Page 4A
OPINION
East Oregonian
Wednesday, October 21, 2015
OTHER VIEWS
Who’d be a journalist?
E
Founded October 16, 1875
KATHRYN B. BROWN
DANIEL WATTENBURGER
Publisher
Managing Editor
JENNINE PERKINSON
TIM TRAINOR
Advertising Director
Opinion Page Editor
OUR VIEW
UGENE — Jonathan Bach’s
veteran television news reporter and
dream job is in a profession
director who is now a professor at the
that’s widely reviled, poorly
University of Oregon. When a reporter
compensated and often dangerous. A
is on live, as Ms. Parker was, Professor
lot of people tell him it’s doomed to
Force said: “You’re in the moment. You
become obsolete. None of that seems to
have little time. You’re on. There is no
matter to him.
going back and erasing it. You have just
He still wants to be a journalist.
one take.”
This summer Mr. Bach got his ¿rst
Ms. Parker and her cameraman,
Héctar
taste of daily newspaper reporting at the
Adam
Ward, died reporting the sort
Tobar
East Oregonian, a publication based in
of everyday, unabashedly local story
Comment
Pendleton. He covered rodeos, Native
that is the bread and butter of news
American tribes and the opening of a
operations everywhere. She held the
new bar called the Strip’n Chute.
mike steady as her interviewee
He wrote a lot, wrote fast — and
said, “This is our community and
earned minimum wage.
we want to share information that
“It’s the best job in the
will help us grow and develop
world,” he said, with all the
…”
earnestness you’d expect from a
Young journalists operate
21-year-old college senior.
on a strange mix of adrenaline
To enter journalism these days
and idealism. They savor the
you have to be a true believer. If
rush that comes with making a
you can ¿nd an entry-level job
deadline, or conquering the stage
— and newspaper staffs declined
fright of a live broadcast. And
by 10 percent last year — you will more than
they believe that if they master those skills,
likely take a vow of poverty worthy of a monk. they’ll contribute something important to their
Even in television, a news reporter can make as communities.
little as $18,000 a year.
“I don’t think that one photograph is
In our polarized society, public trust of
going to change the world, but it’s a record of
the media is at an all-time low, according
where we are,” the Mexican journalist Rubén
to a recent Gallup poll. Across the political
Espinosa said in one of his last interviews
spectrum, some accuse us of spreading
before he was killed in Mexico City in July. He
insidious liberal ideas, while others call us
covered the drama unfolding in the Mexican
lackeys of a corporate, right-wing conspiracy.
state of Veracruz: of¿cial corruption, violent
Worse yet, people think of us as heartless
organized crime, disappearances, protest and
jerks who’d make a little boy cry or kick an
resistance.
immigrant in pursuit of a story.
Mr. Espinosa’s work had earned him death
The truth is that the best journalists
threats and the enmity of powerful people in
connect with readers, viewers and listeners
Veracruz. Many American journalists working
by being open-minded and compassionate.
abroad have faced similar dangers from those
That’s one reason so many people remain in
who would silence them — including James
the profession, despite the poor pay and long
Foley, a graduate of Northwestern University’s
hours. As Mr. Bach learned on assignments like Medill School of Journalism.
interviewing a rodeo camp volunteer, empathy
“He gave his life trying to expose the world
is a key part of the job.
to the suffering of the Syrian people,” Mr.
“You get to share stories and you get to see
Foley’s mother said, after he was killed by his
things through someone else’s eyes every day,” Islamic State captors in Syria last year.
he said.
As a kid growing up in Bend, Ore.,
I tell the young reporters I teach at the
Mr. Bach dreamed of being a foreign
University of Oregon to ignore the gloom that
correspondent. He’d fall asleep listening to
surrounds the profession and its future. People
BBC radio reports from distant lands. India.
will always have an appetite for true stories
Pakistan. Russia.
well told.
His goal now is to report from Eastern
And they will never stop wanting essential
Europe. In addition to studying journalism,
information, delivered quickly and accurately.
he’s in his third year of Russian language
When a gunman opened ¿re on Oct. 1 at a
classes. And he’s already been to Ukraine
community college in Roseburg, some 70 miles and Azerbaijan to try his hand at freelance
south of Eugene, several news outlets contacted reporting.
our university’s journalism department and
“There’s nothing like dropping into a
asked: Do you know a young freelance reporter country for a week, and reporting a story, and
or photographer we can hire? Right away?
getting it published,” he said.
