Newspaper Page Text
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♦ SATURDAY, FEBRUARY 2, 2008
EDITORIAL
Daniel F. Evans
President
Editor and Publisher
Julie B. Evans
Vice President
Giving credit where credit is
due ...not where it isn’t
We at the Houston Home Journal hope you
never see the day when we take credit for other
people’s work.
What does that mean. Well, in particular it means
we hope you never see us take a news release or
some other submission from another source and
put our “byline”, our (personal) “name”, on it as if
we wrote it, as if we did the investigative work on
it, as if we did something other than sit on our butts
and reap the rewards of someone else’s effort.
We're not perfect, not by a long shot, but that’s
not us.
Just for the 'record, here’s how we typically
handle submissions. If we’re pretty much going to
quote the news release verbatim, we put “Special
to the Journal”. Why don’t we use the person’s
“name”/”byline” - especially in lieu of the fact we
just basically said anyone who didn’t was wrong
in not doing so? Well, it’s typically because some
where within the body of the release, you’re going
to need “attribution”.
At some point and time the person who wrote
the release (out of natural pride) is probably going
to start talking about the virtues of that particular
place, event, person, or whatever it is. Along with
that, they’re going to start using sentences like,
“It’s the greatest thing in the world”, “they’re the
best organization anyone could ever work for”, et
cetera (all natural). The key here for us, is they’re
going to start using words containing “emotion”...
“like”, “hate”, “honorable”, and so forth.
We personally will more than likely agree with
them, but professionally, that isn’t how we were
taught to handle it. We were taught to be impartial
- that is unless it’s an “opinion” Diece such as this
one, opinions should be attri’' to a source
“other” than “us.”
That also applies to cause affect. For exam
ple, if someone receives grant money and says:
“This money will enable us to train our people
to be the most prepared team in the state,” well,
that’s probably true but there are no guarantees.
We’d rather you have to answer for it if it turns
out to be wrong than us.
That’s where “Special to the Journal” comes in.
By using that format, we’re typically able to quote
the author (they are typically the subject-matter
expert, anyway) in the actual story. (It would look
plenty odd to give the author a byline and them
have him or her quote him or herself in the text.)
In other words, give the author attribution for those
“opinions”, “cause and effect” and/or anything else
that isn’t a “fact”, and thus take us out of the pic
ture.
“From staff reports” is similar in that the person
just provided us with a bunch of numbers/hard
data and we then had/have to put it together into
a story. Once again, the goal is not to take credit
for their work but to acknowledge (in secret) our
effort in this case, as these typically take a bit to
put together.
So, where is this headed? Back to our earlier
statement actually, but some explanation was in
order. We believe writers should not be putting
their byline on other people’s work. (In school they
call a violation thereof “plagiarism.”)
But that isn’t what we’re been seeing. Because
one news release typically goes to more than one
news-gathering agency (i.e. a release from the
governor’s office will probably go to every news
paper in the state) it isn’t hard for us to tell (you
either, if you’ve been attuned to it) who is and who
isn’t taking credit for work they didn’t do.
In fact, you can try this little experiment at home.
Since most newspapers now put their stories on
line, the next time you see a release where the
governor has done something fantastic (note: In
order for us to be players with our Special to the
Journal it has to have a county tie) do a search
on the web for that particular topic. Then, just see
how many reporters you can find that say they
have written the same article - word for word.
Is it really that important? Well, as far as the
big picture, you’re still getting the story, so in that
sense, maybe not. But for us, it is. It’s a question
of “integrity”. If you can’t trust them to be honest in
this, can you really trust them at all?
HOW TO SUBMIT:
There are three ways to submit a letter to the editor: E-mail it to
hhj@evansnewspapers.com, mail it to Houston Home Journal at
1210 Washington St., Perry, GA 31069, or drop it off at the same
location between 8 a m. and 5 p.m. Monday through Friday
Letters should not exceed 350 words and must include the writer s
name, address and telephone number (the last two not printed). The
newspaper reserves the right to edit or reject letters for reasons of
grammar, punctuation, taste and brevity.
Foy S. Evans
Editor Emeritus
Nicole Crofiitt
General Manager
Don Moncrief
Managing Editor
Peanuts or people
He’s down on his knees, dig
ging in the dirt, and hold
ing the peanut plant up for
inspection. I know what he’s doing.
He’s told me, before. He’s checking to
see if his peanuts are “pegging down,”
which is important for the peanuts
and, I assume, for us, too. I pay scant
attention to what he’s doing.
It’s 1960 and I’m a freshman at
UGA, home for a visit, and still three
years away from my first automobile
- a 1960 turquoise and white Corvair.
Quite a car, even if I do say so! But,
back to the nuts, peanuts that is.
We are on Mr. Tommy Mason’s
property, which adjoins Daddy’s and
Grandbuddy’s, and is being rented by
Daddy to grow his peanuts. The field is
big, at least by 1960 standards. It must
be 25 acres, and is framed by fences,
terraces, hedgerows and Mr. Tommy’s
woods. As we will see, a good wildlife
habitat.
I'know that there are at least three
coveys of wild quail on this property
- Daddy’s (and my Grandfather’s) and
the rented property of Mr. Tommy’s.
I’ve hunted these partridges, before,
seldom killing more than three or four
birds in a season.
Today, I might kill 25 in one after
noon, by myself; but, the ones I now
kill with ease (and I like to think with
some skill) are set-outs or “pen-raised”
birds that don’t require as much hunt
ing - either in the finding or the suc
cessful shooting.
