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Page 19 September 10, 2023
Commentary
StarNews / StarNews Online
www.starnewsgaonline.com
“Not just what happened, but what matters”
Susan m. horn
EDITOR/PUBLISHER
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“Unpublishing The (Online) News”
versus “Forever In Print: Professional
Reporters And Editors At Work”
I read The Washington Post’s
August 28, 2023 print edition news
story concerning Fox News’ published
online digital news story (a month
prior) that claimed a fallen Marine’s
family had to cover the $60,000 cost of
transporting her remains home. This
story was not tme. Her family did not
incur any financial cost. U.S. Marine
Corps challenged the Fox News online
story. Fox News said it apologized to the family for its “erroneous article”,
and then Fox simply .... removed the online published digital story
and then did nothing. No retraction story or correction story was
published. No apology was published to their online readers. The false story
was simply Unpublished.
Unpublishing The (Online) News is a frightening fact. The ability to
easily and immediately do a “un-do” or “re-do” encourages a carelessly lazy
approach to (online) reporting. The ability to erase a false story from sight
does not erase the falsehood from the minds of innumerable online readers
who carry that story forward. And, please note: erasing is not a retraction.
I wonder what the current percentage is for unpublishing online news?
Probably high. There’s no downside for doing that. I wonder what the
current percentage is for online news organizations to post retraction,
correction, or apology stories? Probably low, as the downside for admitting
mistakes - caused by your not reporting and/or editing responsibly - is quite
high. Your reputation, which directly relates to income loss or gain, can be
damaged. And competitive online news organizations too often scramble to
be the first to publish in order to build that reputation, working furiously to
beat out others and claiming ‘wins’ by posting first, literally by minutes.
And, why care if what’s hastily and prematurely published has an error, or
two, or isn’t true at all? Just go in and edit it later, or unpublish it.
Unpublishing the online news is a serious threat to the Freedom of the
Press. In the physical print world - what I dub “Forever In Print:
Professional Reporters And Editors At Work” a published newspaper on
newsprint - if an error does publish, a retraction or corrected story along
with an apology is expected in the next physically published edition after
said error is discovered. Physically printed news has a far greater standard
for accuracy than online news publications. Once a newspaper prints, it is
there, forever, in print. There’s a copy out there somewhere ready to be read,
again. Libel and slander are far easier to prove in a court of law if the proof
is physically in the hands of the libeled and slandered. Yes, we in the
newspaper print industry take the utmost care in reporting and editing.
Thank you, thank you to new and renewing subscribers!: The
StarNews subscription drive continues! I notice that the “Two Years for
$35” is our most popular choice for new and renewing subscribers. I extend
heartfelt appreciation! Some of you I mention here today: Denise
Shackleford, Evelyn Green, Carter Graff, Daniel Denney, Lois Ebensberger
(thank you for your note!), Jean Wright, The Whitesburg Public Library,
Bruce Lyon, Sharon Tisinger, Mary Watson, Bianca Forber, Dan H.
Williams, Jackie Pate, Ann Crowell (thank you for the kinds words, Mrs.
Crowell), Larry Baswell, Randa Harris, Betty Jane and Roger Landers
(thank you for the nice note and encouragement, Mr. and Mrs. Landers),
Virginia Kendricks, Frank Jones, James Oakes, Robert Lyle, E.A. Head,
Gary Castleberry, Bob Rhodes, James C. Williams, Nancy Parker (thank
you so much for the compliments!) and Shirley Spannknebel - out of space
to mention others - THANK YOU! Please subscribe to support the only
locally owned and operated newspaper in Carroll County, Georgia.
With this edition, the StarNews masthead includes a new tagline (slogan):
“A FREE INDEPENDENT NEWSPAPER IS VITAL TO A FREE
COUNTRY”. Yes, it is. To subscribe, see mail-in box on Page 24.
14th Amendment: clarification needed on extent of birthright citizenship
“Nobody is talking about repealing
the 14th Amendment, or taking away
anyone’s citizenship. Nor must we
amend the Constitution. But the court
needs to clarify the extent of
birthright citizenship. It should do so
as a part of a clear and meaningful
policy concerning immigration,
naturalization, and citizenship that is
consistent with the core principles
and highest ideals ofthe United
States. ” - Matthew Spalding Director
of the B. Kenneth Simon Center for
American Studies at the Heritage
Foundation
The 14th Amendment of the
Constitution appears frequently in
political talking points on issues that
are far away from the original intent,
like the right to privacy, abortion,
voter discrimination, gender affirma
tion, and even the national debt.
Section Three may even be used in
the near future to keep the Republican
Presidential frontrunner out of the
2024 election. However, only looking
Travis
PITTMAN
GEORGIA TECH
Beta Theta Pi
tpittman4787@comcast.net
at Section One of the five sections
today.
Any legislation that is broad and
sweeping needs to be evaluated in the
context of the historical setting and
comments by the original authors.
