Newspaper Page Text
PAGE 4A
BARROW JOURNAL
WEDNESDAY, JULY 27, 2016
Opinions
“Our liberty depends on the freedom of the press,
and that cannot be limited without being lost.
~ Thomas Jefferson ~
Georgia Press Association, first place, Best Editorial Page; first place, Best Serious Column
There outta be a law
News has to
be reported
It seems the reaction by many Barrow
County residents to the events involving
Ron Saunders can be summed up with one
word: shock.
The popular former superintendent of
the Barrow County School System is fac
ing serious charges as outlined in a story
on page 1A of our print edition this week.
The news broke
last week after our
June 20 paper had
already been print
ed so we posted the
story and added
several updates on
our paper’s web
site.
Certainly I was
as surprised as
anyone about the
news surrounding
Saunders’ eventual
arrest. He faces
a long legal road
ahead. It should be noted that Saunders,
like anyone accused of any crime, is enti
tled to his day in court, whether that leads
to some type of plea bargain or a full-scale
trial, he has that right under our system of
justice. We all do. We should never lose
sight of that fact.
One thing as editor of the publication
that I did want to touch on was a few com
ments about our coverage of the story. The
comments were almost as predictable as
the sun coming up once again the follow
ing morning, but they were frustrating the
same. First, when we linked the story from
our website to our paper’s Facebook page,
the first few comments had people ask
ing if the story was actually real. “Is this a
joke?” one person asked.
Let me be clear about one thing right
here. This paper has never, and will never,
post any type of pretend story, especially
involving someone’s real name and photo
involving an actual crime. We have never
done that and why anyone would think
we would have in this case is beyond me.
Yes, the accusations on the surface were
surprising. I will be the first to admit that.
Saunders has been a leader in Barrow
County for years and has been as respect
ed as anyone.
However, for some readers, however few
in number, to assume that we would fabri
cate a story goes beyond any reasonable
comprehension.
Second, there were a couple of com
ments posted to our website attacking us
for even reporting the story. One comment
read: “Once again the local fish wrap is
digging into the private affairs of people.
Ruining a man’s name before he has a
chance to give his side in a court of law.
Whatever it takes to sell a few papers.”
Mike Buffington, co-publisher of this
paper responded to those comments:
“Allegations that someone stole public and
private funds from a public agency is not
‘digging into the private affairs of people.’
As with all arrests, the person charged will
have their day in court to give their side of
the story. In the meantime, we will cover
this issue regardless of who it is and we
will report the outcome when the issue has
been adjudicated.”
Despite the thinking of some, newspa
pers don’t actually throw a party when
a community figure like Saunders faces
trouble with the law. In terms of our work
ing relationship with him, it had always
been very positive.
Even after his retirement as superinten
dent, Saunders was often very complimen
tary of this paper and of myself. Therefore,
we would have no reason to fabricate a
story about him or to rejoice now that he
faces serious legal issues.
However, it is the job of a newspa
per, even local, home-based community
ones, to print the news as it is. Reporting
the news “without fear or favor” should
be the motto of every print publication.
Admittedly, there are some publications
who back off the tough stories if the person
involved is a family member, classmate,
friend or respected community leader.
That has never been the case with the
Barrow Journal.
As mentioned previously, it’s not that we
relish in reporting bad news. Despite what
some think, bad news does not automati
cally sell newspapers. People get tired of
bad news. For us, we’ve always had a
good balance of good and the not-so-good
although certainly the bad will often stay
with you longer than the good. It’s human
nature.
Saunders will have his day in court. If
he’s cleared, we’ll report that. If he ends
up with punishment for his alleged deeds,
we’ll report that as well. It’s the way it must
be, regardless of our personal feelings
toward him or anyone else.
Winder resident Chris Bridges is editor
of the Barrow Journal. You can reach him
at cbridges@barrowjournal.com.
July is a special time in Georgia because
it’s the month when most of the laws
passed during the previous legislative ses
sion go into effect.
This July was no exception with new
laws that allow students to use tasers and
stun guns (but not firearms) on college
campuses and require state licenses for
“lactation consultants,” those specialists
who assist mothers with problems
in breastfeeding.
