About The Banks County news. (Homer, Banks County, Ga.) 1968-current | View Entire Issue (May 1, 2013)
PAGE 4A THE BANKS COUNTY NEWS WEDNESDAY, MAY 1, 2013 Editor: Angela Gary Phone: 706-367-2490 E-mail: AngieEditor@aol.com Website: www.banksnewsTODAY.com Opinion “Where the press is free and every man able to read, all is safe.” — Thomas Jefferson What community newspapers mean to me A wise man once told me, “If it isn’t in the newspaper, it never really happened.” I have found this to be no truer than in politics. Community newspapers are true guardians of the public interest and the absolute best purveyor of accurate local information. When I first ran for the state Senate a decade ago, I thought that I had a pretty good handle on all of Northeast Georgia. The 46th District was composed of parts of Clarke, Oconee, Jackson and Barrow Counties, and I had lived in Clarke my entire life. I had family and friends across the District. Well, it didn’t take long for me to learn that I had a lot to learn. Local news papers were the ultimate “cheat-sheet” for a first time candidate. Farm Bureau meetings, volunteer fire department information, local PTA meetings, church gatherings, and local political and government meetings can all be found in the local newspaper. As valuable as the AJC and WSB Channel 2 are, you are not going to hear about the Statham Sunflower Festival from them. Events like these are where I gained a true understanding of issues in each individual com munity. While Northeast Georgia has a lot in common, each community has its own character and its own issues. Community newspapers helped Brian Kemp the candidate, but they helped Brian Kemp the elected official so much more. When you get down to the Gold Dome, it is very easy to fall into the mindset that Georgia begins and ends at 1-285. The focus is on “front-page” issues that affect education, transportation and healthcare. Too often, all the communication on these issues comes from the major metro media. That means hearing about how a change in the QBE formula will affect DeKalb County, what the loss of the GA 400 toll means to transportation funding and what the trauma care formula will mean for Grady Memorial Hospital. The laws passed in Atlanta govern all 159 coun ties in Georgia and the staffs at the community newspapers are the ones doing the true research in determining the local impact of legislation. Never is any new law an “apples to apples” when it comes to Georgia because are so diverse from an economic, industrial and physical standpoint. I have the privilege of representing every single citizen of Georgia as the Secretary of State. Since I took office in 2010,1 have visited 153 of 159 counties and will shortly have visited each and every one. Not once have I ever been through a county without contacting the local community newspaper. The reason is simple, “If it isn’t in the newspaper, it never really happened.” The Banks County News Founded 1968 The official legal organ of Banks County, Ga. Mike Buffington Scott Buffington Angela Gary Randy Crump Sharon Hogan Anelia Chambers Co-Publisher Co-Publisher Editor Sports Editor Reporter Receptionist Phones (all 706 area code): Angela Gary Phone 367-2490 Angela Gary Fax 367-9355 Homer Office Phone 677-3491 Homer Office Fax 677-3263 (SCED 547160) Published weekly by MainStreet Newspapers, Inc., PO. Box 908, Jefferson, Ga. 30549 Subscription in county $19.75 Subscription in state $38.85 Subscription out of state $44.20 Military with APO address $42.20 Senior citizens get a $2 discount Periodicals postage paid at Homer, Ga. 30547 Postmaster, send address changes to: Subscriptions, The Banks County News, PO. Box 920, 935 Historic Homer Highway Homer, Ga. 30547 Member: Georgia Press Association Georgia Sports Writers Association National Newspaper Association "I was so excited that they repealed the Birthday Tax I rushed right out and bought a new car!" I found out what replaced it! This is why our kids aren't learning The dedication of George W. Bush’s presi dential library last week reminded me of one of the former president’s most memorable public comments. During a speech on education reform, Bush once remarked: “Rarely is the question asked: Is our children learning?” All too often, the answer to that question has been that Georgia’s kids aren’t learning very much. There are many reasons why student and teacher performance is so disappointing, but I would argue that much of the fault lies in the people who have been elected to set policy for our public schools. The problem goes back beyond the days of former state school superintendent Linda Schrenko, but she serves as a good example. Rather than improve Georgia’s schools, Schrenko spent her time stealing federal education funds that were used to pay for a facelift and an unsuccessful political campaign. Schrenko’s replacement, Kathy Cox, was more honest but unfortunately was some what lacking in intellectual capacity. During a revision of the state curriculum, Cox ordered the word “evolution” to be deleted from the science curriculum, along with any mention of the “Big Bang” theory, the theory of plate tecton ics, and the concept of the descent of living organisms from a common ancestor. Those concepts are crucial to the study of biology, physics, and geology, but they were removed from the curriculum because they would have suggested the earth was more than 10,000 years old - and thus upset Christian fundamentalists who wanted biblical creationism to be taught instead. Cox eventually reversed herself after the public protested and the national media gave Georgia a lot of embarrassing coverage. A few years later, when the state was being sued for not spending enough money on public schools, one of Cox’s top deputies testified during a deposition that Georgia’s students did not need to take classes in sci ence or social studies to receive an adequate education. “I think you can do without science,” the Cox aide said under questioning from law yers. She added later: “I think you can fail social studies and get an adequate educa tion.” With that kind of leadership at the top, it’s not difficult to figure out why Georgia ranks so consistently near the bottom in academic performance. I am reminded again of the state’s failings in education with the recent debate over the “Common Core” curriculum standards. This is a set of guidelines that are intended to give students a more rigorous education in English, math, history, science and social studies as they progress through the K-12 public school systems. The curriculum standards were developed by educators from Georgia and 44 other states so that there would be some consistent goals for teaching our students. The Common Core standards are now the center of a controversy in which some political figures are demanding that they be junked because they are sup posedly part of a conspiracy by the Obama administration and assorted radicals to carry out a federal takeover of edu cation. State Sen. Bill Ligon (R-Brunswick) introduced a bill this year that would have prohibited