My column in today's Door County Advocate:
’Tis the season called Sunshine
Week, when the news media likes to pat itself on the back and perform exercises
in government transparency and write columns about our important role as
watchdog. And of course there will come the inevitable observations that the
watchdog is a little too much of a lapdog in its old age, is barking up certain
wrong trees, and has missed more than its share of instances where the
government (or some other institution accountable to the public) has fallen down
on the job or misused its power.
This week also brings the 152nd anniversary of
the first edition of the Door County Advocate, which legend
says Joseph Harris started largely because he wanted a platform to advocate for
carving a canal through the narrow isthmus that separated the waters of Sturgeon
Bay from Lake Michigan.
A firm believer in maritime interests, Harris’ belief in the canal, and his opposition
to competing railroads, were so voracious that he is said to have prevented many
an encouraging word for railroad developers from appearing on these pages over
the years. Within two decades the canal was built, and a few years later Door
County became the last of Wisconsin’s 72 counties to gain rail service: power of
the press.
And finally, this week also coincides with the 61st anniversary of my arrival
on this planet, which legend says involved an anxious wait at a train crossing
while Hilda Bluhm was preparing to deliver
the second of her three sons. The whole Sunshine Week-anniversary-birthday
triple whammy usually leaves me in a contemplative mood.
Around each March 22 I find myself asking the question: What does the
Advocate advocate these days? What does it mean to be a Door County advocate in
2014? In its first editorial the paper spoke of encouraging settlers to make a
home in this magical place, and 152 years later, we still spend a great deal of
time encouraging people to come visit us, while giving voice to those who are
concerned that we not spoil the natural beauty that makes it magical in the
first place.
We are also here to tell the stories of the people who live and love and die
here year-round. Sometimes those stories are uncomfortable, as people who live
in a magical place are prone to the same foibles and missteps as people
anywhere. Often those stories are heartwarming and even
inspiring.That’s why this news outlet (It’s unfashionable to call it “this newspaper”
anymore, as paper has become just one of several media in which we work) is
here, after all — to tell the stories of this special place and to advocate for
its best interests. If that is why we are here, it behooves us to be clear about
what those interests are.
We got one of those “I hear the Advocate’s closing down” rumors again the
other day — a not-surprising bit of gossip in these days filled with reports
about the trials of the newspaper industry. And one day the rumor will be true —
after all, it has been circulating all of my life and all things do come to an
end eventually. When I was born, people were predicting the incredible new
technology called television would eliminate the need for newspapers by the end
of the decade. The rumor mongers never did specify which decade.
The important thing to know is that, 152 years later, there is still an
office in Door County where people gather each day to collect the news and
information about what is happening in this community and dispense it to you in
a readable and convenient form. (And by the way, this is still a gathering of
people who live here and love this place.)
If you have a story to tell or an issue to advocate, call us. Write us a
note. We’re here to help and plan to be for a long time to come.
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