4 A
❘
SATURDAY EDITION
❘ JANUARY 10, 2018
Siuslaw News
P.O. Box 10
Florence, OR 97439
NED HICKSON , EDITOR
Opinion
Walking the fine line of ‘The Post’
W
hen
journalists
watch films such as
“The Post” or
“Spotlight,” they see how ded-
icated reporters, editors, copy-
editors and an entire newspa-
per staff can take a kernel of
truth and transform it into a
paradigm-shifting story. In
2015's “Spotlight,” a team of
four investigative journalists
learns to work with a new edi-
tor in the light of scandal with-
in the religious community. In
“The Post,” opening this week-
end, an entire newspaper hangs
in the balance as an editor and
publisher seek to invoke free-
dom of the press. Both films
are about the search for truth,
the verification of sources and
the inevitable pushback from
people, often in places of
authority, who do not wish to
fully inform the public.
For me, “The Post” was
about much more than that.
Alongside the story about jour-
nalistic heroes fighting for the
freedom of the press is the
story of Katherine Graham
(played by Meryl Streep), pub-
lisher of The Washington Post.
“The Post” draws attention
to the presence of women in
the newsroom, the streets and
the floor of the New York
Stock Exchange. If they are
there, they are few and far
between. Except for Graham,
who commands a room in her
social life, but struggles with
nerves and pressure in the
boardroom.
Taking on the controversial
story of the Pentagon Papers is
her debut, her coming out, her
grand entrance into what is
clearly a man's world. By the
end of the film, she has taken
her rightful place at the head of
The Post, not as the legacy of
her father's daughter or her
husband's wife, but as Kay
Graham, herself.
This could not be done with-
out a stellar supporting cast of
journalists and her executive
editor, Ben Bradlee, played by
Tom Hanks.
While Bradlee and his
reporters work to gather infor-
mation, Graham must prepare
herself to be the only woman
in the boardroom. She rehears-
es key points, she takes notes,
she takes a deep breath — but
she rarely gets the chance to
speak.
In short, she struggles with
what pop culture describes as
“imposter syndrome,” a term
used to describe someone who
feels insufficient in their
knowledge, even if they have
prepared for the test, earned
their degree or qualified for
that position. It is something
many women experience.
But Graham keeps going,
often with a smile, even in the
face of verbal opposition. She
thanks her naysayers “for their
frankness” as they tell her time
and again that she is destroying
the legacy of The Post.
For most of the film,
Graham walks a fine line
between hostess and publisher.
As long as she doesn’t involve
herself too much in the running
of her newspaper, she can be
both. But she must choose
between her longtime friend-
ship with the Washington
elite's Robert McNamara, who
created the Vietnam Study
Task Force in 1967 — which
ultimately
created
the
Pentagon Papers — and her
role as a representative of the
free press.
When Bradlee gets hold of
the classified study, Graham
ultimately must choose who
she wants to be.
“If we live in a world where
the government can tell us
what we can and cannot print,
then The Washington Post as
we know it has already ceased
to exist,” Bradlee says.
It may sound melodramatic,
like a line from “Star Wars”
about the empire already win-
ning. And maybe, in the Nixon
era, it seemed that way. But
thanks to the efforts of The
New York Times, The
Washington Post and journal-
ists like Bradlee and Graham,
the media reaffirmed its right
to freedom of the press.
In the end, Graham affirms
both the role of the newspaper
— for “outstanding news col-
lection and reporting” and
“dedication to the welfare of
the nation and to the principles
of the free press” — and her-
self. As she says, “We will
carry on in the tradition that
has been so well set.”
As a journalist and a
woman, it is a legacy I can
look up to.
On Sunday, Jan. 14, Siuslaw
News Editor Ned Hickson and
Features Editor Chantelle
Meyer will participate in a
Q&A at City Lights Cinemas
at the end of the 3 p.m. show-
ing of “The Post.” Joining
them will be Mel Gurtov, one
of the authors of the historic
Pentagon Papers, who will
introduce the film and take part
in the discussion.
Write Siuslaw News Features
Editor Chantelle Meyer at
cmeyer@thesiuslawnews.com or
c/o Siuslaw News, 148 maple St.,
Florence, Ore. 97439.
LETTERS
L UCKY TO HAVE DEDICATED
FIREFIGHTERS
My wife and I have four hardwire
smoke detectors with battery backups in
our house. Over the past 17 years, we
have had to have the batteries replaced
numerous times — and when one device
goes off at 2 a.m. in the morning, it caus-
es stress.
I could once do the replacement
myself. But I no longer climb ladders, so
have always resorted to calling an electri-
cian whose home-call charge is at least
$75, plus then the cost of the battery.
A few days ago, my wife contacted the
Sisulaw Fire Department asking if they
had someone that could replace a battery
because it was going off and beeping
loudly. That same day, Tony Miller, the
Interim Fire Protection Officer, came
over.
The first thing he did when he walked
into our house was to use a device to
check for carbon monoxide. He then
changed the battery in the detector that
continued to beep. He then mentioned that
the detectors had a life of about 10 years
and ours were 17 years old.
