media news

Good journalism still exists

I keep seeing these references to the “good old days” of journalism, when TV news anchors — Walter Cronkite is the one most commonly referenced — would “read the news” with an “agenda.”

Well, allow me this brief retort. Those “good old days” need not be dredged up and remembered with overdue, overstated and overinflated reverence.

There still is plenty of good broadcast journalism, along with print journalism, being practiced.

Many of my friends and former colleagues know that to be true. Some of them, though, lapse into that hyper-sentimentalism in which they recall how it used to be.

I admit these days to watching a lot of broadcast and cable news. The broadcast news still is presented by individuals who do so with professionalism and without the “agenda” that so many accuse the media of presenting.

The three major commercial broadcast networks continue to feature individuals who follow the Cronkite model brought up so often these days; I also will include PBS, the public TV network, as well among the organizations that present news without favor toward one side or the other.

The far right — led by the most recent ex-president — have poisoned the debate. Donald Trump has labeled the media the “enemy of the people” and the purveyors of “fake news.” Sadly and tragically, too many Americans swallowed that rhetorical snake oil. I know that cable news has produced a ton of right- and left-wing commentators and “contributors.”

However, I am going to stand with my brothers and sisters in the media and will continue to salute them for the work they do to tell the stories of our communities and our world.

johnkanelis_92@hotmail.com

local news

Reform immigration policy!

Sakshi Mohta’s story saddens me terribly, as it speaks to a fundamental flaw in our nation’s inability to help people like her assimilate more completely into the country where she came of age.

Mohta dreams of becoming a physician. Mohta attends the University of Texas-Dallas. The student wrote an essay for the Dallas Morning News that laments being “aged out” of the nation’s immigration system, putting her in position to face possible deportation.

Yes, she entered this country legally as an 8-year-old when her parents moved here.

The nation’s immigration system is broken. It needs repair. It needs to be made more efficient and it needs to enable immigrants such as Mohta to be able to achieve either permanent resident status or enables them to fast-track their way to U.S. citizenship.

I came to America legally. Our broken immigration system is sending me away (dallasnews.com)

Her essay began with these words: Most people my age look forward to their 21st birthday — a night of celebrating your long-awaited adulthood with friends. But in February, I approached that milestone with a sense of dread. My birthday marked the day I “aged out” of my immigration status. Overnight, I went from being the legal dependent of my parents to a deportation risk. A snag in immigration policy landed me here. That snag is a serious one, impacting 200,000 other “documented Dreamers” like me. Congress can fix this problem. For the benefit of America, it should.

Ah, yes. Sakshi Mohta is a Dreamer, one of those U.S. residents who are caught in a system that doesn’t know what to do with them once they reach a certain age.

Mohta wants the system reformed. So do I. So do many other Americans who want our nation to continue to serve as a beacon to those who come here in search of greater opportunity.

Mohta has at least one important friend in the Senate. Mohta wrote: Texas Sen. John Cornyn gave his verbal commitment to support policy change, but words are not enough. We need action.

By all means, we most certainly do need the people in power to lend credence to their words of support.

johnkanelis_92@hotmail.com

media news

Extinction looms

It’s strange to see myself in this fashion, but I am going to face a harsh reality. I worked in a profession that is fading ever so steadily into what we often call the “dustbin of history.”

I was a print journalist for nearly 37 years. I wrote news stories and then opinion pieces for newspapers in Oregon and Texas. Then my days as a full-timer ended almost a decade ago. I am back at it these days as a freelance reporter for a weekly newspaper, the Farmersville Times, in Collin County, Texas; I also write feature stories for the public radio station over yonder in Hunt County, at KETR-FM, which is affiliated with Texas A&M University-Commerce. For the record … I am having the time of my life.

My wife and I were walking through our neighborhood today and as we walked past the school nearby, I recalled returning in 1983 to the grade school I attended in Portland. My fifth-grade shop teacher, John Eide, invited me to participate in a “career day” event at the school. I accepted the invitation gladly and spoke to youngsters at Harvey W. Scott Elementary School about the joy of pursuing a craft I loved.

I had been at it for about seven years at that point. I was still pretty new to journalism, but I loved my job and looked forward to the career I would enjoy. The next 30 years were filled with loads of fun, excitement and hard work. I am proud of the career I built.

I am wondering, though: Do they still have career days and if so, do they invite newspaper reporters to speak to aspiring youngsters about how to pursue a career in journalism?

If they do, what do today’s journalists tell these future reporters? My hunch would be they would tell them to keep their powder dry if they intend to work for newspapers (if the students even know what a newspaper is these days). 

Will my granddaughter, who’s now 9 years old, know about what Grandpa did for a living? I will look forward one day to explaining it to her. I fear there might not be anyone still doing precisely the work that gave me so much joy and fulfillment.

johnkanelis_92@hotmail.com

legal news

Back and forth on marijuana

Man, I cannot make up my mind on the issue of whether we ought to legalize marijuana.