The General Assembly has oper
ated continuously since 1777, so
you might think that in the course
of 239 years we would have enact
ed enough laws to cover every
conceivable aspect of daily life —
there couldn’t possibly be any new
laws to pass.
But you would be wrong. It turns
out there is always some problem
out there that requires urgent pas
sage of a new law.
An Atlanta TV station sounded
the alert recently on a public men
ace that is endangering the innocent citi
zens of our great state.
That would be the practice of surrepti
tiously positioning a camera in some pub
lic locale so that photos are taken up the
skirt of an unsuspecting female.
The Georgia Court of Appeals has ruled
that because of a glitch in the state’s pri
vacy law, such photos are legal outside the
confines of a dressing room or bathroom
stall.
Naturally, legislators are already jumping
in to declare that we must pass yet another
new statute to take care of that particular
flaw in the state code.
A new legislative session won’t start
until January, however, which means that
“we’re going to have six months or so
where these creeps can run around doing
this stuff,” said state Sen. Vincent Fort
(D-Atlanta).
I don’t know if we need to pass a pro
hibition against upskirt photography but
there are some areas where there really
ought to be a law.
Over the last four or five years, it seems
that every time you turn around some
body is quitting their elected office to run
for Congress or take a new job working for
the state. An increasing number of legisla
tors fail to finish the term to which they’ve
been elected, which means that a special
election must be called to replace them.
These special elections are expensive
for the taxpayers — they can cost as much
as $100,000 to hold. They also take so
long to conduct that citizens can go for
months without representation in state
government.
There ought to be a law that any politi
cian who resigns before their term has
ended will be required to pay the entire
costs of conducting the resulting special
election. The law should also require
them to pay for these special elections
out of their own personal
funds — they can’t use
leftover campaign contri
butions.
Once people find out
that they’re going to pay
a hefty price for resigning
early I think you’ll see
an amazingly large per
centage of them decide
to serve the entire term
to which they’re elected.
Which is sort of the idea
behind running for office
in the first place.
There ought to be a law
that any expenditure of more than $1 mil
lion in public money on a project for a pri
vate business entity should first go before
the voters in a referendum for approval.
This would have applied to those situa
tions where Cobb County Commissioner
Tim Lee and Atlanta Mayor Kasim Reed
arranged to funnel hundreds of millions in
tax funds to build stadiums for the Atlanta
Braves and the Atlanta Falcons. In neither
of those cases were the voters allowed
to have a say on the proposed projects,
which was grossly unfair.
There ought to be a law that lobbyists
who appear before legislative committees
to support or oppose a bill should be put
under oath, just like witnesses in a court
trial.
I can’t count the number of times I’ve
heard some lobbyist tell lawmakers some
thing that everyone in the committee
room knows is not true. The lawmakers
will then pass the bill out on the basis of
this outrageous fib.
If you put lobbyists under oath, with the
real possibility of being prosecuted for
perjury if they are untruthful, you’ll have
a much more honest legislative process.
It may not be as titillating as an upskirt
photo, but at least it will be honest.
Tom Crawford is editor of The Georgia
Report, an internet news service at gare-
port.com that reports on state govern
ment and politics. He can be reached at
tcrawford@gareport. com.
Tired of an
angry world
To be frank, I am sick and tired of 2016. Every
day it gets harder and harder to remain posi
tive and disillusioned to the world that’s falling
apart. It’s hard to ignore the terrorist attack
in Nice, France. It’s hard to ignore the dead
police officers in Dallas and Baton Rouge. It’s
hard to ignore the hatred and violence in the
world.
It’s difficult to focus on
just one of the plethora
of issues we have across
the globe because there
are just too many to
count. Sometimes I feel
this world is too far gone.
Some days I see glimmers
of good like the release of
Pokemon Go, a game that
has been praised for help
ing children and adults
with learning disabilities
to interact with the world.
Then some days, I feel humanity is hanging by
a thread when a mother and her daughters are
stabbed because they were dressed “provoca
tively” while wearing summer attire while on
vacation in France.
Sometimes it’s just too much to take.
