The opinions expressed on this page are those of the respective authors and do not reflect the official policy or position of The Murray Sentinel.
Instead of turning away, the photojournalist is in the moment, following the action to capture iconic scenes that tell a story with pictures. When it comes to documenting the past, focusing on people and events that have been systematically obscured or even erased in the official story, a pro like Raymond Thompson Jr. applied creative techniques to resurrect Appalachian ghosts from the 1930s. His powerful testimony illuminates one of the worst industrial disasters in U.S. history, the Hawk’s Nest Tunnel and Dam.
Thompson’s undergraduate work as an American Studies major laid the foundation for the project. “From my studies,” he explained in an interview with fellow photograph artist Wendell A. White, “I was left with this deep understanding of the importance of studying historical systems.”
“I began thinking of America’s complex racial caste system as a system of oppression that is very hard to see at the micro level and that requires examining from a macro level.”
Thompson’s book, “Appalachian Ghosts,” is a brilliant reimagining of the people and the landscape of West Virginia’s Hawk’s Nest. Through a mix of photos, prose, and poetry, he strips away layer upon layer of history to expose cynical corporate cultures that extract what they need from the land and the people, and then turn away from the detritus.
Visual documentation of the workers (predominately Black men) and the construction itself was limited. Archival documents were also scarce, so Thompson made a number of visits to the ravaged landscape for signs of the people touched by the tragedy.
According to Catherine Venable Moore’s Foreword to the book, Thompson’s goal was to “repeople the story of the Hawk’s Nest Tunnel to expand its archive.”
“In this way,” she goes on, “it is an act of rebellion, defiance, and courage.
Nearly two-thirds of the Hawk’s Nest workers were African American, an estimated 2,900 of them assigned to work in the tunnel. Excavating three miles underground, they were exposed to pure silica dust, leading to silicosis, an incurable disease that renders ordinary functions difficult. The least physical exertion – walking a few feet, for instance – is exhausting. As the disease progresses, the lungs lose all elasticity and suffer irreversible damage and death.
Even by the standards of the early 1930’s, conditions at Hawk’s Nest were deplorable. Safety precautions -- wetting the rock face to minimize the dust or waiting between shifts for the dust to settle -- were ignored or evaded. The men inhaled the fine white dust every minute of every shift they worked.
By the time the tunnel opened in 1934, there were reports of miners dead and dying from acute silicosis caused by working the dig. Today, at Hawk’s Nest State Park, a plaque from West Virginia’s Department of Culture and History lists the dead at 109, much lower than the actual number of casualties. Of those working underground, one estimate is that 764 died, while a 1936 congressional hearing numbered the casualties at two thousand.
Thompson first learned about the dam and tunnel through the poetry of Muriel Rukeyser, who had visited the region in the mid-1930s. She walked the area and talked to the survivors and the bereaved, documenting her findings in a lyric poem, “Book of the Dead.”
Like the Roman poet Virgil, Thompson guides readers through landscapes past and present, exotic and quotidian, personal and political. Each image or artifact connects Hawk’s Nest to the disgrace and dehumanization of racism. Even at that time, the early 1930s, enough was known about silicon dust to warrant better precautions. The tragic illnesses and deaths were the result of negligence and racism.
In the book’s Afterword Rebecca Altman remarked, “The failure to notify next of kin, the unmarked graves, the outright corporate denial before courts and Congress, the defacement of photographic records, the rewriting of history, the absence (for decades) of any public marker – all of this created the conditions for a collective forgetting, for positioning the company to rewrite its own history while erasing the lived experience of those lives bound up within its infrastructure.”
Published by University Press of Kentucky, “Appalachian Ghosts” defies collective forgetting by illuminating a shameful past.
Recipient of a Governor’s Award in the Arts, Constance Alexander has won numerous grants, awards, and residencies for her poetry, plays, prose, and civic journalism projects. Contact her at constancealexander@twc.com.
Dorian Hairston’s poems in “Pretend the Ball is Named Jim Crow” should be required reading for everyone, especially those who strive to outlaw the concepts of Diversity, Equality, and Inclusion in education and everyday life. This striking debut collection introduces readers to Josh Gibson, the greatest catcher ever to play the game and one of the foremost power hitters in the Negro Leagues and in all baseball history.
