As the audix voicemail lady greets me Monday morning, she notes I have 27 new voicemail messages.
Must have been a big weekend, I figure, for angry readers. I suspect the ELCA Lutherans approving of gay ministers. Or, maybe we messed up the crossword puzzle again.
No, instead, our circulation customer service rep had forwarded me 27 voice mails of a woman desperate to be heard, but most likely without much of her mental faculties. It involved a town in Illinois, a place she had been taken, in, she says, what was a kidnapping. The town, she says, was morally deficient. And on she goes for several more minutes.
She apparently called the newspaper some 27 times between Sunday around 10 a.m. and 4 a.m. Monday morning.
This is not a totally unusual occurrence. Another mentally troubled man would leave me much more comprehensible voice messages, mostly about politics, earlier this year, or was it last.
He spoke quickly and asked us to "look into" numerous conspiracies he had about the unabomber and "the real" John McCain.
I wonder why it dawns on these folks that the newspaper can help them. Perhaps the institution of the newspaper has just become the phonecall of last resort. I've had numerous people visit me in person with real problems, but most of them could be better solved by a marriage counselor, psychologist or priest.
A newspaper editor can listen, and repeat what they hear, if it's newsworthy. But only if. After that, we're pretty much not much help when it comes to the social safety net for personal problems.
Unfortunately, a lot of these personal problems can't be told without names, and anonymity is what a lot of these folks need, or are comfortable with.
So I didn't listen to more than a couple of the 27 voice messages.
They weren't newsworthy here, but I'm sure they were to her.
Monday, August 24, 2009
Friday, August 21, 2009
Today's news: what it means
It's often instructive to take a step back and contemplate what today's headlines really mean.
In the news business, we often stick to the straight story, especially with state, national and world news. They all end up sounding pretty much the same because most come from one or two national and world wire services.
So here's my take on what today's state, national and world headlines mean to average people living in the Mankato region.
"State adds 10,000 jobs"
While this is the first job gain for the state of Minnesota in almost a year, it's not the first job gain for the Mankato region. Most people haven't paid attention, but Mankato has gained jobs for January, February, May and June this year.
What the news means: If the state if finally adding jobs, the Mankato region is likely to remain ahead of state trends, producing more jobs, more regularly.
"100 killed in Baghdad attacks"
What the news means: A really troubling story in my mind. Shows Iraqis are not doing very well handling their own security without presence of U.S. troops. Major government buildings are involved. This cannot be good for Maliki government, or Iraqi stability.
The fact that Maliki blames al Qaeda is also serious concern since U.S. spent lots of resources getting tribal leaders to fight al Qaeda on their own. Seems like the coalition we helped build for Iraq handling its own security might be deteriorating.
If it deteriorates further to threaten peace elsewhere in the Middle East, Obama is going to be faced with a very tough decision on whether we feel our interests need protecting, again, with more U.S. troops.
"Rottweilers attack woman, unprovoked in Lincoln Park"
What the news means: I wouldn't be surprised for someone to bring up dangerous dogs ordinance again in Mankato, maybe giving it more teeth to be breed specific. But then again, there's lot of pet owners in this town who blame the owners, not the breed.
When people speak...
Finally, when people speak, bureaucrats, politicians and even newspapers listen.
Cases in point: Postal officials decided against closing the North Mankato Post Office after hearing from residents and their congressman.
Pete Nowacki, of the postal service chuckled "We did get some customer input." Which usually means they got read the riot act by citizens of North Mankato, probably not the least of which were lots of senior citizens.
Congressman Tim Walz decided to hold town hall meetings on health care after a barrage of calls and letters to the editor. To be fair, we're not sure if he wouldn't have held them anyway, but at least some of the public attending his meeting thought he was responding to their requests.
And finally, The Free Press has been publishing a page a day of health care reform stories, and will through the weekend, in response to one reader who passionately pleaded for us to provide more information on this highly complex topic.
In the news business, we often stick to the straight story, especially with state, national and world news. They all end up sounding pretty much the same because most come from one or two national and world wire services.
So here's my take on what today's state, national and world headlines mean to average people living in the Mankato region.
"State adds 10,000 jobs"
While this is the first job gain for the state of Minnesota in almost a year, it's not the first job gain for the Mankato region. Most people haven't paid attention, but Mankato has gained jobs for January, February, May and June this year.
What the news means: If the state if finally adding jobs, the Mankato region is likely to remain ahead of state trends, producing more jobs, more regularly.
"100 killed in Baghdad attacks"
What the news means: A really troubling story in my mind. Shows Iraqis are not doing very well handling their own security without presence of U.S. troops. Major government buildings are involved. This cannot be good for Maliki government, or Iraqi stability.
The fact that Maliki blames al Qaeda is also serious concern since U.S. spent lots of resources getting tribal leaders to fight al Qaeda on their own. Seems like the coalition we helped build for Iraq handling its own security might be deteriorating.