After the Civil War (I may address
that title later) and the ratification of
the 13 th Amendment, some southern
states had yet to recognize black
Americans as citizens. Southern con
structs such as the “Black Codes,”
“Jim Crow Laws,” and “agrancy
Laws” were meant to keep black
Americans enslaved in everything but
name. The 14th Amendment put
some teeth into the Civil Rights Act
of 1866, which gave black men the
ability to be self-governing citizens
with access to both state and federal
legal systems. The Act brought an end
to the laws which kept them from
forming contracts, being employed,
and owning property.
Section One consists of three broad
and sweeping clauses:
1. The Privileges and Immunity
Clause: “All persons bom or natural
ized in the United States, and subject
to the jurisdiction thereof, are citizens
of the United States and of the state
wherein they reside.
2. The Due Process Clause: “No
state shall make or enforce any law
which shall abridge the privileges or
immunities of citizens of the United
States; nor shall any state deprive any
person of life, liberty, or property,
without due process oflaw...”
3. The Equal Protection Clause:
See TRAVIS PITTMAN page 23
“Enforcement works” and other news from a student of immigration
Here are a few items from the
“what you likely didn’t see in ‘the
news’” file from someone who stud
ies immigration related matters and
the organized crime of illegal immi
gration every day.
It seems New York City public
schools don’t know what the plan is
from Biden’s Department of
Education Plan to handle nearly
twenty thousand “migrant” children.
Apparently, there are about that many
kids in temporary housing who are
enrolled in the city school system -
the overwhelming majority of whom
are ‘asylum seekers.’ Most have no
vaccination records.
It’s a view of what’s coming all
over the country. Public school sys
tems in America are about to experi
ence the cost of Biden’s open bor
ders, after the arrival in the last few
months of hundreds of thousands of
migrants with kids and unaccompa
nied minors allowed to cross the bor
der with Biden’s illegal parole.
D.A.
KING
PRESIDENT
The Dustin
Inman Society
404-316-6712
Providing classrooms, lunches,
aides, and services will require a plan.
And it looks like there is no plan -
merely blind power driving the open
borders agenda to fill the country
with future Democrat voters. By the
way, the oft-used tenn ‘asylum seek
ers’ was concocted by the left to
avoid use of the tenn “illegal alien” -
same for “migrants.”
The topic of schools and illegal
immigration brings to mind the latest
“school choice” bill (SB233) pending
in the Georgia House. The language
of the bill does not exclude illegal
alien “parents” from filing an applica
tion or participating in the administra
tion of the proposed new state grant.
Most conservative Georgians do not
want illegal aliens to be able to apply
for any non-federally mandated bene
fit, direct the destination of state
funds, be reimbursed for out-of-
pocket expenses, or serve on a “parent
review” committee that would judge
eligible expenses. Readers may want
to ask about it.
August statistics from the Georgia
Department of Corrections tell us that
there are 1547 “criminal illegals” with
ICE detainers in the state prison sys
tem: 181 of them are there for murder
in Georgia; 166 are there because they
were convicted of rape in Georgia;
and 348 for child molestation in
Georgia. See the entire list at
NewDustinInmanSociety.org. Not all
of the illegal aliens in the system have
detainers.
For the curious, my friends at the
respected immigration sanity group
NumbersUSA in Washington have a
See D.A.KING page 23
Georgia Legislature needs to address lawsuit abuses
Tiger
joyce:
PRESIDENT
American Tort
Reform Association
w Hunter
LOGGINS
GA STATE
DIRECTOR
National Federation
lot Independent
Business
Governor Brian Kemp announced
recently that legal reform will be a
top priority of his administration
moving forward. The governor
astutely pointed to the ease of filing
abusive lawsuits causing insurance
premiums to surge. This shift burdens
hardworking Georgians and threatens
the state’s economic well-being.
Kemp’s announcement is a wel
come step, considering the alarming
trajectory that’s led Georgia to earn
the undesirable title
of the number one
‘judicial hellhole’ in
the nation for the
first time. Georgia’s
been on the
American Tort
Reform Founda
tion’s annual list
since 2019, but cata
pulted to the top after a jarring $1.7
billion verdict against Ford Motor
Company last year.
Unfortunately, this isn’t an isolated
incident. Rather, it’s emblematic of a
larger trend toward high-dollar,
“nuclear” verdicts - those exceeding
$10 million - occurring more fre
quently. From 2010 to 2019, 53
nuclear verdicts were reported in
scales of justice.
Ethically ques
tionable events
Georgia in personal injury and
wrongful death cases, totaling more
than $3 billion.
The Ford Motor Company case is a
stark reminder of how antiquated
laws can tip the
nuclear verdicts were reported
in Georgia in personal injury and
wrongful death cases, totaling
more than $3 billion.. . .The Ford marred the entire
Motor Company case is a stark w r ie a
r 1 dated Georgia
reminder of how antiquated laws | aw restricted the
can tip the scales of justice, jury from
accessing crucial
evidence - including the fact that
seatbelts weren’t worn properly.
In a separate case last year, the
Georgia Supreme Court still refused
to repeal the law, saying it was a mat
ter for the Legislature to address.
However, the legislative response
has been far from satisfactory.
Despite the escalating need for legal
See NEED LEGISLATION page 22