For decades, players like the Negro Leagues’ Gibson and Satchel Paige were breaking records, yet their achievements were not elevated to Hall of Fame status until 1962, when Jackie Robinson was the first Black to be inducted. Ten years later, Josh Gibson was finally elected to the Hall of Fame posthumously.
Like so many aspects of our nation’s history, even sports was permeated by bigotry and exploitation. Righting those wrongs begins with knowledge and awareness through books like this one.
According to Dorian Hairston’s introduction to “Pretend the Ball is Named Jim Crow,” a quote from baseball great Willie Mays provides context: “Baseball is a game, yes. It is also a business. But what it most truly is is disguised combat. For all its gentility, its almost leisurely pace, baseball is violence under wraps.”
Each poem in this unique collection is presented by an individual voice. Readers encounter Gibson himself, as well as his wife; his children; and Hooks Tinker, the scout who discovered him. A bat even speaks, describing Gibson’s gentle grip as he lifts it off the ground and swings.
When we finish up with our little dance
he likes to toss me off to the side
so he can take a quick lap around the bases.
“As you read these poems,” Hairston says, “I implore you to consider why there was a need for the Negro Leagues in the first place.”
Advised to “steal bases like they/ stole this country” and “belt ‘Lift Every Voice and Sing’ during they national anthem,” Gibson urges his Negro League team members to “…pretend the ball is named/ jim crow.”
The biography is laced with Gibson’s tragic family history. His father moved the family north, from rural Georgia to the Allegheny and the Monongahela, for grueling work in a steel mill. At first following his father’s footsteps, Josh got a job in the mill at 17, likening the whistle announcing his shift to the rooster crowing before sunup.
Some of the most moving poems feature the love story of Josh and his wife, Helen, who died in childbirth after delivering twins. The boy and girl, Josh Jr. and Helen Jr., were named after their parents and their laments are stitched into the fabric of Gibson’s tale.
“Home Run #1” addresses Helen and captures the sadness of her death, prompting Josh to “pretend/ each ball can fly its way through/ the stars to you.”
“The Magician,” spoken by Josh Jr., reveals how the son’s connection to his father and “the best Negro League stars as uncles,” makes him a top choice in pick-up games in the neighborhood.
Helen Gibson Jr. confesses to a longing for the mother she never met in the poem, “Mama and Her Daughter.” The mother, in a stylish dress with white buttons, resembles a goddess to Helen Jr. who daydreams about a mother-daughter relationship she will never have.
From one poem to the next, the stunning collection is a crash course in baseball’s past and Jim Crow, giving voice to a voiceless generation of African Americans, including Josh Gibson.
In “Pregame Prayer,” Hooks Tinker quotes an obscure lyric from “The Star Spangled Banner,” that states, “No refuge could save the hireling and slave/ from the terror of flight or the gloom of the grave.”
Tinker also describes an advertisement for a traveling circus that lures crowds with the promise of, “a jolly darkey target game.”
…a wide hole with no teeth
outlined by crimson swollen lips
means the player must pretend
a black man’s head pokes
through the open hole.”
Helen Gibson almost gets the last word in “Pretend the Ball is Jim Crow,” when she admits, “The cruelest part about this afterlife/ is being outside of time to see in this form/ that I am everywhere for you and not nearly/ close enough in the same moment…”
With baseball season just starting up, National Poetry Month in full swing, and legislatures around the country determined to enact laws against telling stories like those in “Pretend the Ball is Named Jim Crow,” the book is timely and relevant. It breathes life into the past and raises questions about how we can do better now to ensure an inclusive future.
Published by University Press of Kentucky in February, “Pretend the Ball is Named Jim Crow” is available through the publisher, Amazon, and Barnes & Noble.
Recipient of a Governor’s Award in the Arts, Constance Alexander has won numerous grants, awards, and residencies for her poetry, plays, prose, and civic journalism projects. Contact her at constancealexander@twc.com.
Repeatedly in recent weeks, Governor Andy Beshear has come out in favor of HB 509, a bill that would dramatically weaken Kentucky’s Open Records laws. The Governor has tried to assure citizens the bill would result in more transparency, not less. The Governor is wrong; this bill will inevitably lead to the public’s business being done in private.
The Governor’s argument that the bill does more good than harm doesn’t hold water. HB 509 may not be as bad as it once was – thanks to public outcry over the havoc the original version of the bill would have wrought – but it still would create a glaring loophole allowing public officials and employees (like the Governor and those who work in his administration) to easily hide their work from the public.