If it deteriorates further to threaten peace elsewhere in the Middle East, Obama is going to be faced with a very tough decision on whether we feel our interests need protecting, again, with more U.S. troops.
"Rottweilers attack woman, unprovoked in Lincoln Park"
What the news means: I wouldn't be surprised for someone to bring up dangerous dogs ordinance again in Mankato, maybe giving it more teeth to be breed specific. But then again, there's lot of pet owners in this town who blame the owners, not the breed.
When people speak...
Finally, when people speak, bureaucrats, politicians and even newspapers listen.
Cases in point: Postal officials decided against closing the North Mankato Post Office after hearing from residents and their congressman.
Pete Nowacki, of the postal service chuckled "We did get some customer input." Which usually means they got read the riot act by citizens of North Mankato, probably not the least of which were lots of senior citizens.
Congressman Tim Walz decided to hold town hall meetings on health care after a barrage of calls and letters to the editor. To be fair, we're not sure if he wouldn't have held them anyway, but at least some of the public attending his meeting thought he was responding to their requests.
And finally, The Free Press has been publishing a page a day of health care reform stories, and will through the weekend, in response to one reader who passionately pleaded for us to provide more information on this highly complex topic.
Tuesday, August 18, 2009
Favre has landed
The news business can track its competition on a story like Brett Favre returning to indeed sign with the Vikings, despite the earlier retired again drama.
First, text messages hit some newsroom staffers, who relayed the then rumor of Favre's return to an editor, who immediately found the story with anonymous sources on WCCO TV's site with longtime sports anchor Mark Rosen.
Other blogs and media started to copy. The Associated Press confirmed Mississippi airport officials seeing plane with Vikings logo taking off.
And the media frenzy was off and running. Updates every few minutes. Until about 2 p.m. news of Favre signing broke with Star Trib and Associated Press. Fans mobbed Winter Park with strib reporter worrying about security and traffic.
The circus begins. Favre already suited up in red No. 4 practice jersey.
We twittered the news, we Facebooked. Are those verbs?
Beat that, Gutenberg!
First, text messages hit some newsroom staffers, who relayed the then rumor of Favre's return to an editor, who immediately found the story with anonymous sources on WCCO TV's site with longtime sports anchor Mark Rosen.
Other blogs and media started to copy. The Associated Press confirmed Mississippi airport officials seeing plane with Vikings logo taking off.
And the media frenzy was off and running. Updates every few minutes. Until about 2 p.m. news of Favre signing broke with Star Trib and Associated Press. Fans mobbed Winter Park with strib reporter worrying about security and traffic.
The circus begins. Favre already suited up in red No. 4 practice jersey.
We twittered the news, we Facebooked. Are those verbs?
Beat that, Gutenberg!
Tuesday, August 11, 2009
Town-hall meetings
There's a Norman Rockwell painting on my wall called "Freedom of Speech."
It's part of a series of paintings, I'm told, highlighting freedoms offered by the First Amendment.
In it, a working class looking fellow stands among others in a town hall setting as if he is addressing the town council. Around him, others, some in ties, look up and are listening to what he has to say. They have copies of the town council's budget in their hands.
If only America reflected Norman Rockwell's version of the town hall meeting. News reports show a different picture lately. Apparently groups and individuals have somewhat hijacked these town hall meetings by shouting at members of Congress about the recent health care debate.
Some of have carried pictures of President Obama with a Hitler-like mustache on his face.
The reaction is perhaps not surprising. When uninformed people read fear-laced literature distributed by groups with ulterior motives, they're likely to get scared. They shout, become disruptive and basically deny their neighbors a chance to be heard, and taken seriously.
Of course, these people should be forcibly removed for being disruptive. However much we might agree with our elected leaders, everyone deserves the respect that comes with listening to one's point of view.
It's part of a series of paintings, I'm told, highlighting freedoms offered by the First Amendment.
In it, a working class looking fellow stands among others in a town hall setting as if he is addressing the town council. Around him, others, some in ties, look up and are listening to what he has to say. They have copies of the town council's budget in their hands.
If only America reflected Norman Rockwell's version of the town hall meeting. News reports show a different picture lately. Apparently groups and individuals have somewhat hijacked these town hall meetings by shouting at members of Congress about the recent health care debate.
Some of have carried pictures of President Obama with a Hitler-like mustache on his face.
The reaction is perhaps not surprising. When uninformed people read fear-laced literature distributed by groups with ulterior motives, they're likely to get scared. They shout, become disruptive and basically deny their neighbors a chance to be heard, and taken seriously.
Of course, these people should be forcibly removed for being disruptive. However much we might agree with our elected leaders, everyone deserves the respect that comes with listening to one's point of view.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)