Right in the centre - Don’t get swept away by the news

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Published on Friday, August 19, 2022

By Ken Waddell

Neepawa Banner & Press

As I noted last week, Christine and I spent the best part of three weeks in the United States. We visited a lot of towns, truck stops, a famous race horse farm, a bourbon distillery, a presidential museum and the site of Jessie James’s first daylight bank robbery. One of the key events of our trip was the International Society of Weekly Newspaper Editors conference in Lexington, Kentucky.

We talked to dozens of editors and publishers at the conference. We also listened to many, many ordinary folks in our travels. I was somewhat shocked at the results. Never once did we hear from a Trump supporter. Perhaps, even more surprisingly, we didn’t hear from a Biden supporter either.

I am not sure if either the Republican Party or the Democratic Party have caught on yet, but I would say the average American is ready to move on from an agonizing battle between two old men, one of whom is a bit crazy and one who is most likely senile. Donald Trump and Joe Biden do not represent today’s America in my view.

I have no idea what will happen in the 2022 mid-term elections, let alone the 2024 election, but if either Biden or Trump are president in 2024, it will be both a disaster and a surprise in my view.

The United States is so divided, but not in just two partisan ways. There are many divides, but the three largest are Republicans, Democrats and a yet to be determined sized group that is saying, please, please bring some calmness and sanity to our country.

At every one of the three or four dozen truck stops and restaurants we stopped at, there were signs out looking to hire people. The wages offered were up to $20 per hour, and that’s U.S. funds. If the economy is bad, then there sure are a lot of jobs posted out there. In previous “bad” times, people were begging for work, nowadays, businesses are begging people to work.

One of my colleagues noted about a year ago that the worst thing that has happened to the news industry is the 24-hour news cycle. There just isn’t enough news to fill 24-7 coverage. In the rush to fill the air with words, some very poor material gets passed off as news.

Here’s an example you may enjoy.

Breaking News! 6:00 p.m.: City News staff have learned today that a customer service rep at a local business showed up at work today wearing a bright yellow golf shirt. This is in stark contrast to the normally worn royal blue golf shirts. Stay tuned for an update with news on the hour.

7:00 p.m.: Following up on an earlier breaking news story, City News staff have been on the scene at a local business to determine why a customer service rep at a local business showed up at work today wearing a bright yellow golf shirt. Available details are few at this time, but our staff are investigating.

8:00 p.m.: City News staff are still on scene at a local business where a customer service rep at a local business showed up at work today wearing a bright yellow golf shirt. People close to the source, but who were not authorized to speak publicly on this issue, indicated to City News staff that there is likely a deep seated message behind wearing a bright yellow golf shirt instead of the regular royal blue golf shirts.

9:00 p.m.: City News staff have learned that perhaps the reason a customer service rep at a local business showed up at work today wearing a bright yellow golf shirt was to send a message to management and customers about their concerns over climate change. A bright yellow shirt may indicate a heightened level of concern about climate change as compared to the cooler, more ordinary royal blue golf shirts.

10:00 p.m.: After intense investigation, and numerous interviews, City News staff may have learned why a customer service rep at a local business showed up at work today wearing a bright yellow golf shirt. The rep was reportedly on their lunch break and they spilled ketchup on their royal blue shirt and had to quickly drive home to change shirts.

11:00 p.m.: City News wants to assure viewers that no golf shirts were harmed in the creation of this news story and that the ketchup stain was successfully removed by using a leading brand of laundry soap pods and a cold water wash.

12:00 a.m.: City News is pleased to report that the crisis created today by a customer service rep at a local business showing up at work today wearing a bright yellow golf shirt has been peacefully solved and local police will not be investigating any further.

Have a good week.

Disclaimer: The views expressed in this column are the writer’s personal views and are not to be taken as being the view of the Banner & Press staff.