You don’t need to be a lawyer to see why this bill is so dangerous. HB 509 requires public agencies to create email accounts for all public officials and employees. That’s a good step that closes a relatively small loophole that exists in the law today. Also laudable is the bill’s requirement that officials and employees only use their public email accounts, and not personal emails.
But HB 509 then does an abrupt about-face that renders these modest improvements hollow gestures. For the first time ever, the law would limit where an agency needs to search for responsive records. An agency that creates these new email accounts only needs to search those accounts, or other publicly owned devices, for responsive electronic records. All other communication channels may be ignored by public agencies responding to records requests.
Do you know anyone who communicates only by email in 2024? Of course not. Public employees, like all people, use a variety of platforms to do the public’s business—texts, other messaging apps, collaboration tools, private social media messages, and more. Even though all records belong to the public under current law if they are discussing public business – as Attorney General Andy Beshear repeatedly ruled – they will become effectively off limits if the bill is passed and signed into law. What do you think public officials and employees are going to do if they would prefer not to have their decisions second-guessed? You got it; they will simply communicate by means other than their work email. And contrary to what some of HB 509’s proponents have said, nothing in the bill prohibits that.
What is the Governor’s response to this criticism? At a recent press conference, he began by appealing to his own reputation for transparency. Sorry, Governor – “trust me” does not explain away a loophole so glaring any middle schooler could exploit it. Nor will it prevent the public from justifiably considering you the one who destroyed Kentucky’s long tradition of openness if this bill becomes law.
Next, the Governor points out that someone intent on shielding communications won’t turn over their texts or direct messages anyway. But that’s why we have an Attorney General appeal process and judicial oversight. We don’t repeal our criminal laws because criminals are likely to break them, do we?
Finally, the Governor accuses the authors of this piece (one of whom helped write the law) of not understanding how the Open Records Act really works. That ad hominem attack is a tell that the Governor knows his position doesn’t [add] up for the public. And it should force us to ask some necessary, though uncomfortable, questions: Why does Governor Beshear disagree with Attorney General Beshear? What text messages are the Governor and his administration trying to hide? Is he selling out Kentucky’s transparency laws to make it easier to seek a national platform?
The brilliance of Kentucky’s Open Records Act is that it never made the public’s right to access its records dependent on the technology used to create a record or the place where it is stored. Rather, the Act’s drafters made all records available so long as they concern the public’s business. Now is the wrong time to reverse course and use a technology increasingly shunned by future generations to limit the public’s right to access its records. The inevitable outcome of such a law is that the public’s business will be done through “private” channels. The public must speak out against this bill, or it will forever lose the right to supervise its public servants.
Jon Fleischaker and Michael Abate are media law and First Amendment experts who serve as General Counsel to the Kentucky Press Association. They practice at the law firm of Kaplan Johnson Abate & Bird LLP, where they regularly litigate Open Records and First Amendment disputes across the Commonwealth. Fleischaker was among the original authors of the state’s Open Records and Open Meetings Acts.
Jon Fleischaker, left, and Michael Abate
The fact that the Kentucky constitution requires the current legislative session end no later than April 15 evokes images from the final scene from Nevil Shute’s classic end-of-the-world novel, On the Beach:
Random litter drifts, tumble-weed style, through eerily empty city streets, while a battered banner, dangling from its moorings, announces, “There’s still time, brother.”
For Kentuckians there is still time – just barely – to weigh in with legislators on a range of bills fixin’ to become laws unless voters speak up.
The Kentucky Senate, with a total of 38 senators, numbers 31 Republicans to 7 Democrats. The General Assembly, comprised of 100 representatives, boasts 80 Republicans and 20 Democrats. This strong supermajority means that voters need to get informed about proposed legislation BEFORE it becomes law and contact their elected representatives – by phone, email or snail mail – to let them know your opinions and suggestions.
With a law-making process often likened to the messier aspects of making sausage, voters shoulder the responsibility of contacting legislators during the session. Waiting until November elections is too late.
Elected representatives communicate with constituents via email, online, and in local papers, but their self-reporting does not necessarily produce unbiased information voters can rely on. So where does an interested citizen begin?
Kentucky’s Legislative Research Commission is an invaluable resource. It covers committee staffing, bill drafting, oversight of the state budget and educational reform, among other topics, essential to voters. Through the LRC, citizens can track the performance of their legislators and the bills they promote in Frankfort. Voters can call and leave messages for their legislators, or email them directly, to provide feedback and suggestions on votes that will transform a bill into state law.
