.L. Bennett.
He is a tall man, well-dressed - car
ries himself proudly in spite of the
wheel chair he uses. For the fishing
trip he sported a windbreaker, a hat
with his initials on it, his pole and a
tackle box full of things that might
prove useful. His illness has cost
him an arm and he is on oxygen,
but you wouldn’t notice any of that
if you watched him fish. The love of
the lake and the wind and the act
of casting that line lit up his face. It
was obvious - C.L. really does love
to fish.
The part of the lake we were at
seemed to only have brim and they
were crafty about stealing his bait.
But he caught one or two, and threw
them back, and clearly had such a
good time.
As I looked at the pictures and
wrote the story, I could hear his
low, soft voice saying how much he
wanted to catch a fish and later, what
a good day it was. I remembered his
warm, ready smile and his laughter
at the fishing jokes the men from
the hospice and Camp Twin Lakes
told as they all fished. And, I remem
bered how well-blessed I am to have
my health, my (relative) youth and
the money to pay for the things that
need to be fixed.
Perspective...it’s all about perspec
tive; when I lose that, I get pretty
lost. Who would think clarity would
return on a fishing trip - to a person
who doesn’t fish.
Lorin Sinn-Clark is features editor of
the Barrow Journal. She can be reached
at lorin@barrowiournal.com
The Barrow Journal
Winder, Barrow County, Ga.
www.BarrowJoumal.com
Mike Buffington Co-Publisher
Scott Buffington Co-Publisher
Chris Bridges Editor
Susan Norman Government News Editor
Lorin Sinn-Clark Features Editor
Susan Treadwell Advertising Manager
Susan Mobley Office Manager
Jeremy Ginn Marketing Manager
Jessica Brown Photographer
Katie Cofer Reporter
POSTMASTER: Send address changes
to: The Barrow Journal, 77 East May
Street, Winder, Georgia 30680
Published 52 times per year by
Mainstreet Newspapers, Inc.
Periodicals Postage Paid at Winder, Ga.
Email: news@barrowjournal.com
Phone: 770-867-NEWS (6397)
Fax: 678-425-1435
SUBSCRIPTIONS:
Inside Barrow County $15.50/yr
Senior Citizens in Barrow $13.50/yr.
Surrounding Counties $19.75/yr.
Other In-State $38.85/yr.
Out of State $44.50/yr.
Military/APO $42.50/yr.
Out of county Senior Citizens Deduct $2
Naps join football
on current scale
of importance
IF THERE’S one thing I’m passion
ate about it’s
football.
I literally
eat, sleep and
breathe it. If
it’s not foot
ball season,
I long for it
to get here.
When the
season starts,
I find myself
depressed that
it will all soon
be over. I know the official season
lasts for months, but that’s not long
enough when you are as addicted
as I am.
Growing up in the South helped
make me the passionate fan that
I am. However, I’m sure not all
Southerners worship the gridiron as I
do. It’s just something about football
that I don’t think I could do without.
It doesn’t really matter if it’s high
school, college or pro. I’ll need it all.
I reached a milestone last May
when I turned 40. While my pas
sion for football has not decreased, I
often find it more difficult now to stay
awake during the games like I could
20 years ago.
This past Friday night had me
driving from my home in Winder
to a high school game in Conyers.
The 40-something miles to the sta
dium was not a great distance by any
stretch. I’ve certainly gone on longer
road trips for Friday night action.
I was looking forward to this ven
ture, not just because of the game,
but because Conyers, once upon a
time, was something of a hangout for
me. During my late teen years and
into my early 20s, there is no telling
how many Saturday nights I spent in
that city. From eating out to going to
literally hundreds of movies, it almost
became a second home.
Two decades later, the scenery in
Conyers had changed in some ways.
There was more traffic, of course,
and the old movie theatre is no lon
ger there. The enthusiasm for the trip
lasted until the game was over and
then I faced the trek back. Even with
the traffic not as bad, it seemed like
it took forever to get home. Another
long week of work plus being on
my feet at the stadium for three-plus
hours had taken their toll on this ever-
aging newspaperman.
By the time the college games were
on Saturday, I found myself prone on
my couch. Despite my best efforts to
not drift away, I could not stay awake
and ended up taking a two-hour nap.
My better half, who doesn’t mind
my fixation with football or naps,
was still reading newspapers when I
woke up. The team I was pulling for
had built a commanding lead and I
had every intention of getting off the
couch for something to drink but a
funny, although not completely unex
pected, thing happened. I was back
asleep and only woke up as Florida
and Tennessee were taking the field
for the SEC game of the week.
This has pretty much become my
Saturday routine these days. Work
many hours during the week, go
to high school football games on
Friday night, “watch” college football
on Saturday while dosing. I confess
there was a time when I would have
never dreamed of taking a nap while
a football game was on.
I guess that’s what happens when
you reach 40. The mind is willing but
the body often cannot keep up.
As I look forward to another
Saturday full of football, maybe I
won’t find the need to drift away this
time. In reality, I know better. That
Saturday afternoon nap helps me
recover from the previous five days
of grueling work. At this point, I’m not
sure I could make it without one.
Oh to be 19 again and cruising the
city where I used to roam. Oh to be
19 again and not feel the need to take
a nap — not just on Saturday but every
day of the week. I need that fountain
of youth now more than ever.
Chris Bridges is editor of the
Barrow Journal. You can reach him
at cbridges@barrowjournal.com.