We see Hillary Clinton continuously lying
and the FBI acknowledging and admitting she
was at fault, yet she gets away with it. The FBI
exiled Snowden for similar acts, but Hillary
doesn’t even get a slap on the wrist. She gets
a bump in the polls. We see rules of law mean
absolutely nothing anymore.
We see this disregard for the law in the recent
deaths of Alton Sterling and Philando Castile
where protesters have already condemned
the police officers to hang before the official
findings have been released. Protesters waving
signs and chanting they want all cops dead
demonstrate the disrespect for the law. The
dead officers in Dallas and Baton Rouge and
the various outbreaks of violence towards offi
cers in this nation further prove it.
Taking out the anger on those not even
involved in the incidents at hand must stop.
We are constantly told we shouldn’t judge
all Muslims based on the actions of the few
extremists, so why, then, are all police officers
judged for the actions of the few at fault? All
we see in the media are the cops doing wrong,
and in many of these scenarios they should
be prosecuted in the court of law. That doesn’t
mean all cops need to be crucified in the court
of public opinion.
We saw the potential candidate Bernie
Sanders say he stood against the establishment
then cower and endorse Hillary. Though I am
not a Sanders supporter by any means, a lot of
Sanders supporters liked his appeal because
he supposedly stood against the establish
ment. Then these people see him bowing
down to Hillary and wonder what happened to
someone who talked so big against her.
It’s all just a ploy to stop Trump. This elec
tion truly is that lesser of two evils mentality for
many. You’ll have people running to the polls
in droves voting for Trump simply because he’s
not Hillary. You’ll have people voting for Hillary
because she’s not Trump. It’s truly sad that this
is the best that America can produce to be our
next leader. Libertarian Gary Johnson doesn’t
stand much of a chance because this election
is going to end up being two very angry sides
trying to derail one another.
What we have is a very angry nation at this
point. I’d like to hope that it can be salvaged,
but there is just an incredible amount of hate.
We can’t compromise. We might hear but we
don’t listen. We have anger in every faction of
this country. We have angry people who are
fed up and want answers and accountability.
I think every one of us is rightfully angry. We
have a right to be angry at the FBI and Hillary
Clinton. We have a right to be angry that police
officers have stepped beyond their authority
and are not always held accountable. We have
a right to be angry that Trump is the best the
GOP could find. We have a right to be angry
with the politicians who sit in D.C. not speak
ing for their constituents. We have a right to be
angry that extremists are killing Americans.
No one will say that these angers coming
from both sides of this spectrum aren’t justi
fied. What’s not justified is the violence. We all
have very real anger, and I can’t blame anyone
for feeling angry even if I don’t agree with your
stance. The anger proves you are probably fed
up with the same things that I am, but we differ
on the solution.
I wish there was something hopeful and
uplifting to say, but I can’t find the words. We
are living in an angry time and neither side
wants to budge. We have to find a way to
work out our issues calm and rationally, but I
don’t see that being an option at this point. I
don’t have the answers. I don’t pretend to. All
I know is that I’m tired. May we all find peace
and a glimmer of hope because we desperately
need it.
Winder resident Jessica Brown is the staff
photographer for the Barrow Journal. You can
reach her at picsbyjessical@gmail.com.
Barrow Journal
Winder, Barrow County, Ga.
Barrow’s only award-winning GPA publication
Mike Buffington
Co-Publisher/Co-Owner
Scott Buffington
Co-Publisher/Co-Owner
Chris Bridges
Editor/Sports Editor
Jessica Brown
Staff Photographer
Susan Treadwell
Reporter
Alex Pace
Education Reporter
Sharon Hogan
Reporter
Vickie West
Ad Design
Wesleigh Sagon
Photographer
Jessica Payne
Advertising
Tyler Rollason
Columnist
Cathy Watkins Bennett
Columnist
Joyce Jacks
Columnist
Legal Organ of Barrow County
Published 52 times per year by
SUBSCRIPTIONS:
Mainstreet Newspapers, Inc.
$25.00/yr.
POSTMASTER:
Send address changes to:
Periodicals postage paid at
Winder, Georgia 30680
(USPS 025-132)
Barrow Journal
77 East May Street
Winder, Georgia 30680
Email: news@barrowjournal.com
Phone: 770-867-NEWS (6397)
Fax: 706-621-4115