The challenge for voters is the need to consult a variety of publications that cover politics, which requires wading into an environment steeped in social media and awash with multiple sources of information, some more reliable than others, and often blocked by paywalls.
On a good day, my own sources of information about Kentucky politics and policies include a patchwork: WKMS-FM, Murray’s National Public Radio affiliate; Kentucky Lantern; Hoptown Chronicle; The Murray Sentinel; University of Kentucky’s Institute for Rural Journalismand Community Issues; Forward Kentucky; and Northern Kentucky Tribune.
When it comes to legislative knowledge and insights, delivered in scrupulously balanced coverage, KET’s director of public affairs, Renee Shaw, is a dynamo. She serves as host of KET’s weeknight public affairs program Kentucky Edition; the signature public policy discussion series Kentucky Tonight; the weekly interview series Connections; election coverage; and KET Forums.
Comment on Kentucky, KET’s longest-running public affairs program, broadcasts every Friday night. A staple for those who seek supporting details behind current Kentucky headlines, Comment maintains consistently high ethical standards. Host Bill Bryant invites journalists from across the Commonwealth to engage in in-depth discussions about the week’s biggest news stories.
This legislative session, I am following five bills and contacting my representatives to express my opinions on how they should vote on each one. Without feedback, legislators cannot know what we think and how their votes matter to constituents.
If you do not know who represents you in Frankfort, a visit to the Legislative Research Commission site is a great place to start.
Jason Howell is the senator representing Calloway, Crittendon, Fulton, Graves, Hickman, Lyon and Trigg counties.
Mary Beth Imes represents Calloway and Trigg counties in the House.
Here are some of the bills they will be voting on between now and the end of the current legislative session:
Senate Bill 6, aims to curb diversity, equity, and inclusion initiatives in public universities and colleges. It sailed through the senate and was sent to the House on a party line vote, according to Kentucky Lantern, with 26 Republicans voting in favor and seven Democrats voting against.
The bill would allow the attorney general to bring a civil action against a university or college that penalizes a student or employee for rejecting any of 16 “discriminatory” concepts enumerated in the bill. Universities and colleges also would be required to publish course descriptions, syllabi and assigned or recommended textbooks online, among other new requirements.
House Bill 387 seeks to lower the educational requirements for substitute teachers in Kentucky. Subs currently are required to have at least 64 hours of college credit. If the bill becomes law, high school diplomas or the equivalent would be enough to qualify for a one-year emergency certification from the Education Professional Standards Board.
House Bill 141 wants to make water fluoridation programs optional. Based on the premise that fluoridation is “forced medication,” the governing bodies of water systems could decide whether to participate in fluoridation programs.
House Bill 509 would amend the Kentucky Open Records Law to make it more difficult for the general public and the press to gain access to the records and meetings of public agencies. Rep. John Hodgson has recently declared he plans to revise the bill after it, according to the Kentucky Lantern, ignited protests from open government advocates and Kentucky Press Association.
According to an email from Hodgson quoted in The Lantern, “A number of involved private citizens and constituents took me up on that offer and we had some very constructive dialog about dozens of specific examples in their experience base.”
House Bill 148 which has been proposed more than several times in recent years, would finally eliminate the so-called “pink tax” on menstrual materials. Rep. Lisa Wilner, the bill’s sponsor, pointed out the “fundamental injustice” of the tax.
“To compound the issue,” she said, “Kentucky is now in the minority of states that still profit from menstruation by taxing medically necessary period products.”
This is just a smattering of bills that are moving through the system; there are scores more. Waiting until election day to contact your legislators is too late, but there’s still time between now and April to do your civic duty and hold legislators accountable for their action or inaction.
Author's note: In 1989, when the publisher of Murray Ledger & Times asked me to write a column, he said, “You can write about anything, as long as it’s not political or controversial.” From then until December 31, 2023, Main Street, readers followed the column weekly, first in the Murray paper, and then in Kentucky Forward and Northern Kentucky Tribune.
In 2024, I am exploring the possibility of launching Left on Main, to incorporate more political and controversial topics. Please read and share this first installment and let me know what you think at constancealexander@twc.com.
Recipient of a Governor’s Award in the Arts, Constance Alexander has won numerous grants, awards, and residencies for her poetry, plays, prose, and civic journalism projects. Contact her at constancealexander@twc.com.