I have commented in the past on this blog about my “open mind” on the issue. It’s still open, but it closes from time to time.

At the moment, my mind hasn’t slammed the proverbial door shut, but I am wavering.

States are decriminalizing marijuana use. Oregon, the state of my birth, was among the first to do so. It’s two Pacific Cost neighboring states — Washington and California — have done the same. We moved away from Oregon in 1984, so I am not entirely well-versed on the effect that decriminalization has had on my home state.

I am not prepared to endorse the idea of decriminalization. Nor am I ready to condemn it. So, I guess my mind is open.

There might be a middle ground I can endorse: turning it into a civil penalty, sort of like a traffic ticket. You pay the fine and go about your business.

Some progressive members of Congress are talking openly about legalizing marijuana use. I’ll have to get back to you on that one.

johnkanelis_92@hotmail.com

national news

RNC loses will to fight

It is clear to me that the leadership of a once-great political party has lost its will to stand and fight for what it believes.

The Republican National Committee’s decision to bow out of future presidential debates — at the primary and general-election levels — has demonstrated to me that the party has been taken over by cowards.

Think of it. The titular head of the party, Donald J. Trump, is the former Coward in Chief. He bitched out loud during his term as president that the press is the “enemy of the people.” He yapped and yammered preparing for presidential debates with the fellow who beat him in 2020, Joe Biden, that the joint appearances were stacked against him.

Trump has managed to project his cowardice onto the leadership of the RNC, now led by Ronna Romney McDaniel. Here’s an example of how McDaniel shows her cowardly nature: She used to be proud to wear the name of her uncle, Mitt Romney; these days, because The Donald despises Romney, she has dropped the “Romney” from her name and now goes by Ronna McDaniel. It’s a little thing. Then again, it really isn’t.

Now the RNC has decided that it won’t rely on journalists to moderate future presidential debates. Its decision, therefore, to pull out of future events sponsored by the Commission on Presidential Debates — a non-partisan group — suggests it has swallowed the swill served by The Donald.

The nation has come to rely on these joint appearances to help voters make decisions on who is best suited to lead the country. And, yes, at times individuals emerge from these events whom no one expects. I am willing to argue that Donald Trump pulled off that very surprise during the 2016 presidential primary season.

So, what happened to The Donald? He lost re-election in 2020 and promptly blamed everyone else for his loss, ignoring the undeniable truth that the presidency he ran failed. He threw blame at the feet of the debate organizers.

Now we have the Republican National Committee continuing to adhere to the whims and machinations of the twice-impeached and defeated POTUS.

Cowards. All of ’em!

johnkanelis_92@hotmail.com

local news

When will denigration stop?

I cannot help but wonder how a member of Congress can continually denigrate the president of the United States, suggesting the president is mentally unfit for high office and then possibly expect that president to respond to a request — were it to come from the congressman — for help in any fashion.

U.S. Rep. Ronny Jackson is a freshman Republican member of the House from the Texas Panhandle. Ever since taking office after winning election in 2020, Jackson has been on a constant Twitter harangue over President Biden’s occasional verbal stumbles.

He doesn’t refer to Joe Biden as “President” Biden. He continually harps on what I believe is a red-herring argument that the POTUS would fail a cognitive test.

Jackson recently declared that the nation needs Donald Trump “more than ever.” No, Ronny, the nation does not need the serial liar and philanderer, the crook, the insurrectionist, the power-hungry narcissist, the a**hole who cannot articulate a single public policy with any degree of intelligence.

Back to my point. There could come a time when the 13th Congressional District of Texas needs immediate federal attention. Natural disasters do strike, you know. How does the congressman, the author of the string of idiotic, moronic and disgraceful Twitter messages ask the president for help?

Moreover, how does the president, who has been on the receiving end of these vile epithets, respond to those requests, were they to come?

I mention Jackson mainly because he represents a region I used to call home. He also has become a bit of a national media star, given his extreme anger aimed at President Biden; Fox News loves having this clown on air expressing himself in such a cavalier fashion … without ever challenging the veracity of the claims he makes.

Hey, I am just asking … for a friend.

johnkanelis_92@hotmail.com

national news

They want this guy back?

Just think: a lot of Americans want to see this guy returned to the office he denigrated, disrespected and devalued damn near each day he occupied it.

I saw this social media meme and wanted to share it here. I don’t know its source; it doesn’t matter. I believe its content, although I need to put a couple of the barbs in some proper context.

The bit about “killing more Americans than Hitler” and losing “5 million jobs” is attributable to the COVID-19 pandemic, which wasn’t entirely Donald Trump’s fault. Yes, he did downplay the seriousness of it as the killer virus began its path of death and destruction through the nation and around the world. That helped contribute to the calamity that befell the nation in 2020 and 2021.

