Thursday, June 17,2010 - Thomasville Times - A5
OPINION
Thomasville Times
MICHAEL B. STARN
Publisher
mstarn@hpe.com
' •
LYNN WAGNER
Advertising Director
lwagner@hpe.com
LISA M. WALL
Editor
editor@tvilletimes.com
•
ZACH KEPLEY
Sports Editor
tvillesports@yahoo.com
Happy Father’s
Day
VIEWPOINT
MARTHA R. CARR
Syndicated Columnist
Here’s to all of the dads who
understand that the key ingre
dient to being a great dad is
showing up, no matter what. It
seems like such a simple and
obvious task. Just be there
when your child needs some- ■
one to talk to or when there’s
a flute concert or when there’s
a football practice and they
asked the parents to be there.
But, if you’ve shown up
at any of these events you
know from the empty seats
how often it doesn’t happen.
There are so many great
and worthwhile excuses like
having work to get done or at
least sending your spouse or
maybe even a nice day and
18 holes. The average per
son would nod their head in
agreement with each one of
them and say, well, you tried.
However, parent
ing is not about you. .
Most people get that in
a general sense because,
particiflarly when the child is
small, they obviously need us
to focus. At first, everything
about being a new parent is
exhausting and makes the
head spin because it’s all so
new, it’s necessary and there’s
really no choice if the job is to
be done even halfway right.
I remember when my son,
Louie, was brand new and I
drove by a restaurant where
my friends were sitting out
side, laughing and chatting. I
wanted to stop and join them
but Louie needed my atten
tion and that came first. That
was the moment I knew things
had changed forever and I just
needed to give in and do it.
But here’s an added twist.
In order to achieve great
ness, we have to be willing
to show up and believe it’ll
all work out. We get that
belief in doses every time
a parent shows up for us.
That goes double when we
know they had to put some
thing else aside in order
to be there, in that seat.
All of us want our children
to reach beyond what seems
possible or easy and go for
what challenges them, what
brings out their talents and
then tests the boundaries at
least a little. We’ve learned
by now that that’s where
the real rewards are wait
ing but if you can’t risk it
and show up, your chances
of finding it go way down.
That’s the exact spot where
it comes in handy if you had
a dad who went beyond what
seemed easy or convenient
and just showed up without
wondering what was in it for
them. They were there fitting
into the small desk or at the
dinner table or standing on
the sidelines and they were
cheering for your success.
We may not know what
rewards await us for trying
every day, but we’ve been
given this wonderful example
that going first is a big part
of the process. It’s like going
to the gym every day in the
early morning hours be
cause being fit matters and
then waiting months to see
the results. Every morning,
there you are in the spin
ning class doing your part.
It’s even about dating a lot
of people but not settling for
someone who seems okay but
just isn’t quite right for you.
You wade out again into
the choices and believe in the
possibilities of what might
be there because you have a
great dad who showed up and
believed in you even though
you were blowing the wrong
note during the flute concert
or were distracted by fireflies
during the soccer game.
Dads are great at being
open to the idea that your
greatness is stfil evolving and
chasing fireflies might be a
part of the bigger picture.
When our children are
grown it’s even about show
ing up to say nothing at all
and encouraging our children
to need us less because we
know they now have all the
tools that they need to build
tjieir own dreams. To aU of
us, like me, whose great dad
has passed away, may we live
our lives in a way that honors
their humor, their passion ,
and their beliefs in us. Happy
Father’s Day everyone!
Martha’s latest book is the
memoir, A Place to Call Home.
www.MarthaRandolphCarr.
'Congress shall make no law respecting an establish
ment of religion, or prohibiting free exercise thereof; or
abridging the freedom of speech or of the press; or the
right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to peti
tion the Government for a redress of grievances'
— First Amendment
United States Constitution
THERE’S TERRORISTS IN
THEM THAR HILLS.'
THERE'S GOU) IN
THEM THAR HIU5.'
2001
2010
Please, donH save us
VIEWPOINT
DAVID HARSANYI
Syndicated Columnist
You know what journal
ism could really use more
of? Government participa
tion. Who better, after all,
than a gaggle of technocrats
and political appointees to
guide the industry in mat
ters of entrepreneurship,
fairness and coverage?
Thankfully, the good folks
at the Federal Trade Com
mission are all over it, cob
bling together a report aimed
at saving newspapers, called
“Potential Policy Recom
mendation To Support the
Reinvention of Journalism.’’
It’s only the first step in a
long-term plan to rescue the
Fourth Estate from itself.
As you can imagine, the
paper is crammed with
groundbreaking ideas:
industry bailouts, higher
taxes on the stuff you buy
to help subsidize the stuff
you don’t, etc. There is even
talk of a government-spon
sored journalist-education
program, because God
knows there simply aren’t
enough J-school students.
Now, I suppose some
of you might find it a bit
creepy that civil servants
have tasked themselves
with “reinventing” jour
nalism. How healthy, you
may wonder, could it be for
government to pick jour
nalistic winners and losers
in a democratic society?
“Not very” would be the
correct answer. Then again,
if the FTC can’t repress its
authoritarian impulses — an
affliction that’s catching
these days — it, at the very
least, could have the decency
to offer up some ideas that
sound vaguely innovative.
But as Jeff Jarvis, a new-
niedia expert and professor
at CUNY Graduate School of
Journalism, points out, “The
word ‘blog’ is used but once
in 35 pages of text — and
then only in a pai;enthetical
mention of soccer blogs.”
Before you know it, the
FTC will puU together a re
port called the “Potential Pol
icy Recommendation To Sup
port the Reinvention of the
No. 2 Pencil.” Technological
advances (such as the iPad)
are vital in this budding plan
only if we can tax them.
The larger problem,
though, is that the en
tire discussion is predi
cated on a myth.
The majority of the FTC
draft focuses on ways to bail
out the newspaper business,
which isn’t exactly the same
as “saving” journalism. I
love newspapers. I make
my living at a newspaper
(for now). But journalism
doesn’t need salvaging.
Newspapers — as in, news
on paper — are struggling,
for now. But consumers
(scrupifiously ignored in the
FTC report) have an array
of news outlets from which
to choose, and most often.
the coverage offered by them
is far more thorough than
what we’ve had in the past.
How we disseminate infor
mation is being reinvented
— it always is being rein
vented — and one day soon
a breakthrough will allow
newspapers to be compensat
ed more fairly for the content
they produce. But propping
up antiquated models is no ^
way to save any industry.
, Let me put it another way.
In 1985, the FTC did not set
forth recommendations on
how to “reinvent music”
and propose a 5 percent tax
on compact discs as a way
to subsidize companies that
produced vinyl records.
That kind of intervention
would have hindered technol
ogy rather than driven it.
Hey, bookstores are going
out of business at an alarm
ing rate. No one is suggest
ing we reinvent “writing.”
So though it might seem
tragic to the people at the
FTC that the future of
journalism may not include
every magazine and televi
sion station they admire,
it’s not the government’s
job to alter the trajectory
of journalism. Journalism
should be off-limits. And
the FTC “discussions” are
a way to preserve, not save,
and to control, not innovate.
David Harsanyi is a col
umnist at The Denver Post
and the author of “Nanny
State. ” Visit his website at
www.DavidHarsanyi.com.
To find out more about David
Harsanyi and read features
by other Creators Syndicate
writers and cartoonists,
visit www.creators.com.
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EDITORIALS
All unsigned editorials are the
consensus of Editor Lisa Wall and
Sports Editor Zach Kepley