The annual legislative assault on Kentucky's open government laws has commenced in earnest, but this year with a vengeance. It is no exaggeration to suggest that the future of the Kentucky Open Records Act is at stake.
Sponsored by Rep. John Hodgson (R-Fisherville), Rep. Jason Nemes (R-Middletown), and Speaker David Osborne (R-Prospect), HB 509 establishes what The Bowling Green Daily Times once described as "a codified way to evade watchdogs, both in the press and the general public."
BURYING THE LEDE
Behind an elaborate smokescreen of compliance with recent court opinions directing public agencies to assign public email addresses to "officers, employees, board members, and commission members. . .for the purpose of conducting the business of the public agency," is a proposed statutory scheme that chokes public access off at its throat.
HB 509 establishes an extraordinarily high bar for determining whether a record is a "public record" subject to the open records law to begin with. In addition to the existing requirement that the record "is prepared, owned, used, in the possession of, or retained by a public agency," HB 509 would require the record to "document, record, memorialize, or give notice to a person outside the public agency of a transaction or final action."
Thus, unless a record is not only "prepared, owned, used, in the possession of, or retained by a public agency" but also documents "a transaction or final action," it is not a "public record" subject to the open records law. It is, for all intents and purposes, inaccessible to the public.
Think police internal affairs investigations, consultants' reports, petitions in support of executive pardons, public official itineraries.
Ironically, for those who might seek to hold our sitting Governor and executive branch accountable through their public records, the sponsors provide a statutorily approved cloaking device.
WHAT IS AND WHAT MAY BE A "PUBLIC RECORD"
Because the starting point for analysis under the open records law is determining whether the requested record is a "public record," and because the definition of that term is radically circumscribed under HB 509, little will remain to secure meaningful public oversight.
By way of example, the sponsors identify as "public records" the following:
• Awarding, issuing, or amending a contract;
• Spending agency funds;
• Issuing a fine or penalty; or
• Issuing a public declaration or announcement of an event,
occurrence, determination, or decision of the public agency.
Records, in other words, that could typically be found on a public-facing agency website.
Importantly, Hodgson, Nemes, and Osborne take it one step further, expressly excluding from the already substantially narrowed definition of public record:
• Preliminary drafts;
• Notes;
• Correspondence with private individuals, other than correspondence
which is intended to give notice of a transaction or a final action;
• Preliminary recommendations or discussions;
• Scheduling matters;
• Communications of a purely personal nature unrelated to any governmental function;
• Memoranda, emails, or text messages in which opinions are expressed or policies formulated or recommended; and
• Information or documents stored or retained on a device or email account that is the personal property of a current or former employee, officer, board member, or commission member.
What are now exceptions to the open records law that a court can order the release of -- if the agency fails to prove it properly denied a request -- will be entirely excluded from the application of the open records law under HB 509.
The sponsors deliberately cut a wide swath through the open records law, leaving little more for public examination than lawmakers left for public examination when they excluded themselves from the open records law in 2021.
"THE ROAD TO HELL IS PAVED WITH GOOD INTENTIONS"
"Proponents of such measures," The Daily News noted in its 2022 editorial, "are always ready with talking points laying out their supposed good intentions. But we’re not fooled. Amid a national political climate in which anti-media rhetoric is a cornerstone of mainstream conservative campaigning, are we really expected to believe it’s just an innocent coincidence that state Republicans are flooding the zone with a series of anti-journalism, anti-free speech and anti-transparency proposals?
"[T]he GOP’s recent track record leaves little reason to give the party the benefit of the doubt. A preponderance of the evidence suggests many Republicans have become so intolerant of scrutiny and accountability that they are willing to legislate against transparency and the First Amendment."
And so it is with HB 509. Its sponsors will no doubt profess good intentions aimed at addressing the pervasive use of private devices and accounts to conduct public business -- a dubious argument in itself based on the language of the bill -- but their aggressively anti-transparency agenda is the clear impetus for HB 509.
WHAT WOULD REMAIN?
In truth, nothing the Kentucky General Assembly has done in the past to chip away at foundational principles of the open records law compares with the devastation HB 509 will wreak if it is enacted into law.
Kentucky's open records law, "once a standard bearer for accountability laws," will be hobbled by a definition of "public record" that is confined to those least likely to "cause inconvenience or embarrassment," thereby eradicating any right to meaningful public agency oversight and divesting the public of decades-old rights that ensure we remain our own governors.