And yet, millions of Americans continue to say he “told it like it is.” No, he didn’t. He told it the way he wanted us to believe it to be.

I should add that the 45th POTUS also told an estimated 35,000 lies, put many of our international alliances in jeopardy, mocked people with disabilities and prisoners of war and — this is the best one — became a Vladimir Putin enabler by refusing to admit the Russian tyrant is a killer and by refusing to condemn him for interfering in our electoral process.

Puh-leeeze …

johnkanelis_92@hotmail.com

business news, State news

Pro-business policy? Hah!

Let’s see. How does a politician who belongs to the political party that calls itself a “pro-business” organization justify a policy that stops shipments of goods and commodities and threatens so many businesses in the state he governs?

Republican Texas Gov. Greg Abbott has pulled back his enhanced-inspection order on the state’s border with Mexico. He said he was looking for human traffickers and their “cargo” of individuals who were being smuggled into the United States.

Then he worked out agreements with two Mexican state governors and lifted the inspection protocol at crossings involving the states of Nuevo Leon and Chihuahua. The delay in delivery of food and other goods has crippled businesses across the state.

Now he’s called off the inspection crackdown. The damage has been done to many businesses in Texas … and to what end?

Greg Abbott has pulled off yet another political stunt. It’s not a business-friendly stunt at that!

johnkanelis_92@hotmail.com

local news, media news

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The building where my full-time journalism career came to an end has changed hands, with a new owner taking possession of an iconic structure that sits on the fringe of downtown Amarillo, Texas.

The Globe-News building has been purchased by a company that manufactures lubricants. Strange, I know. However, this blog post isn’t about that change of occupants. Instead, I want to wonder aloud about an aspect of the Globe-News building that I hope the new owners can preserve.

On the Harrison Street side of the building, an inscription is carved into the stone face. It comes from a comment attributed to the late Gene Howe, publisher of the Globe-News. It states: A newspaper can be forgiven for lack of wisdom but never for lack of courage.

Those were words of wisdom that many of us took seriously. Indeed, after I started work at the Globe-News in January 1995 as editorial page editor, I decided to include the message on the editorial page masthead. We strived to meet that standard every day.

The building where I worked for nearly 18 years is vacant. The corporate owners sold the paper some years ago. The new owners then gutted the staff in all departments and moved who remained into an office suite in a downtown building.

The inscription carved into the stone building front, though, needs a permanent home. I did some sniffing around and learned today that there has been some discussion about whether they can remove the slab with the engraving from the building and find a spot for it in the Panhandle-Plains Historical Museum on the campus at West Texas A&M University. Whether it’s just idle chatter or something that could result in a serious move remains to be determined.

I found out today from a former colleague that the PPHM already houses many of the print archives, photo negatives, bound volumes and assorted artifacts from the Globe-News’s glory days.

Indeed, I also learned that the new property owners recently uncovered the Pulitzer Prize for Meritorious Public Service medal the newspaper won in 1961, when the late editor Tommy Thompson uncovered county government corruption. The medal, too, is now in safe keeping!

I intend to continue sniffing around my old haunts. The engraving means a lot to those of who worked inside that old building. It should mean a great deal to the community that benefited from the effort to keep the faith with what those words urged us to do.

johnkanelis_92@hotmail.com

military news

Moskva sunk!

The Moskva — once the pride of the Russian navy — now apparently lies at the bottom of the Black Sea, sent to its watery grave by at least one missile fired from a Ukrainian battery.

The Moskva, a guided-missile cruiser, weighed in at 12,500 tons; it spanned 600 feet in length and carried a crew of 500 sailors.

Then it ran into trouble while Russian armed forces got bogged down in their effort to subdue Ukraine.

Info on Moskva, Russian flagship sank by Ukrainian missile (nypost.com)

What’s at stake now? Russian tyrant Vladimir Putin clearly is shocked that the Ukrainians would be able to inflict this most serious ship-sinking since World War II.

If only the Ukrainians’ stunning battlefield success would persuade Putin to give up his horrendous effort to subdue a sovereign state.

President Biden has labeled Putin a war criminal and accused him of committing genocide against the Ukrainians. Most of the world is reeling in horror at what Ukrainians are discovering on city streets as Russian troops retreat; they are finding corpses of civilians who were shot in the head.

Putin won’t give up the fight easily. That much seems clear. It also lays bare the brutality that lurks in what passes for this individual’s heart.

I am left only to hope that the Ukrainians can continue to inflict as much damage as possible on the invaders to the point that Russians will say “Enough is enough!” … and rid themselves of Vladimir Putin.

johnkanelis_92@hotmail.com

Commentary on politics, current events and life experience