the Georgia Board of Education from implement ing these curriculum stan dards, but the legislation went nowhere. Elected officials and GOP activists from Cobb County have now joined the fight, calling for Georgia to reject the standards because they are supposedly the product of “liberals” and “communists” working in cahoots with the White House. Gov. Nathan Deal, to his credit, has pushed back against the madness. During a trip to Cobb County for an unrelated bill signing, the governor was asked by a local reporter about the curriculum standards. Deal defended the standards and pointed out that they were crafted by state-level educa tors. “The federal government did not man date it, they did not control it, they did not dictate its content,” Deal said. Conservative political figures like Deal, former governor Sonny Perdue and current school Supt. John Barge all support the idea of Common Core standards. But we are now being asked to believe that they are part of some radical scheme to bring about federal control of education. It’s absurd and silly, of course, but it is another example of how some people try to score political points rather than work to give our kids a decent education. We are a poorer state because of it. Tom Crawford is editor of The Georgia Report, an internet news service at gareport. com that reports on government and politics in Georgia. He can be reached at tcrawford@ gareport.com. tom crawford Conservative political figures like Deal, former governor Sonny Perdue and current school Supt. John Barge all support the idea of Common Core standards. But we are now being asked to believe that they are part of some radical scheme to bring about federal control of education. POLICY ON LETTERS TO THE EDITOR The policy for letters to the editor submitted to The Banks County News is as fol lows: • An original copy of all letters must be submitted for publication. Members of our staff will not type out or hand-write letters for people who stop by the office and ask them to do so. • Letters to the editor must be signed with the address and phone number of the person who wrote them. The address and phone number will be for our verifica tion purposes only and will not be printed unless the writer requests it. • E-mailed letters will be accepted but we must have a phone number and address. • Letters that are libelous will also not be printed. Letters may also be edited to meet space requirements. Anyone with questions on the policy is asked to contact editor Angela Gary at AngieEditor@aol.com or 706-367-2490. Death of newspapers prematurely reported “Extra! Extra! Newspapers aren’t dead!” This is quoted from a recent headline in USA Today. The article, by Rem Rieder, reports a new business model has taken shape that makes newspapers a mature industry and, at the same time, an emerging industry. And who doesn’t love the local newspa per? Where else will we find a picture of our grandchild hitting a baseball over the fence or our daughter receiv ing an award for win ning the spelling bee? Who doesn’t love the special features only newspapers offer, such as a Church News Bloopers column with items like: “The evening service tonight ser mon will be What is Hell?’ Come early and listen to the choir practice.” Or, “Rev. Jones wants you to remember many who are sick of the community.” The good news is that newspaper revenues are increasing because newspapers are now charging for content searched on the web, and they are increasing revenues through e-commerce and hosting special events that recognize charities and community leader ship. Magazines have avoided much of the nega tive impact of the internet because they are more designed for institutional advertising, while the main business model for newspa pers is item and price advertising. So now, newspapers are producing their own maga zines and reaping new profits from for their efforts. There are indications that many of the web sites that challenged newspapers are slipping, becoming fads have no long term prospects. Monster.com and its help wanted site are now for sale with no takers. Groupon.com is now a bust. A recent article documented how Facebook “can’t sell soap,” saying people do not click on ads as they are visiting with friends. Digital advertising, once promising the Holy Grail, has been a huge disappointment in the advertising world. And if people don’t look at advertising on their computers or lap tops, why would they look at ads on the mobile phones? There is an elephant in the room for internet hopefuls, those young startups that promise such hope for entrepreneurs and venture capitalists. Their ideas will depend on super high speed wireless internet. The pipe line they will need to deliver their ideas is not generally available because only 48 percent of the country has high speed internet at home. And it’s only available in the metro areas of the U.S. Because of the expense, this internet pipe line is not being built out in the state or in the rest of the U.S. For instance, it’s long been a dream idea that a physician who is a specialist could beam on the internet in real time from Emory Hospital to talk with doctors in rural areas to solve a specific medical issue. There are internet systems designed to carry this out, but high speed internet is not available to show internet video and provide other services to almost 50 percent of Georgia communities. The lack of high speed internet availability for a major segment of the population, the disappointing advertising results on internet and social media sites, and the efforts of print media to adapt to the internet, charge for content on their own web sites, and print new niche products has given print publications new life as an “emerging” industry. After all, in the small town of St. Simons, Georgia, population 12,000, there are nine print publications? Among the count are two big magazines in addition to The Coastal Illustrated, Bulldog Illustrated, two real estate magazines, the Brunswick News, The Georgia Times-Union and the local St. Simons news paper. All of these are being published during the biggest recession since the 1930s, and many of the publications are owned by the Brunswick News. We all love our newspapers. How can we do with out blooper headlines like: “Rally against apathy draws small crowd.” “City unsure why sewer smells.” Or my favorite, “Fort Benning Army vehicle disappears after being painted with camouflage.” Without good, strong newspapers, who is going to look after the interest of everyday citi zens when it comes to political events? Who will report on the bad guys and celebrate the good guys. Who will give power to people who have no power? Only newspapers and other print media can do that in the accurate, fair and tme way that has worked for hundreds of years. The internet has not killed newspapers or print media, but it certainty changed it, and maybe saved it for all of us, forever. Neely Young is publisher and editor in chief of Georgia Trend Magazine and past presi dent of the Georgia Press Association. neely young guest column
