Many years ago a newspaper reporter responded to a question by saying "we don't make the news, we just report the news." That might have been true in the newspaper business in that era, but modern day technology and politics have helped television news cross the line. If you saw the self-made short video" of Senator Lindsey Graham (R-SC candidate for Republican nominee for president) destroying his cell phone you know the source of my comment. Apparently the senator's video was intended for social media sites as an answer to Donald Trump's sharing the senator's cell phone number with the public. The supporters of Mr. Trump started to call the number which was actually a working number and the games began.
The video then started to appear on cable news shows. All parties became winners when the news media began to play and/or talk about the event. The media had something to play (over and over), Sen. Graham got some much needed publicity for his campaign and Donald Trump scored multiple minutes of extra television exposure because he had a lot of otherwise unconcerned people talking about the incident. Was it really news?
Is it possible the "talking" 24-hour news networks are having trouble finding meaningful news? Aren't there enough good, wholesome activities to share with the world or is it time to change the round-the-clock news schedules? It really doesn't matter much which network you choose. The repeating of the same story over and over should be a clue to the network heads that we might need a serious review.
Depending on the network (basically the four major networks), you can hear all kinds of disparaging comments about Donald Trump and his style of campaigning. So far he hasn't talked too much about his solutions to our nation's problems. That has not kept the networks from talking about him, however, as it seems a personal interview with him is worth a lot more in viewer ratings than interviewing Jeb Bush. He continues to talk about his financial resources and how many people like him at the same time he is talking about the other candidates' failure as politicians and that keeps people interested.
Much conversation followed Trump's comments about Senator John McCain. If we took a national poll about the effectiveness of the senators and members of the House who are Republican candidates, where would John McCain actually rank? As a war hero, he is one of the outstanding examples of what our military stands for. Does that qualify him to be a senator? In Arizona apparently the answer is "yes," but across America? He has become a politician, a Washington insider like far too many other elected persons. Isn't that what Trump was implying?
Why is only the media, and perhaps the VFW in some cases, hearing it otherwise? You have to take my word for it because I don't believe there is a litmus test to prove it, but any person who has defended our country in combat or otherwise is a hero in my understanding or definition of the word. Those who suffered in prison camps are superheroes -- but not necessarily great senators.
In an interview with a sheriff of a county in Texas during Trump's visit to the border, a network asked how that area's law enforcement felt about Trump's comments on immigration. The sheriff immediately defended the Donald's stand on the issue and quickly pointed out there is a vast difference between honest, hard working people coming across the border to improve their quality of life and those who come here to continue or pursue a career of criminal activity. These interviews with law enforcement people directly dealing with the criminal element are meaningful in describing the true dissatisfaction with Washington. The average person on the streets of our nation doesn't get the same attention as a network news person sitting at a desk in the network's headquarters.
My guess is simply that this campaign will take an even more serious note when the debates begin, and those who want to interpret the news to promote their choice of candidates are likely to find there are lots of ordinary American people needing someone with millions or billions of dollars to plead our case.
I would like to offer a different idea about Donald Trump's candidacy. Let's not think of him as a wealthy businessman, nor even consider him a potential Republican Party presidential nominee. If we look past what motivates him to be seeking this position and measure only what he is accomplishing for the average frustrated, disenchanted American voter, he takes on a much different mantle. If we can accept him as a modern day prophet, exposing the truth of Washington, the inefficient government, the wasted dollars and the selfish interests of the political parties, his campaign will have succeeded, in my eyes.
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Editor's note: Leo Lynch, an award-winning columnist, is a native of Benton County has deep roots in northwest Arkansas. He is a retired industrial engineer and former Justice of the Peace. He can be contacted at [email protected].
Editorial on 07/29/2015