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About East Oregonian : E.O. (Pendleton, OR) 1888-current | View Entire Issue (June 13, 2018)
Page 4A East Oregonian Wednesday, June 13, 2018 CHRISTOPHER RUSH Publisher KATHRYN B. BROWN Owner DANIEL WATTENBURGER Managing Editor TIM TRAINOR Opinion Page Editor Founded October 16, 1875 OUR VIEW Fighting news fatigue I t can be exhausting trying to keep up with the news, especially about our President and his Cabinet, as they chart a dramatically different course for the country. It can make you seasick trying to concentrate on everything speeding by the transom, whether it be updates from overnight meetings with a nuclear- armed dictator, stories of financial malfeasance and corruption at the EPA, President Trump’s continuous pokes- in-the-eye via his Twitter feed, or the nasty thing some dumb actor has yelled from his rooftop garden. It’s enough for many people to throw their hands in the air. A new malady has been coined — “news fatigue” — this feeling that you cannot keep up with the steady stream of important information emanating from journalists the world over. The news is depressing and nausea-inducing, and that’s no way to start the day. To combat the symptoms, many citizens are finding themselves pushed to make a choice. First, they can convince themselves that the firehose of news isn’t important — you can check out and not care about it and all will be fine. Or they can take the route of believing there are vitally important updates and critical things happening every day that they must stay apprised of, but their own mental and physical wellbeing requires them to take a step back and clear their head. Or, they can just take the tack that everything else is fake, except for what the head of our government says, allowing only one person and their supportive media outlets to dictate the terms of reality. That’s the laziest and simplest route, but to many it offers the veneer of peaceful understanding. Sure, we’re in the news business — it benefits us for people to pay attention. But we’re first and foremost citizens. And we know the danger that comes when powerful people and institutions attack the news, purposely try to confuse and overwhelm their constituents, and try to numb them with scandal after scandal until none are remarkable enough that they incite the public to demand accountability. It’s a way to get away with anything, this slow spread of news fatigue disease. As David Frum, the political commentator and former speech writer for George W. Bush, said recently in an interview: “If your child is feverishly ill, it can be very fatiguing to take care of her. But it’s what you do, because that’s your duty ... if your country is ill you have the same responsibility. ” Part of the reason why “news” seems overwhelming, and some are trying to shirk the responsibility of understanding it, is that many people no longer agree on what “news” is. A recent poll conducted by the Associated Press-NORC Center for Public Affairs and the American Press Institute noted that most readers and journalists agree on what they want from journalism — news stories that are factual and offer context and analysis. Yet most of what people absorb, via social media or partisan talking heads on television, or via 140-character tweets, does not offer clear facts and clear context. Absorb too much of that and the brain decides to close down and give up. There is a real joy of a few days of vacation, to check out of the news stream. That may be necessary to our mental health, and it is also a point of privilege — a North Korean, a bourbon executive trying to navigate the president’s tariffs, an illegal immigrant, or a person with pre-existing medical conditions does not have the ability to check out for a few days. They must fight and lobby, and work hard to understand the context of their action and those of others. We know time away from the fusillade is important, and useful. But we urge you to jump back in, to remain vigilant and knowledgeable about the problems affecting our nation and the progress made by it. OTHER VIEWS Trump outfoxed in Singapore I YOUR VIEWS Pendleton chief’s departure was not appropriate We live in community, and many things affect the community. It is a certainty that [city manager Robb] Corbett and [Pendleton fire chief Mike] Ciraulo clashed before his abrupt retirement. Silence, when an injustice is committed, is complicity and perpetuates complicity. When Mike Ciraulo was hired as Pendleton fire chief in 2015 he came to us with 30 years of firefighting and emergency medical services experience, as well as 12 years as a Battle Ground, Washington, city councilman and mayor. Pendleton Police Chief Stuart Roberts wrote in an email at the time of hiring: “Obviously, such experience is unique, there is tremendous value in having someone who understands governmental expenditure, challenge, political navigation.” Ciraulo came in and restored fire department credibility and led the effort to pass the 2016 Pendleton fire department bond to build a new, and needed, fire station. What was the reason for Ciraulo’s sudden leaving now in 2018? Simply put, personal issues. The failure appears to lie directly with City Manager Robb Corbett. The city manager was to have reevaluated the chain of command in the first few months of Mike’s hire and reestablished that the fire chief would report to the city manager rather than the police chief. This Corbett failed to do, thus laying the groundwork for potential personal conflict between the fire chief and the police chief. Secondly, there was a difference in management style between the