He then asked if we wanted to find a
replacement or have him replace the old
with new. Today, he showed up with four
new detectors with a lifespan of 10 years
with an internal battery that cannot be
replaced — so no more changing batter-
ies.
This is a program that the State Fire
Marshal has in place and it is no charge to
a family.
Tony was professional, very courteous
and gave us some insight into firefighter’s
training and his duties as the Interim Fire
Protection Officer.
Florence is fortunate to have such a
dedicated individual working for us.
—Win Jolley
Florence
M ORE STUDY NEEDED ON
WATER ISSUES
Two great lakes, one in good health and
one that has chronic symptoms. With that
said, the Dunes City Council, in my opin-
ion, took action to draw water from the
healthy lake without doing due diligence.
As a good neighbor, I’m not against
Siltcoos Lake for obtaining good drinking
water by using Woahink Lake as a source.
But what is disturbing to me is that I feel
the Dunes City Council should have
ordered a new environmental impact
report before dropping the gavel.
But they chose not to, which may come
back as a problem in the future.
Again, I am not against good clean
drinking water for Siltcoos Lake resi-
dents. But I believe Dunes City Council
rushed into a large impacting decision by
not doing a study on healthy Woahink
Lake.
—John Colwell
Dunes City
F OCUSING ON LOCAL ISSUES
HAS BROADER IMPACT
Regarding Michael Allen’s Letter to the
Editor (“Climate Change Underreported
by Local Media,” Jan. 10):
I declined to participate in the nation-
wide EMAC effort because the “other cli-
mate mayors across our state” were ini-
tially folks like the Mayor of San
Francisco and Portland, and was as much
a reaction to the actions taken by
President Trump in relation to the Paris
conference as it was out of concern for the
environment.
I have struggled hard since becoming
mayor to keep anyone from using our city
government to further any political agen-
da (and that includes mine).
Another aspect of my decsison was that
neither the Mayor of San Francisco nor I
can have much impact on Global
Warming, and I have worked hard to see
that our staff and committees focus on
things that will support the work plan of
the our city.
I was happy to support the efforts of
our local EMAC to regulate Styrofoam in
our community because that has a direct
impact on the City of Florence.
I believe I was elected to serve the
Citizens of Florence and to guide the
efforts of the City Council and staff in the
responsibilities set forth in our City
Charter and Code.
Those responsibilities focus primarily
on providing essential services to the City
and making it a better place to live.
Nowhere do I see a mandate to support
any regional or global effort that is parti-
san in nature or one that furthers anyone’s
political agenda.
—Joe Henry
Mayor of Florence
P ASSAGE OF M101 ASSURES
AGAINST COST SHIFTING
Katie Prosser’s Letter to the Editer
(“War on the Working Class,” Jan. 10)
unfortunately confuses or conflates many
issues and her efforts to place stigma on
Measure 101 aren’t founded in fact.
A couple of examples:
1) The bicycle or vehicle taxes, have
nothing to do with M101.
2) Health insurance providers of the
Legislature are not exempted from M101.
The exemption for Medicare resulted
from federal law, not state choice.
Every worker insured through an
employer would expect to benefit from
M101 passage through lower overall
healthcare premium prices. Every person
buying “individual market” coverage will
see lower premiums (and by “lower” I
mean reduced from what the price
increase trend would otherwise be.)
Why? By keeping the health care costs
of 400,000 new (as of 2014) Medicaid
enrollees from being shifted over to
Oregon “group” and “individual” market
policies should they become uninsured by
repealing M101.
Passage of M101 accomplishes this:
Using 95 percent of federal — rather than
state — funding.
If the 400,000 have no such coverage,
their ER charges and other provider costs
will be shifted over to all other carriers
using those same providers. In turn, the
carriers would seek higher approved rates
from the state.
These lower premiums are confirmed
by a major 2016 study looking at national
impacts of the recent Medicaid expansion
under the Affordable Care Act.
Oregon and many states adopted such
expansion while many GOP-controlled
states rejected it. The study compared 91
pairs of counties, each pair having similar
health demographics.
The only difference for each pair was
respective location for one county in a
state that expanded Medicaid versus
rejecting such expansion.
The study result: “Marketplace premi-
ums in states that have expanded
Medicaid are, on average, substantially
lower than in states that have not ... We
estimate that Marketplace premiums are
about 7 percent lower in expansion
states...” (Underlined in original text.)
The study, conducted by the
Department of Health and Human
Services, and titled “The Effect of
Medicaid Expansion on Marketplace
Premiums” is at https://aspe.hhs .gov/pdf-
report/effectmedicaid-expansion-market-
place-premiums.
Granted, healthcare finance is not a
simple issue. But a “no” vote only pro-
motes immediate insurance price instabil-
ity — and risks increasing premiums.
—Rand Dawson
Siltcoos Lake
❘ 541-902-3520 ❘
NHICKSON @ THESIUSLAWNEWS . COM
The First Amendment
C
ongress shall make no law respecting an estab-
lishment of religion or prohibiting the free exer-
cise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of
the press, or the right of the people peaceably to
assemble, and to petition the Government for a
redress of grievances.