Cameron Shultz, a graduate student who
Mr. Bach was also among the University of
was hired by national television networks and
Oregon students asked to cover the tragedy in
local stations, took his camera and captured
Roseburg. For The Daily Beast, he interviewed
evocative images at an evacuation center and a friends of an English teacher who died in the
candlelight vigil.
shooting, and a nursing student who suddenly
We’ve tried to teach our students that even
found her class transformed into an emergency
the simplest story requires craft and discipline.
room.
Consider the recent example of Alison
I’m con¿dent that Mr. Bach conducted
Parker, a 24-year-old reporter for a Virginia
himself professionally on this assignment. And
television station. Like Mr. Bach, she’d started
that he remembered what we professors taught
her career as an intern. Her last story was about him and his fellow students when we sent them
Smith Mountain Lake, a local landmark.
to cover stories on campus, at City Hall and at
The video that Ms. Parker’s killer posted of
county fairs:
her murder reveals that he was pointing a gun
Be respectful to the people you interview.
at her, within her ¿eld of vision, for at least 10
Double-check the spelling of every name. And
seconds before he opened ¿re. Ms. Parker was
always make your deadlines.
interviewing the head of the local chamber of
Ŷ
commerce. She was too focused on doing her
Héctor Tobar, an assistant professor in the
job well to realize her life was in danger.
School of Journalism and Communication at
“When you go on television, you lose
the University of Oregon, is an author and a
a bit of yourself,” said Rebecca Force, a
contributing writer to the New York Times.
The best
journalists
connect with
readers.
The future is here.
What’s next?
of vehicles on our roads. We know
Great Scott!
fossil fuel is too costly and limited
Today, Oct. 21, 2015, is the day
Dr. Emmett Brown and Marty McFly to rely upon for the long term, and
see the innovations of both major car
touch down in the future depicted by
companies and upstarts like Tesla as
the 10s ¿lm “Back to the Future:
the next step in transportation.
Part II.”
Along with electric engines,
The pair made the jump in the
these vehicles will be far better at
iconic DeLorean from 1985 and
communicating with one another on
appeared in a world where cars
the road and detecting
don’t need roads,
danger. Driving
hoverboards are all
What will the will become a more
the rage and the Cubs
experience
win the World Series.
world look like passive
until eventually your
At least it wasn’t
in 30 years? vehicle is a ping on
completely far-fetched.
the map, driving itself
The ¿lm’s writer
toward home.
and director, Robert
The big question will be how to
Zemeckis, was obviously more
power these vehicles as coal — our
interested in getting a few chuckles
current top energy producer — is
and advancing the plot than
phased out in North America. Wind,
accurately predicting the future, and
much has been written in the lead-up solar and hydro combined might
not make up the difference, but our
to this nerdy holiday about what he
prediction is nuclear will be brought
got right and what he got wrong.
If you haven’t seen the ¿lm, here’s back online to ¿ll in the gap.
• The family unit will continue to
a quick rundown:
evolve. In trends that date back to the
• Homes aren’t equipped with
1950s, fewer women are becoming
a fax machine in every room, but
mothers and those who do are having
people do tend to have their eyes on
fewer children. According to the
several screens at all times.
• The “Jaws” franchise didn’t quite National Center for Health Statistics,
more than 40 percent of American
make it to a 19th iteration, but we
babies are now born to unmarried
do have a strange af¿nity for 1980s
women — but are not unplanned
nostalgia.
pregnancies. Most are born to women
• Newspapers still exist as a key
in their 20s and early 30s. Marriage
plot device in peoples’ lives, and
news images are captured by drones. rates in general are at historically low
levels — and they are taking divorce
Later in the ¿lm the duo jumps
back to 1955, and it’s strange to think rates down with them. It seems clear
that in 30 years, marriage will not be
that 1985 was the midpoint between
the cultural institution it is today, nor
then and now. Teens of 1985 — like
the societal norm. A family will look
McFly — have the same distant
different.
understanding of 1955 and vague
• Daily printed newspapers won’t
grasp of 2015 that today’s youth have
exist. It pains us to say, but the
of 1985 and 2045.
demand for ink and paper is declining
Doc Brown says in the ¿lm he
too quickly to imagine enough of a
created the time machine “to gain a
resurgence to run a press every day of
clear perception of humanity. Where
the week and deliver the product door
we’ve been, where we’re going, the
to door. The daily news will continue
pitfalls, the possibilities, the perils
its migration to digital formats, and
and promise.”
print will become a specialty.
