4A |
SATURDAY EDITION
| AUGUST 3, 2019
Siuslaw News
P.O. Box 10
Florence, OR 97439
NED HICKSON , EDITOR
| 541-902-3520 | NHICKSON @ THESIUSLAWNEWS . COM
Opinion
The First Amendment
C
ongress shall make no law respect-
ing an establishment of religion or
prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or
abridging the freedom of speech, or of the
press, or the right of the people peaceably
to assemble, and to petition the Govern-
ment for a redress of grievances.
“I never considered a difference of opinion in politics, in religion, in philosophy, as cause for withdrawing from a friend.” —Thomas Jefferson (1800)
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Siuslaw News
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Ned Hickson
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Letters to the Editor policy
Will we allow ourselves to be informed or distracted?
mocracy — one that is pro-
Journalists are liaisons
tected by the intellect of an of trust between the Amer-
informed society.
ican people and those who
One of the key ingredi- govern, whether it be in
ents to a foundation strong Washington D.C., state
enough to support the government, a national
While watching cov- weight of democracy with- corporation or with local
erage of the Democratic
debates along with my
normal intake of national
news, I switched between
Ned Hickson
CNN, ABC, FOX-News,
CBS and others. I read
news articles online and in in our Constitution is the officials and institutions.
print. Even after two years, freedom given to the press.
The trust we place in
I continue to be struck by Its intention is to guaran- journalism is one of the
how one event can be seen tee a level of transparency cornerstones of maintain-
so differently by so many within the government ing a unified, peaceful
news organizations — and, just as importantly, society. Without the trust
nearly all of which had a keep government from and belief that we are an
clear slant, whether for or manipulating the informa- informed people, the en-
against.
tion its citizenry receives. suing uncertainty is fertile
When our forefathers
Shortly after the Mis- ground for chaos, mistrust
included Freedom of the souri School of Journalism and division.
Press in the Constitution, was established in 1906, its
Today’s
Information
they knew it was a dou- founder, Walter Williams, Age, thanks to the Inter-
ble-edged sword with as wrote The Journalist’s net and social media, has
much potential to do harm Creed. Within it are these forged its own two-edged
as it could to ensure the ex- words:
sword with the potential to
change of factual commu-
I believe that clear think- do as much harm as good.
nication free from govern- ing, truthful statements, In the late 1950s, iconic
mental interference.
accuracy and fairness are newsman Edward R. Mur-
However, they knew it fundamental to good jour- row recognized this para-
was a risk that needed to nalism, and that the su- dox. News reporting was
be taken if America was preme test of any journalist being transformed from
going to have a chance at is the measure of their pub- the purely word-driven
establishing a peaceful de- lic service.
medium of radio into a
From the Editor’s Desk
much more powerful visu-
al medium of television.
In 1955, during an
awards dinner where he
was the keynote speaker,
Murrow spoke of the new
television medium and the
paradox it presented for
journalists and our soci-
ety; it’s a paradox we find
ourselves facing once again
in the age of social-me-
dia-style journalism —
and in particular, the ease
in which assumption can
be passed along as fact.
In his speech, Murrow
challenged us to utilize the
new medium of television
as a way to enhance our
understanding of issues
and each other. “Other-
wise,” he said in his fi-
nal remark, “television is
nothing more than lights
in a box.”
As we enter into the up-
coming election season —
both nationally and within
our own communities —
we need to ask ourselves
whether the age of infor-
mation will enhance our
understanding or simply
distract us with the lights
inside the small boxes in
our hands.
The Siuslaw News welcomes letters to the edi-
tor as part of a community discussion of issues on
the local, state and national level.
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ters received.
Letters that are anonymous, libelous, argumen-
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unsourced or documented will not be published.
Letters containing poetry or from outside the
Siuslaw News readership area will only be pub-
lished at the discretion of the editor.
Political/Election Letters:
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
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sure 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
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paign-style rhetoric.
Candidates themselves may not use the letters
to the editor column to outline their views and
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As with all letters and advertising content, the
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er, general manager and editor, reserves the right
to reject any letter that doesn’t follow the above
criteria.
Email letters to:
nhickson@thesiuslawnews.com
LETTERS
WHERE TO WRITE
Homeless but
not nameless
He spoke through tears of fifteen
years; How his dog and him had
travelled about. The dog up and
died, just up and died; After twenty
years he still grieves.”
From the song “Mr. Bojangles”
His name was Adam — the man
who died up on the hill behind
Safeway the Wednesday before last.
Adam.
He loved to travel up to White-
fish, Mont., with his old dog Bruc-
er. They’d been together for nearly a
decade. Adam never really got over
Brucer’s death. There was a catch in
his voice when he mentioned Bruc-
er, even many years later.
Adam was a friendly, generous
man — always willing to share
what little he had. He believed that
people were basically good.
“If people knew what it was like
out on the street” he once said,
“they would help us.”
There are many of us who live
out on your streets and in the for-
ests around Florence.
We die homeless.
Please don’t let us die nameless,
too.
His name was Adam and he was
a good man. His many friends will
truly miss him.
Homeless, but not nameless.
—Steve Wandrus
Florence
Why it’s important to
take a stand as a city
What’s important about passing
a climate crisis resolution?
Resolutions by a city council are
non-binding statements, but can be
used to express values.
Despite not having legal teeth,
taking a stand means something.
A resolution is important not only
in communicating the values of a
community, but also in acknowl-
edging the government’s failure to
realize that value.
It puts the city council on record
as being fundamentally behind a
pledge to make a difference.
In the case of man-made climate
change, a resolution signals that the
city council sees climate change as
a growing threat to be countered.
A climate crisis resolution should
include endorsements from the
City’s environmental committee
(EMAC in Florence), local organi-
zations and business owners.
I hope Mayor Henry will take the
lead in passing a climate crisis res-
olution.
Resolutions by a city council do
matter.
—Michael Allen
Florence
We Agree
This may come as a shock to
many, but I have to admit that I
am in total agreement with Tony
Cavarno and his recent Letter to
the Editor regarding our voting
systems (“Simple Answer to Voting
Concerns,” July 31).
I have always been very proud
of the manner in which our vot-
ing system functions (limiting the
receipt of a ballot to only those
registered and returning by mail)
without the need for the polling
places, where most of the fraud is
taking place.
The time involved should permit
everyone to study the issues, and
complete their ballot in their own
home. This would greatly elimi-
nate the need for political parties to
be telling people how they should
vote.
Unless that’s not what Mr. Cavar-
no meant?
—Charlie Pennington
Florence
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
Oregon 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
(4th 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@
oregonlegislature.gov
State Rep.
Caddy McKeown
(Dist. 9)
900 Court St. NE
Salem, OR 97301
503-986-1409
Email: rep.caddymckeown
@oregonlegislature.gov
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