city manager and the fire chief, which the city manager was unwilling to resolve. All of this was cause for someone to admit making a mistake. The city manager admits to no error. I believe, with others, Mike Ciraulo would have walked the extra mile were that at all possible. Mike’s leaving was certainly not an appropriate result no matter what may have happened. What’s done is done, but Ciraulo’s departure leaves a real feeling that the city of Pendleton has lost a committed professional. It need not have been so. Ron Gavette Pendleton CONTACT YOUR U.S. SENATORS Ron Wyden 221 Dirksen Senate Office Bldg. Washington, DC 20510 202-224-5244 La Grande office: 541-962-7691 Unsigned editorials are the opinion of the East Oregonian editorial board. Other columns, letters and cartoons on this page express the opinions of the authors and not necessarily that of the East Oregonian. Jeff Merkley 313 Hart Senate Office Building Washington, DC 20510 202-224-3753 Pendleton office: 541-278-1129 t sure looks as if President for now, the bottom line is that Donald Trump was hoodwinked there’s no indication that North in Singapore. Korea is prepared to give up its nuclear weapons, and Trump didn’t Trump made a huge concession achieve anything remotely as good — the suspension of military as the Iran deal, which led Iran to exercises with South Korea. That’s eliminate 98 percent of its enriched on top of the broader concession of uranium. the summit meeting itself, security Nicholas There was also something guarantees he gave North Korea Kristof frankly weird about a U.S. and the legitimacy provided to his Comment president savaging Canada’s counterpart, Kim Jong Un. prime minister one day and Within North Korea, the “very then embracing the leader of the most special bond” that Trump claimed to totalitarian country in the world. have formed with Kim will be portrayed Trump praised Kim in the news this way: Kim forced the U.S. president, conference and, astonishingly, even through his nuclear and missile tests, to adopted North Korean positions as accept North Korea as a nuclear equal, his own, saying that the U.S. military to provide security guarantees to North exercises in the region are “provocative.” Korea, and to cancel war games with That’s a standard North Korean South Korea that the North has protested propaganda line. Likewise, Trump for decades. acknowledged that human rights in North In exchange for these concessions, Korea constituted a “rough situation,” but Trump seems to have won astonishingly quickly added that “it’s rough in a lot of little. In a joint statement, Kim merely places, by the way.” “reaffirmed” the same commitment to Incredibly, Trump told Voice of denuclearization of the Korean Peninsula America that he had this message for the that North Korea has made since 1992. “They were willing to de-nuke,” Trump North Korean people: “I think you have somebody that has a great feeling for them. crowed at his news conference after his He wants to do right by them and we got meetings with Kim. Trump seemed to along really well.” believe he had achieved some agreement, All this is to say that Kim Jong Un but the concessions were all his own. The most remarkable aspect of the joint proved the more able negotiator. North statement was what it didn’t contain. There Korean government officials have to limit their computer time, because of electricity was nothing about North Korea freezing plutonium and uranium programs, nothing shortages, and they are international pariahs — yet they are very savvy and about destroying intercontinental ballistic missiles, nothing about allowing inspectors shrewd, and they were counseled by one of the smartest Trump handlers of all, to return to nuclear sites, nothing about President Moon Jae-in of South Korea. North Korea making a full declaration My guess is that Kim flattered Trump, of its nuclear program, nothing about as Moon has, and that Trump simply didn’t a timetable, nothing about verification, realize how little he was getting. On my not even any pledge to permanently halt most recent visit to North Korea, officials testing of nuclear weapons or missiles. were asking me subtle questions about the Kim seems to have completely out- differences in views of Mike Pompeo and negotiated Trump, and it’s scary that Nikki Haley; meanwhile, Trump said he Trump doesn’t seem to realize this. For didn’t need to do much homework. now Trump has much less to show than Whatever our politics, we should past negotiators who hammered out deals all want Trump to succeed in reducing with North Korea like the 1994 Agreed tensions on the Korean Peninsula, and Framework, which completely froze it’s good to see that Trump now supports the country’s plutonium program with a engagement rather than military options. rigorous monitoring system. There will be further negotiations, and Trump claimed an “excellent these may actually freeze plutonium relationship” with Kim, and it certainly is better for the two leaders to be exchanging production and destroy missiles. But at least in the first round, Trump seems to compliments rather than missiles. In a have been snookered. sense, Trump has eased the tensions that ■ he himself created when he threatened last Nicholas Kristof grew up on a sheep and fall to “totally destroy” North Korea. cherry farm in Yamhill. He has been a col- There’s still plenty we don’t know and umnist for The New York Times since 2001. lots of uncertainty about the future. But 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. Letters must be signed by the author and include the city of residence 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.