("A popular Government, without popular information, or the means of acquiring it, is but a Prologue to a Farce or a Tragedy; or, perhaps both. Knowledge will forever govern ignorance: And a people who mean to be their own Governors, must arm themselves with the power which knowledge gives." James Madison to W. T. Barry, August 4, 1822)
Have we, at last, reached the point where "[p]oliticians who lack the maturity or the backbone to deal with criticism or opposing viewpoints" will succeed in "rig[ging] the game in order to make their jobs more comfortable."
"This recurring theme in conservative politics is profoundly disappointing and frightening," The Daily News concluded in its 2022 editorial. We, like the politically right leaning Daily News editorial board, "urge reasonable-minded elected officials on both sides of the aisle to firmly oppose all such misguided and dangerous efforts to undermine our freedoms."
Editor’s note: The foregoing was originally published in the Kentucky Open Government Coalition blog on Feb. 13, 2024.
Amye Bensenhaver is a co-director of the Kentucky Open Government Coalition.
In 1988, Walt Apperson, then publisher of the Murray Ledger & Times, called me to set up a meeting. He had read a piece I’d written for the New York Times about my recent move from NJ to Murray, and wanted to know more about my writing. When we met in his office, he filled me in on the highlights of his background in newspapers, including his years with the paper in Mayfield, before his move to Murray.
Wherever Walt lived, he knew a good writer when he read their material, he told me. In fact, he had hired esteemed writer and Mayfield native Bobbie Ann Mason to write for her hometown paper in the summers when she was in college.
To this day I can only aspire to the mastery of Bobbie Ann, but I am still flattered by the comparison.
When Mr. Apperson invited me to create my own column, he said, “You can write about anything you want, as long as it’s not political or controversial.”
“Great,” I thought to myself. “That narrows it down.”
Swallowing hard, I crossed my fingers behind my back and said yes. I have never regretted it.
Since my high school years in Metuchen, NJ, I have been writing a column, and I always admired the ability of those who perfected the art. For years, New York Times columnist Russell Baker was my hero. His pieces in the Sunday Times were witty, informative, and written with the elegance and specificity of poetry. In the early 1980s, I actually wrote a fan letter to him. I asked if I could take his place while he was on summer vacation, and promised to emulate his style.
The hand-written note I got back from him gently declined my offer. He ended by saying: “You don’t want people to read your work and say, ‘She writes just like Russell Baker.’ You want them to read what you’ve written and say, ‘I want to write just like Alexander.’”
More words I will never forget.
Since February 2, 1989, I have written a weekly column in Kentucky. The first 31 years were for the Murray Ledger & Times. In 2020, my column moved to Kentucky Forward, and then to another online news site, Northern Kentucky Tribune. In all those years, I never missed a deadline.
“Main Street” is the title I chose because it seemed to me that the heart of any small town was its main street. By the time I moved to Kentucky, small towns across America were losing their identity as downtowns gave way to strip malls and super-stores. Regardless of the trend, my respect for the unique nature of small towns endures. Whenever I am lost, finding the main street helps me get my bearings.
I come from a newspaper family. My father, born and raised in Canada, was an old-time newsboy on the streets of St. John, New Brunswick. After he emigrated to the U.S., his professional life gravitated toward newspapers, not as a writer or editor but on the advertising side. A capitalist at heart, he understood that newspapers relied on income. After all, news was business.
When I was in sixth grade, my father’s newspaper was purchased by Gannett. In the downsizing that followed, he retired. His newspaper days were over, but he ended his career owning an advertising agency in Princeton, NJ.
What would he say about the state of news in the world today, I wonder. The trend toward consolidation reaches way back to the 1950s, but the public still seems surprised by the disappearance of local papers. A proliferation of Internet sources presents a puzzling array of news choices. Facebook, Twitter, TikTok, Pinterest and others are gaining traction with no guarantee of professional standards for accuracy.
Increasingly, local news takes a hit as small papers downsize to improve the bottom line, or disappear into news deserts.
Non-profit news sources are beginning to emerge, based on financial models different from the past. According to an article by Sarabeth Berman in Nieman Lab Predictions for Journalism 2023, “We are beginning to see the maturation of and experimentation by a number of individual organizations showing how nonprofit news can scale.”
