I miss the old days, but just a little.

I started this journalism blog in 2014. I started in journalism in 1997. I came back January 1, 2024 to the community newspaper where I began after other newspapers and other jobs and found things are different now.

The community where I live and work has grown, the staff at the paper has grown, and we don’t see each other much at all. Thanks in part to technology and a changed industry, we work from home.

A month into being back at my paper I met one of my reporters at a fundraising event. She was interviewing a school administrator and I thought she could be from one of the two competitive newspapers of our area. I politely introduced myself and was delighted to learn we were co-workers and didn’t know it. “Oh, right. I like your stories.” Five months later I haven’t seen her except in the newspaper, but we text each other when we need something or have a question.

I miss sitting in a newsroom under fluorescent lights with fellow reporters typing nearby, interviewing on the phone, and rushing in and out. I miss discussing stories with co-workers or going out with my camera to help another reporters.

There was more collaboration then and we knew more of what was going on with the paper. Even when I was in an office at a newspaper group being one of five editors working on different publications, I knew more of the “big picture” of what was going on in my company.

I do like the flexibility and leisure of working from home. More reporters mean less stress for me. The view from my desk is like no other with three bay windows looking out at a bird feeder in my garden. One negative is having the kitchen a few steps away.

I am getting used to and enjoying the change. After an afternoon of writing or processing photos I can relax and enjoy a dark beer and watch a music video right here at my news desk.

When you have a tough day...

April 15, 2018

I correspond with a freelance reporter in South Africa named Ntozakhe Douglas Mthukwane.

Things are tough for Douglas on many levels; He is a journalist in a country that discourages free press, I believe he has a disability he hasn’t disclosed to me yet but I understand it keeps him from easily working as a freelancer, and he is a black man in white superior South Africa.

My last correspondent with him went unanswered and my previous correspondent with him leads me believe he may have lost his apartment and computer.

Douglas, from his Facebook page

“When your email came through I was at a state hospital treated for excessive smoke inhalation. I stay at a block of flats previously designated for 'Whites only' by the apartheid government. So you find very poor white fellows who've practically given up on life still staying there amid an “I don’t care" attitude.

I'm using the description 'white' because it was an apartheid definition supported by various draconian laws.”

Douglas wrote he is using his cell phone to email me because he had to abandon his apartment to escape a fire. Reportedly, a drunk neighbor caught the place on fire after falling asleep while cooking.

“I was woken up by a frenzy accompanied by a thick cloud of smoke and black debris. I could neither see the palm of my own hand let alone the escape route, my flat has one entry door. I heard ambulance and fire brigade sirens outside, kicked the door with my bare feet, and managed to go out. I collapsed only to wake up in hospital 5 hours later.”

He went on to say “I’m okay now.” However, Douglas didn’t answer my last email, which leads me to believe is having difficulty getting re-established.

So, fellow writers, news reporters, photographers and journalists. When you are having a shit day, a monster of a deadline, or you are becoming mentally buried in the current “Fake News!” rhetoric, turn your thoughts to fellow journalist Douglas and wish him well.

I will give you a new report on Douglas after I hear from him.

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March 2024

I have on occasions tried to reach Douglas through email, the only contact I had with him. I hope he got established and is back to reporting and that the only problem is he changed his email address.

The F Word

March 24, 2018

There’s a new “F-word,” and that word is “fake.”

I am talking about the term “fake news,” which, since 2016, has been the way for people of prominence to direct attention away from their mistakes, lies, or flat-out corruption.

For instance, when New Your Times reporters, including David Barstow, Mike McIntire, Patricia Cohen and Russ Buettner, printed reports with data, names, places, and interviews detailing Donald Trump cheating on his taxes.  Trump could have easily prove the reports true or false by simply releasing his business tax reports, as other politicians have done, but chooses not to and instead can only declare, “That’s fake news!”

Oh, what fabulously sweet victory it would be for the Trump to prove the reports false. But stating "Fake news!" is the only thing he can do.

It has been pretty effective, I'm sorry to say.

The President and a few other politicians have done the "Fake news!" thing so much and so often that the responsible news medias have a "credibility complex" it has to deal with, according to a report from one of my online journalism feeds I follow. The credibility the news media is dealing with is due in most to the politicians bleating "Fake news!"

Here is a simple way I explain to non-journalist how to identify if a news source is commonly reports falsehoods: If your favorite news source has never made a correction or a clarification, they are a source of falsehoods and fake news. You see, even the best news sources sometimes make a mistake, and reliable, fact-checking news sources are quick to publicly correct them. Doing so guards and even fortifies their credibility. Fake news sources, however, don't correct mistakes or false information because, ironically, that would damage their credibility to the kind of audience they seek.

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Update April 2024

"Fake news!" is out. "Political scam!" and "Witch hunt!" are in when someone can't produce evidence to defend themselves against allegations and investigations.

Government uses lawsuits for shield

If it were not for the First Amendment, comprehensive reporting, hardworking reporters, and the Freedom of Information Act, the public would be left to only what their leaders want them to believe.

It is not uncommon to be denied information and accordingly have to resort to the Freedom of Information Act to get it, which is a time consuming pain in the ass. This happens most often when information would make an official look stupid, hinder their reelection, or reveal they are dishonest.

The biggest pain in the butt is the time it takes to file and wait, and officials hope it is that which will make the reporter skip the details in order to meet deadline. However, some newspapers of smaller markets who are relentless in seeking public information are being told to back down or get sued – and sadly it is working. 

Odds are in the large newspaper’s favor because the U.S. Constitution is on their side, but a small and medium newspapers do not have the money or staff to endure a yearlong court battle.

As Danny Westneat of the Seattle Times points out in his article, “The government wants to do its business in secret, and increasingly there’s no press left to stop them.” Read about this happening to the Malheur Enterprise by clicking  > here <

http://www.seattletimes.com/seattle-news/free-press-state-hits-tiny-paper-with-lawsuit-after-it-seeks-public-records/

Comment or share an experience with others by sending me a message amosnews@yahoo.com

Singular they: Some say nay

In a March 24, 2017 op-ed in Texas Center for Community, Poynter Institute writer Kristin Hare peed herself over the AP Stylebook change allowing the use of “they” as a singular pronoun. Here is part of her rant:

“So AP plans to approve a singular ‘they.’ Why stop there? Let's do away with the difference between its and it's. And plurals and possessives. And equally outdated rules outlawing misspellings and comma splices.”

Godgod, Kristin! Why not do away with running your incomplete sentences together!

I knew about the AP Stylebook change a year ago, but apparently Hare just stumbled across it or lost an argument with a co-worker.

The “singular they,” as it is called, is using the word to describe one unknown person or one unnamed person, not knowing if it is a man or a woman. The argument is “they” is plural and the subject is singular. Here is an example:

“No teacher wants this to happen, but they don’t consider the consequence.” “No teacher” is singular and “they” is plural.

Most of us use singular they often and with no discomfort or bitter aftertaste.

AP style rightfully banned the use of “he/she” and “his/her” long ago because it sounds and looks annoying, such as, “The winning cook must show his/her original submission to the judges.” The correct line would be, "The winning cook must show their original submission to the judges."

By the way, in a op-ed published in the Texas Center for Community earlier this year a writer used “s/he” in place of a singular they. I think s/he needs to have h/her head examined.

People who believe written language should not evolve with common usage should use words like “thee,” “thine” and “thou,” and while their co-workers are avoiding them here is something else to make them angry: If you were to use “he/she” to refer to one person, well, “he” is one and “she” is another, and that makes two, which is plural. Right?

Send me your comments at amosnews@yahoo.com