Starting two weeks ago I began a daily Editor’s Update, a new one which now appears on the Falls Church News-Press website, www.fcnp.com, daily except Sundays. Here is a sampling from among the first ones I posted in the last week:
Monday, August 5 — During an appearance on HBO’s Bill Maher Show last month, Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg presented a fresh perspective on the importance of local news. “I love local news,” he said, “because it provides a great space, one of the last, in which all sides of an issue talk about the same reality, while circles of belonging and information are overlapping instead of concentric.” So, even heated issues bring people with differing views into the same conversation. This is in contrast to the lack of any shared reality between sides on a national scale. So, even though 60-70 percent agree on one side, the lack of a space for working on that leads to the loss of an ability to cogently express that and argue it out.
Smart words, as usual, Secretary Buttigieg! He remains in the running as Kamala Harris’ running mate, which will be announced soon, due not only to his clear talent, but because he is very close to Harris.
Another take on the value of news institutions, like newspapers of all sizes, came from the co-founders of TollBit writing in today’s Washington Post. They argue that reliable news sources are indispensable for helping to steer the coming AI revolution in the right direction. “Most of the AI companies,” they wrote, “rely on content available on the open internet rather than news articles or scientific publications that are accessible only through paywalls…Without the constant replenishment of top-notch reporting, they indicate, smart analysis and reliable data, AI chatbots simply don’t work well. “They need information from large-scale publishers and smaller reliable sources with different perspectives…Niche and local reporting are essential to nourish a healthy content ecosystem.”
Saturday, August 3 — Finally, someone in the major media is speaking out about the horribly corrosive effect of online sports gambling in this country. The Washington Post editorial, “By Embracing Sports Gambling, U.S. Chases Fool’s Gold,” yesterday mentions the “toxic side effects” of the explosive trend as being “gambling addiction, personal bankruptcy and mental health problems,” which are all very real. But it fails to mention the more consequential impact on entire households struggling to stay afloat.
Since the U.S. Supreme Court ruled in 2018 that states can set their own regulations for gambling, a new industry has overwhelmed the culture, especially the sports culture, with pervasive and relentless advertising come-ons involving high profile celebrities. The editorial notes that this industry is now slated to earn $14.3 billion this year, with 11 percent of the adult population partaking. The numbers are roughly equal to those all over Europe.
It needs to be pointed out where that $14.3 billion is coming from, which is not only out of the pockets of the bettors themselves, but off the tables of households struggling to have enough food, away from an ability to pay the rent and doctor bills, etc.
We live in a society where a huge percentage of us live literally paycheck to paycheck, and while this may explain why so many feel the need to resort to gambling, this whole business is nothing but a cruel way to exploit the vulnerability of a huge percentage of our population to take away their hard earned money and food from the mouths of the young.
Thursday, August 1 — Today marks the start of another football season, with the first pro game tonight and high school football practices kicking off everywhere.
Boston University’s CTE (Chronic Traumatic Encephalopathy, the incurable deterioration of brains through constant rough impacts such as in football) Center has issued another warning this week reporting on a new medical research abstract entitled “Repetitive Head Impacts Induce Neuronal Loss and Neuroinflammation in Young Athletes.” The title speaks for itself.
Why do we continue to spend so much time, effort, resources and love on developing the minds of our young only to send them out like gladiators of old and cheer the permanent erosion of those same minds? Makes no sense.