USPS# 497-660
Copyright 2017 © Siuslaw News
Published every Wednesday and Saturday at 148 Maple St. in Florence, Lane County, Oregon. A member of the
National Newspaper Association and Oregon Newspaper Publishers Association. Periodicals postage paid at
Florence, Ore. Postmaster, send address changes to: Siuslaw News, P.O. Box 10, Florence, OR 97439; phone
541-997-3441; fax 541-997-7979. All press releases may be sent to PressReleases@TheSiuslawNews.com.
Oregon Group Publisher 541-265 8571
Publisher, ext. 318
Editor, ext. 313
Consulting Editor 831-761-7353
Email: echalhoub@register-pajaronian.com
Marketing Director, ext. 326
Office Supervisor, ext. 312
Production Supervisor
Press Manager
James Rand
Jenna Bartlett
Ned Hickson
Erik Chalhoub
Susan Gutierrez
Cathy Dietz
Ron Annis
Jeremy Gentry
DEADLINES:
Wednesday Issue—General news, Monday noon; Budgets, four days prior to publication; Regular classified ads,
Monday 1 p.m.; Display ads, Monday noon; Boxed and display classified ads, Friday 5 p.m.
Saturday Issue—General news, Thursday noon; Budgets, two days prior to publication; Regular
classifiedad,sThursday 1 p.m.; Display ads, Thursday noon; Boxed and display classified ads, Wednesday 5 p.m.
Soundings, Tuesday 5 p.m.
NEWSPAPER SUBSCRIPTION RATES:
In Lane County — 1-year subscription, $76; 6-month in-county, $52; 10-weeks subscription, $23; Out of Lane
County — 1-year subscription,$99; 6-month out-of-county, $65; 10-weeks subscription, $29; Out of State — 1-
year subscription, $125; E-Edition Online Only (Anywhere) — 1-year subscription, $71.
Mail subscription includes E-Edition.
Website and E-Edition: TheSiuslawNews.com
L ETTERS
TO THE
P OLICY
E DITOR
The Siuslaw News welcomes letters to the editor
as part of a community discussion of issues on the
local, state and national level.
Emailed letters are preferred. Handwritten or
typed letters must be signed. All letters need to
include full name, address and phone number; only
name and city will be printed. Letters should be
limited to about 300 words. Letters are subject to
editing for length, grammar and clarity. Publication
of any letter is not guaranteed and depends on
space available and the volume of letters received.
Libelous, argumentative and anonymous letters
or poetry, or letters from outside our readership
area will only be published at the discretion of the
editor.
P OLITICAL /E LECTION L ETTERS :
Election-related letters must address pertinent or
timely issues of interest to our readers at-large.
Letters must 1) Not be a part of letter-writing
campaigns on behalf of (or by) candidates; 2)
Ensure any information about a candidate is accu-
rate, fair and not from second-hand knowledge or
hearsay; and 3) explain the reasons to support
candidates based on personal experience and per-
spective rather than partisanship and campaign-
style rhetoric.
Candidates themselves may not use the letters to
the editor column to outline their views and plat-
forms or to ask for votes; this constitutes paid polit-
ical advertising.
As with all letters and advertising content, the
newspaper, at the sole discretion of the publisher,
general manager and editor, reserves the right to
reject any letter that doesn’t follow the above crite-
ria.
Send letters to:
nhickson@thesiuslawnews.com
WHERE TO WRITE
Pres. Donald Trump
The White House
1600 Pennsylvania Ave.
NW
Washington, D.C. 20500
Comments: 202-456-1111
Switchboard: 202-456-1414
FAX: 202-456-2461
TTY/TDD Comments:
202-456-6213
www.whitehouse.gov
Gov. Kate Brown
160 State Capitol
900 Court St.
Salem, Ore. 97301-4047
Governor’s Citizens’ Rep.
Message Line:
503-378-4582
www.oregon.gov/gov
U.S. Sen. Ron Wyden
221 Dirksen Senate Office
Bldg
Washington, DC 20510
202-224-5244
541-431-0229
www.wyden.senate.gov
U.S. Sen. Jeff Merkley
313 Hart Senate Office
Bldg
Washington, DC 20510
202-224-3753/FAX: 202-
228-3997
541-465-6750
www.merkley.senate.gov
U.S. Rep. Peter DeFazio
( 4 th Dist.)
2134 Rayburn HOB
Washington, DC 20515
202-225-6416
541-269-2609
541-465-6732
www.defazio.house.gov
State Sen. Arnie Roblan
( Dist. 5 )
900 Court St. NE - S-417
Salem, OR 97301
503-986-1705
FAX: 503-986-1080
Email: Sen.ArnieRoblan@
state.or.us
State Rep. Caddy
McKeown
( Dist. 9 )
900 Court St. NE
Salem, OR 97301
503-986-1409
Email: rep.caddymckeown
@state.or.us
West Lane County
Commissioner
Jay Bozievich
125 E. Eighth St.
Eugene, OR 97401
541-682-4203
FAX: 541-682-4616
Email:
Jay.Bozievich@
co.lane.or.us