But back to the peanuts, or at least
"Yes, we are making progress here in the South. We are
going to have to get trains, like those in New York and
Boston and Chicago. We are getting there. I notice that
even here, now, most strangers don't speak and won't
look you in the eye (remember when everyone "down
here" waved whether they knew you or not?)."
«J/ Afcil » I
" y tAT (j i u
"It gets harder to find a candidate to vote for, but
finding candidates to vote against gets easier all the time!"
Ha Mars am itabHM Is wm annm
Some a the guys got big bets on
the primary. I got one too, but
I ain’t gon’ tell you ‘til next
week, when it’s all over. Plus for all
I know some of 'em still could drop
out.
They been droppin’ out like flies,
anyways.
I’m bettin’ on a turnout of ‘bout 10
percent, and that’s takin’ into account
that most folks ain’t even registered to
vote, so it’ll be ‘bout 10 percent of 10
percent.
Thass what I alius think when some
big talker says, “I don’ like a one of
'em. They all crooks anyhow.”
Me, I’m thinkin’, “You ain’t regis
tered to vote noways, so you just run
nin’ your mouth.”
If they let hogs vote, I’d a done
registered way long time ago, and I’d
vote as many times as I could turn my
hat around. (I got ancestors in Dodge
County died back in the 1940 s ... they
still votin’ four or five times ever time
the polls open up.)
Larry
Walker
Columnist
lwalker@whgb-law.com
the peanut field. Daddy is down dig
ging and inspecting. I’m up, looking
and thinking.
And, then, I see it: across Mr.
Tommy’s field and Daddy’s peanuts,
at the edge of Mr. Tommy’s pines, is
a deer - a wild deer. This is the first
deer I ever saw outside of a zoo or, per
haps, on television (which would have
showed it in 1960 as being black and
white). I exclaim: “Daddy, Daddy, look,
there is a deer”. And we both look, and
I suspect that Daddy, by then 43 years
old, just saw his first non-zooed deer.
What he said, I don’t remember. But I
do know we were both excited.
Just this last week, I was in Chicago,
Boston and New York. Four days, four
cities: Atlanta to Chicago to Boston
to New York to Atlanta. But, it’s New
York and the Penn train station that
I want to talk about. Let me give it to
you straight.
There we stand in the middle of
that three-level building (trains at
each level) and under Madison Square
Garden where E T. Barnum used to
house his elephants and tigers, and we
watch them (the just been and soon to
Porky’s
Ponderings
porky@evansnewspapers.com
‘Member what I said last week about
some folks bein’ stuck in the Wayback
Machine? My Aunt Porkie Lou says
they ain’t been no good President since
Ike and she ain’t gon’ vote for none of
‘em.
She said, “I don’ like none of ‘em.”
I said, “You ain’t registered to vote
noways.”
So then she got off politics and said
ain’t nobody cooked nuthin’ from
scratch since 1956 either. Everbody
makin’ canned biscuits if they even
makin’ biscuits. Everbody buyin’ they
chicken in buckets already cooked.
She says back in the day, everbody
"One voice can make a difference"
wL
J.
j m
HOUSTON HOME JOURNAL
be passengers) move through by the
thousands, mostly dressed in black or
blue (as in jeans) like so many robots.
No one speaks or smiles or looks
you in the eye (are you some kind of
pervert?). Many have a Blackßerry
pressed to an ear and a bagel in their
other hand. No one’s shoes are shined,
and few, our hosts being exceptions,
have ties. Most look scruffy and tired.
But, move they do, and to work or to
only the good Lord knows where.
This is what we were told: 375 thou
sand people a day on 1,400 trains
(that’s one train coming or leaving,
daily, in just over every minute) or 140
million riders a year! Astounding, even
in modern 2008.
But back to what used to be the pea
nut field - the place where Daddy and I
saw our first deer in the wild. It’s gone
- the field that is. The deer has become
thousands of deer, and the field has
become thousands (75 thousand a day)
of automobiles, up and down Ike’s 1-75.
The quail are gone. Blackberry bushes
providing quail food and habitat will
become Blackßerries sending text mes
sages.
Daddy’s farm will soon be a subdivi
sion, and some people will ride on the
Charles P Gray Blvd. (my Grandfather’s
name and, I might add, a staunch
Methodist) to a Hindu Church that sits
about where we saw the deer in 1960.
Yes, we are making progress here
in the South. We are going to have to
get trains, like those in New York and
Boston and Chicago. We are getting
there. I notice that even here, now,
most strangers don’t speak and won’t
look you in the eye (remember when
everyone “down here” waved whether
they knew you or not?).
I guess it’s all good. But, I’m glad
I don’t have to tell Daddy about that
Hindu church that’s taken the place of
his peanuts. I don’t believe he would
call it progress, and I don’t believe it
would make him happy. But that’s the
way it is. It’s going to be people and
not peanuts.
knowed you got to catch the chicken,
wring its neck, scald it, pluck it, clean
it out, cut it up, heat up some lard
and stan’ over it poking at it to make
sure it’s just right and tryin’ not to get
burnt.
I tol’ her “That makes me right hun
gry. You gon’ make me some?” and she
said, “You can’t find no chicken run
nin’ ‘round no more. Tyson got ‘em all
locked up. It’s ain’t like the old days
when they was runnin’s loose eatin’
junebugs and DDT.
And besides, I got to go play Bingo
over to Rozar Park.
My Uncle Lil Junior he’s stuck all
the way back in the 1940 s and he says
back then everbody knowed everbody
and nobody done locked they doors.
I said, “Yeah, cause dint nobody have
nuthin’ to steal anyways.”
So he ain’t speakin.’
I heard some people’s thinking I’m
Bobby Tuggle. You ever seen Bobby
Tuggle in overhauls?