Have you noticed the death of the opinion page in many
newspapers nationwide? Our local Port
Huron area Times Herald let go a couple of good editors, and dropped the page
with its editorial, letters to the editor, op-eds, and award winning “Talkback”
column over a year ago. This
restructuring, after our paper years ago being subsumed by Gannett News, is
part of a further downsizing at behest of new giant owners “New
Media Investment Group.“
nd now with the pandemic upon us, its foreseen that with this
blow to the economy, many local newspapers across the land will fold or be
further diminished. They were already
under pressure from personal device delivered media. What is lost in this demise? The freedom of the press to express our
opinions in the press, distributed to a wide circulation of people of divergent
views. Our newspapers have contained one
of the last public forums designed to invite diverse discussions, respectfully
refereed by hopefully impartial editors.
The new newspaper business model has no place for citizens
to make public response to the problems and politics of our society. What the
powerful willingly or unwittingly want is no talkback from the common folk—just
let their thoughts diffuse impatiently among Facebook friends, without impact
on those with whom you disagree, impotent to make change. No dialogue, no
editor to keep the issues balanced and the discussion civil. No compromise—more stupidity. The threatened death of the newspaper opinion
page, and local papers themselves, is warning sign that our system of democracy,
dependent on a vibrant public forum, faces extinction as well.
Reference
Illumination by Kathy Brahney
Update on refugees & Covid 19 [last week's subject]
"Based on the 995 tests it has conducted, ICE has confirmed 449 Covid cases among detainees. As of April 25, the agency had 29,675 detainees nationwide, most of whom are waiting for asylum cases to be resolved or for deportation proceedings to conclude. There have also been 36 positive tests of detention workers." For full article https://www.wsj.com/articles/inside-the-largest-coronavirus-outbreak-in-immigration-detention-11588239002?mod=djemwhatsnews
And then there are tens of thousands denied entry, awaiting review of their cases in Mexican border city encampments.
Update on refugees & Covid 19 [last week's subject]
"Based on the 995 tests it has conducted, ICE has confirmed 449 Covid cases among detainees. As of April 25, the agency had 29,675 detainees nationwide, most of whom are waiting for asylum cases to be resolved or for deportation proceedings to conclude. There have also been 36 positive tests of detention workers." For full article https://www.wsj.com/articles/inside-the-largest-coronavirus-outbreak-in-immigration-detention-11588239002?mod=djemwhatsnews
And then there are tens of thousands denied entry, awaiting review of their cases in Mexican border city encampments.
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