Newspaper Page Text
July 6, 2011
PAGE 5A
^Reporter
Dispatches from High Falls
High Falls residents envision film stardom
A s]
bl
si
s High Falls
braces for an on
slaught of produc
ers, actors and di
rectors, the
thought entering
all of our minds is
“Do they need ex
tras?”
Personally, I
can see myself on
a restaurant set
of a film based
on Tides of Fear.
I’d scoop grits
onto Billy Bob
Thornton’s
plate, then
give a wink
and ask, “Do
you want
some sugar
with that darlin’?”
As I pondered my possi
ble sudden stardom, I
decided to ask my neigh
bors, “What’s your favorite
movie? What role would
you like to have played?
And, why?
“I know right away what
movie I’d be in,” says
Bunnie Steinka. “My
favorite has always been
An Officer and a
Gentleman. I
would have
loved to play
Debra Winger’s
part and be
swooped up by
Richard Gere.
Why? Everybody
knows why!”
Donald
Wrathell
inside your characters.
There are lots of roles I’d
like to play. The first
three that come to mind
are Atticus Finch in To
Kill a Mockingbird, Alvin
York in Sergeant York,
and Dudley Moore in
10,...just to chase Bo
Derek.”
Norman Wood wants to
be “Rhett Butler in Gone
With the Wind,” but not
just to be around Scarlett.
His rationale is he’d be
Clark Gable and have all
his money.
His wife Eugenia was
once Aso Annie in a
Macon little theatre
Oklahoma production.
She’d like to play that
same wide-eyed and inno
cent girl in the film ver
sion.
“Fried Green Tomatoes,”
says Wanda Lowery. “My
role would have been the
bee charmer because she
reminds me of myself in
my youth. She was a
tomboy and a caretaker,
and a very loyal friend.”
Donald Johnson would
because it’d be fun and I
couldn’t be seen.”
“Facing the Giants is
my favorite,” says Sandra
Reynolds. “I’d take the
role of the mother because
she was spiritual and did
n’t give up on God.” Her
daughter Ashley would
star in How to Train Your
Dragon playing
‘Toothless’, “because he’s
funny and courageous,
and doesn’t back down.”
For Connie England the
choice is Steel Magnolias.
“I’d be one of those strong
for the Reporter. She has
written several books
including Tides of Fear,
Gold Thunder, All Around
the Track, Brave at Heart,
Tools for Successful
Writing, and A Light on
Peachtree. E-mail her
story ideas at anneb-
jones@msn.com.
thought Sixth
Paul Henderson
be Doc Holiday in
southern women, of which
1 U 1 ! n 11OT r
Sense was the
would’ve loved to have
Toombstone because “He
I am.”
best movie of
all time. “I’d
play the kid
seeing the ghosts, because
I’m interested in paranor
mal phenomena.”
“Writing is like charac
ter-acting,” says western
writer Doyle Renolds,
“because you have to get
Must bring in ad! Expires 6-30-11.
The Outlaw Josie Wales.
He’d play the old Indian
because he went to
Washington and had such
great lines. “They told us
to persevere,” he says,
imitating the actor. “And
so we persevered. They
took our land anyway.”
Yeah, he was awesome.”
His son Damion likes the
cartoon movie All
American Hero. “I’d play
‘Yankee’. He had a lot of
character too.”
“I’d be in Ghost,” states
Kenny Buckner, “in the
role of Patrick Swayze
Newspapers should hold
public officials accountable
Mike Buffington owns
newspapers in Commerce,
Jefferson and Winder, Ga.
This column appeared in the
Publishers Auxiliary, the
trade publication for the
weekly newspaper industry.
I
BY MIKE
BUFFINGTON
hate to be a naysayer,
but I find that the older
I get, the easier that at
titude comes.
So when I
recently read an
industry newslet
ter saying newspa
per publishers
should be extreme
ly “involved” in
community proj
ects, my curmudg
eon radar went off.
Not that there’s
anything wrong
with doing some
community leader
ship. Join the
Rotary Club, raise
money for cancer, sponsor a
school 5k race and do those
other events which any local
business might.
But I do think there is a
danger in our profession by
going too far in these things.
If a publisher’s (or editor’s)
job description becomes
more about glad-handing
the local uppity-ups and cul
tivating a shiny community
image than it is about cover
ing the community with an
independent, quality news
paper, then something’s
wrong. When a publisher
gets too close to his commu
nity’s “power structure,” it
compromises the credibility
of the newspaper.