We don’t have a Àux capacitor
But a specialty isn’t entirely a bad
and can’t actually jump ahead three
thing. Record players have come
decades to see what’s coming next,
but it’s a fun exercise to use what we back into vogue, even though putting
an LP on the table and setting the
know of the past and look at current
trends to make some predictions. Feel needle into the groove is far less
convenient than clicking a couple
free to clip these predictions out, put
them in a time capsule, and open it on of buttons and hearing any song in
the universe. It’s because focused,
Oct. 21, 2045.
dedicated attention to a subject will
• Technological advances can be
always be highly valued. Newspapers
tricky for the layman to see coming
are no longer the best way to
— Àying cars probably seemed like
a lot of fun in the 1980s, but still
distribute information, but they will
aren’t at all practical. But we do
remain the best way to absorb it on a
expect a nearly entirely electric Àeet
deep level.
Unsigned editorials are the opinion of the East Oregonian editorial board of Publisher
Kathryn Brown, Managing Editor Daniel Wattenburger, and Opinion Page Editor Tim Trainor.
Other columns, letters and cartoons on this page express the opinions of the authors and not
necessarily that of the East Oregonian.
YOUR VIEWS
Gas tax part of a 1-2
Nice streets part of
punch to local economy every livable town
I recently read a comment from
a Pendleton City Council member
about the proposed utility fee and
5 cent gas tax for the maintaining
of neighborhood streets. “The neat
thing of it is, it’s a one-two punch,”
he said. Since when is getting
punched twice a good thing?
Haven’t the people in (and
around) Pendleton been beaten
enough with so-called temporary
gas taxes for questionable projects
in the past? I have a vote and a say
in the gas tax, but the Pendleton
City Council can approve the
utility fee without my consent. I
would rather the council take this
¿ghting spirit and punch holes
in the current budget instead of
simply trying to raise more taxes.
Eli Stephens
Pendleton
Thanks to the citizens of
Pendleton who voted to improve
our schools so families would
want to live here. Thanks to the
citizens who voted to support
Blue Mountain Community
College so our children can get
affordable college. Thanks to our
city government and many service
organizations that have helped
revive our downtown so that more
and more businesses are opening.
Many, many visitors comment on
what a wonderful and attractive
downtown we have with many
independent restaurants, artisan
shops, and historic attractions.
I hope that in a month I can
thank our citizens for supporting a
gas tax to ¿x our incredibly crappy
roads. If you are concerned about
the cost of the tax, talk to a variety
of folks who aren’t simply trying
to scare you with rumors about
the cost. It is a very small amount
of money each month to have our
roads ¿xed.
A yes vote for upgrading our
roads is more than just ¿xing
potholes, it’s about making
Pendleton a city we are proud of
and a town in which folks would
want to visit, shop, and raise a
family.
David Lange
Pendleton
Oil companies behind
gas tax attack ads
Do you know that Byrnes Oil
Company, whose owner lives in
Pilot Rock, donated $3,000 to the
Oregon Fuels Association PAC —
a Portland-based political action
committee — to inÀuence the
outcome of the city of Pendleton
fuel tax election by printing a
terribly misinformed mailer
intended to confuse the voters of
Pendleton? It says: Don’t trust em!
Vote no!
So, what other big spender
out-of-towners want to tell us how
to vote? It’s really pretty simple:
<es, you get the streets ¿xed no,
you don’t. ’Nuff bum dope. Get
the nickels out. Let’s do something
really big for once: ¿x the damn
streets. Have a nice day.
Don’t raise gas prices
in Pendleton, vote no
I like buying all my gas in
Pendleton. Low gas prices will
bring business back to Pendleton.
Let’s not go back to the highest
priced gas in the county.
Vote no on the fuel tax
November 3.
Rex J. Morehouse
Pendleton
Larry O’Rourke
Pendleton
LETTERS POLICY
The East Oregonian welcomes original letters of 400 words or less
on public issues and public policies for publication in the newspaper
and on our website. The newspaper reserves the right to withhold
letters that address concerns about individual services and products
or letters that infringe on the rights of private citizens. Submitted
letters must be signed by the author and include the city of resi-
dence and a daytime phone number. The phone number will not be
published. Unsigned letters will not be published. Send letters to
Managing Editor Daniel Wattenburger, 211 S.E. Byers Ave. Pendleton,
OR 97801 or email editor@eastoregonian.com.