The Northern Kentucky Tribune is an outstanding example of a nonpartisan, independent news organization that produces in-depth, informative journalism in the public interest. Being published by them has been an honor. What a privilege to write about western Kentucky for a site focused on the northern region.
For me, the past year has been filled with changes and challenges, including the death of my husband. Although “retirement” is not a word in my vocabulary, “transition” is. As I strive to create a vision of my own future, I must make space in my life for change.
That said, this is my last Main Street for a while. I cherish my work with NKyTrib and am grateful to Jacob Clabes and Judy Clabes for their patience and confidence in me. Moreover, I cheer readers everywhere who have become acquainted with my work through them. Writing is the core of my life and I will persist but, in the true spirit of the season, it is out with the old and in with the new, at least until I figure out what I want to do with the rest of my life.
As the days grow longer and the dark dissipates, here’s hoping that 2024 brings peace and light and joy to all.
Happy New Year!
Constance Alexander is an award-winning poet and playwright. She is also a founding board member of The Murray Sentinel.
This article was originally published by the Northern Kentucky Tribune.
Constance Alexander
People are spending a great deal of time and energy these days sharing their opinions with me. A short list of topics includes: Immigration, various political candidacies, the Thirteenth Amendment to the Constitution, the social justice of heath care programs, and the social justice of Travis Kelce dating Taylor Swift.
Some of these people show their faces. Some sign their names as authors or editors. This is very handy because I can evaluate their opinion, in part, based on the degree to which they are experts on the subject.
Some opinion givers are nameless. They lack the courage to stand behind their opinions, or they wish to disguise the fact that they have no real knowledge of what they are discussing. “Nameless,” to me, is the same as “valueless.”
And some might as well be nameless. If you are blowing off steam because you don’t like Nancy Pelosi or Donald Trump or Gov. Beshear, and you have been armed by a capricious society with a Facebook page or a Tik-Tok account, you have the ability to offer your opinion.
However, you have no legal or moral right for people to agree with your opinion. That is especially true if your feelings are unsupported by logic, reliable factual information or reputable experts. Thinking people (which should include you, Dear Reader) do not change their minds by majority vote. We need reasons.
Furthermore, you have no right for people to refrain from offering their opinion of your opinion. If you comment on something as innocent as broccoli (as in, “I hate broccoli”), you have no right to feel injured if 500 Tweeting broccoli fans suddenly virtually descend on you with vilification concerning your Foodie heresy. In short, you asked for it.
Perhaps you should attend to the admonition of America’s old social mentor, Mark Twain:
In our country we have those three unspeakably precious things: freedom of speech, freedom of conscience, and the prudence never to practice either.
The American newspaper industry took 200 years to develop codes of ethics, policy books and professional canons to prevent the misuse and abuse of the great power of mass communication. For the last twenty-five years we have all had that power, thanks to the Internet. It’s time we learned discretion.
We seem to have learned that telling people what they wish to hear is profitable whether the information is true or beneficial. Up until the 1990s, spreading harmful gossip or telling lies for political gain was not only immoral, but was considered unworthy of hearing or reading. We used to laugh at The National Inquirer, remember? Money talks.
There are a number of ways to make your point, but when you enter the public forum, you should try to be sure that the point is worthy. When you offer your opinion to others, after all, you should have a specific purpose: to lead your readers or listeners to belief in a position that will benefit the whole community.
If you’re just expressing your opinion without regard to how it might affect others, then you are asking us to listen to you for your own sake. That’s just selfish. You have a right to ask, “What’s in it for me?” I have a right to spend my time and efforts in another way and I have a right to ignore your opinion — if that’s all it is.
You can argue for an unpopular position, but you must be prepared for two things: First, you must be willing to suffer verbal attack, a loss of ad revenue, personal insult, and a loss of subscribers or listeners.
Second, even those who agree with you will better appreciate what you say if you can offer proof for your position and evidence of your concern for others. When you speak, write or create in public, it is no longer about you; it’s about us.
It may be your opinion, but it’s our time and our attention. Prove it.
Robert "Bob" Valentine is a retired senior lecturer in advertising for the Bauernfeind College of Business, Murray State University Dept. of Journalism and Mass Communication. He is also the chair of the McGaughey Lecture on Press Freedom and Responsibility.
Robert (Bob) Valentine
Copyright © 2024 The Murray Sentinel - All Rights Reserved.
Powered by GoDaddy