I believe our readers are
better served by our inde
pendence from power rather
than acquiescence to it.
When we become part of
the system rather than its
counterbalance, then there’s
nobody left to do what a
newspaper should do, which
is report news independent
ly-
These issues generally
come out with chamber of
commerce type work. It’s
easy to get sucked into that
system where we want to
“help” with community
development. Let’s all “part
ner” together for the greater
good, etc.
The problem is, the duty of
a newspaper is to report the
news, even bad news, while
the duty of any chamber
like organization is to paint
the community in as flatter
ing a light as possible by
downplaying problems.
Those two don’t always
play well together.
The most common exam-
By Mike
Buffington
pie of this issue is in indus
trial development when a
publisher, because of his or
her position inside the local
chamber-type network,
knows of potential industri
al development deals, but is
pressured to keep quiet.
So what is the publisher’s
real responsibility? To be
part of the system and say
nothing to his readers? Or is
it to have his newspaper’s
reporters independently vet
the prospective
business and
report on what
they find?
This may be
hearsay in some
circles, but not all
of these kinds of
deals are good.
Some community
leaders will agree
to spend inane
amounts of tax
money on an eco
nomic development
project just to say
they caught a big
fish, but which doesn’t make
good financial sense. And
too often, high-power local
officials or their allies have
something personal to gain
in these big deals.
Somebody not tied to the
government’s self-serving
interest needs to take a crit
ical look at these kinds of
deals, especially if local gov
ernments are using tax
money as incentives.
That’s our job. We’re the
only institution in many
communities with the
resources and knowledge to
both gather and synthesize
that kind of information.
It’s a newspaper’s role in
its community to be nettle-
some, the voice asking ques
tions that those in power
don’t want asked. Like
lawyers in a courtroom, we
are in an adversarial rela
tionship with those we
cover. We all want the same
thing — a good community
— but our paths toward
that end diverge.
That’s the way it’s sup
posed to be. If we don’t ask
about the environmental
impact of that prospective
industry, nobody will. If we
don’t ask about city and
county budgets and spend
ing, nobody will. If we don’t
report on school test scores,
good and bad, nobody else
will.
We simply can’t get in bed
with the people we cover
under the guise of “commu
nity building” or “partner
ships” without compromis
ing our independent stand
ing. Our obligation is to our
readers, not the politicians
or other community leaders,
no matter how sincere their
intentions. Good people can
and do make bad decisions.
It’s our job to write about it.
I’ve often had chamber
and government folks com
plain that our newspapers
report too much crime news,
or that we shouldn’t report
bad school testing results —
it “embarrasses” the com
munity I’m told.
Nonsense. Citizens and
taxpayers have a right to
know what’s happening in
their community and it’s our
job to report it, embarrass
ing or not.
Community involvement?
The best way for a news
paper and its leaders to be
involved in their community
is to report the news as com
pletely as possible. Don’t
shirk from controversy and
don’t bow to political or
social pressure. Be polite
and interested, but also
remain detached and inde
pendent. Community prob
lems don’t get fixed by a
newspaper ignoring them
— they get fixed when a
newspaper writes about
them.
And we should use our edi
torial pages as a source of
light and reason when those
we cover wander off the
path of common sense or are
unethical. (Holding public
officials accountable is,
unfortunately, a dying tradi
tion within our industry.)
None of that makes us
very popular. The hand
shakes will sometimes be
forced, the smiles fake and
the words terse. We will be
viewed, at best, as the com-
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munity curmudgeon. If a
publisher’s goal is to fill up
his social dance card, then
maybe another profession is
more suitable.
Our readers understand
these dynamics much better
than we do; they aren’t
fooled even if we sometimes
fool ourselves. Readers
know that our communities
aren’t perfect Potemkin
Villages and they don’t want
their local newspaper to
become a Potemkin Press.
I don’t mean to be a scold
here (well, maybe a little
bit), but it seems as if we’re
losing our focus as commu
nity newspapers with this
idea that we should focus
heavily on “community
building.”
Our role isn’t to be a cheer
leader; there are plenty of
other people and groups
who formally and informally
fill that role in a community.
But no other institution
can do what we do in report
ing the news independently.
And isn’t publishing a
strong independent newspa
per the most important
thing we can do to help
build our community?
Mike Buffington is a past
president of the National
Newspaper Association and
is co-publisher of Mainstreet
Newspapers, Inc. in
Jefferson, Ga. He can be
reached at mike@mainstreet-
news.com.
Don Etheridge, Owner
478-994-0647
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