The Salahis In Us All

Tareq and Michaele Salahi are becoming Washington social outcasts after crashing the White House state dinner. But before people snicker, scoff and judge, they should remember the Nation’s Capital breeds mindless social climbers like the Salahis appear to be. And, perhaps, there may be a bit of them in everyone.

It’s fair to say that most human beings hope others see them according to their abilities and the content of their character. But that’s still in many ways just a dream. It can be difficult and take time to get at someone’s essence. Therefore, people all too often limit themselves to studying what a person does for a living and who they socialize with.

People are not only looking to judge others but also achieve something. Many crave proximity to power because it may mean power for themselves, or at least the illusion of importance. Fame or notoriety also often makes people feel important. And, hey, we all want to matter in the end. It’s no surprise many of us feel the need, even the pressure, to play the social climbing game. It can be perilous not to. Good connections often equal high paying jobs or important appointments that can define a career.

Washington has a rich history of high society and social climbing. In the “olden days” political wives had to make regular calls on other wives. It helped create friendships and camaraderie among the nation’s political players and decision makers. A much evolved version of the dynamic happens today.

Eleanor Roosevelt was born into wealth and prominence. According to historians, she hated the social games of her age. But she learned to cope with them and use them for good. She employed her status to advocate for what she thought was right.

There may indeed be a Tareq and Michaele Salahi in all of us. But it may be the shallower, more unpleasant side that they represent.

Journalism and Social Media

An editorial by the Washington Post’s ombudsman shows that many news outlets and journalists are struggling to adjust their craft in this new world of social media. Many people in newsrooms around the country are wondering how to use tools like Twitter and Facebook to get out news. Some journalists find themselves Tweeting or blogging about everything from their hair to personal opinions. Others, in their confusion, simply choose to ignore the social media world.

I respectfully suggest that it doesn’t have to be so complicated. Journalists can use social media to disseminate information faster. They can use blogs and other tools to add information not included in the evening newscast or morning paper. And they can also offer perspective and intimate knowledge about a story.

My bottom line is that journalists don’t need to violate their code of ethics or delve into the trivial in order to participate in the social media world.

Click here to read the Washington Post editorial.

Leaving A Community

Many people don’t know yet that I recently announced my departure from ABC 13 News. It’s a bittersweet move. On the one hand, I’m looking forward to moving back to the Washington, DC area and covering politics for radio stations around the country. On the other hand, I feel like I’m abandoning my friends – thousands of them.

I’ve only been in the Lynchburg – Danville – Roanoke area for a little over three years, but I have literally met thousands of people over that time. They include officials, emergency workers, teachers, politicians, and many many many of our viewers. I have driven up Tobacco Row Mountain in Amherst County and down Route 11 in Chilhowie. I have been boating on Smith Mountain Lake and hiking on the Appalachian Trail. I’ve seen area residents at their best and at their worst. I leave with great respect for the area and its people.

In this modern world, people often come and go. They hold many jobs and live in numerous communities throughout their lives. Reporters must often do just that to move up in the world. Still, my goal has always been to feel like a local wherever I live and to learn from that community. When reporter like me leaves a place like Central Virginia, he leaves home.

The Search For Truth

Reporters are often accused of being unfair, bias, or slanted in their reporting. I wish people would give more of us at least the benefit of the doubt. I am not saying reporters are perfect or that none of us have an agenda. Yet, it has been my experience that most journalists are simply in a quest for the truth.

Of course, truth is often hard to come by and journalists face numerous obstacles in getting to the bottom of a story. Deadlines are tight and the same goes for many people’s lips. Plus, sources often want to spin things to their own benefit. That’s why reporters must do their research, keep an open mind, and talk to people with various views on a subject.

Everyone, including reporters, has values and pre-conceived notions. But just like reporters must temper their own views when reporting certain stories, audiences should also keep an open mind. I respectfully submit that a news report is not bias just because it disagrees with someone’s point of view or because it includes different ideas.

Again, I am not saying reporters are perfect. It’s healthy for journalists to have a watchful audience to “keep them honest.” I myself sometimes wish I had more time to dig into a certain subject or make one extra call about a report. And I have sometimes come to the conclusion that a certain story is unfair or too slanted.

Too often, however, I have seen stories criticized just because they include both sides of an issue. And too often I have heard people accuse journalists or newsroom managers of inserting their own opinions into a story when, in fact, they did not. We must remember that the free exchange of ideas has been one of America’s more precious values.

Covering The War In Iraq (From 2005)

With the Nation at war, it has become common for reporters to cover countless soldier homecomings, vigils, and send-offs. It was on Sunday, June 19, 2005 that I met with the loved ones of a dead soldier for the first time. Erik Heldt from the small town of Hermann, Missouri had become an American hero and now his family wanted to talk to the country.

Six camera crews from Mid-Missouri and St. Louis gathered at St. Paul’s Lutheran Church where the family would meet with us. It was the church where Erik married his wife Crystal about two years prior. The old brick building overlooks the Missouri River and the aging but quite majestic iron bridge that crosses “big muddy” into town. The carpet is dark red and the stained glass windows bear religious phrases in German. The Sunday service was over and we had the whole place to ourselves. I could not help but look above at the wood beams holding the roof and the large cross cascading above the sanctuary.

Erik’s brothers, Matt and Chris, spoke on the family’s behalf. First they gave us several pictures of their brother, who died near the Iraqi city of Ramadi. The first picture was Erik’s stoic, official Marine portrait. I didn’t think it very flattering. The phrase “stiff upper lip” came to mind. But the wedding picture entranced me. Erik was in uniform and wore a broad smile. In the picture, he was standing only a few feet away from where I was kneeling at that very moment. Then there was one photo of Erik with his wife and daughter, and another with his two big brothers - they were all athletic, light eyed men. I felt a needed to study each picture carefully as a way to thank him for his sacrifice and let the family know I cared.

It was tough for Matt to talk about his baby brother. The family preacher told us not to even “dare” ask family members how they were feeling because the answer was obvious. If we did, he promised to “kick us out” of his church without hesitation. We took the warning very seriously. “I hope nobody ever has to feel the pain we are feeling,” Matt said. Of course, by that time, more than a thousand American families had experienced that pain. Matt said it helped to know the town had joined them in mourning. He told us that a few moments after getting word of his brother’s death, he got another call from a town leader announcing that all flags in Hermann were at half-staff. Yellow ribbons immediately went up on flagpoles around area. A church service was quickly organized and plans to memorialize Erik began. “I cannot think of a better tribute than that,” Matt said with his eyes red and watering.

Erik was on his second tour of duty when he died and the military had already informed him that he would be back for a third.  His brothers say he wanted to be a diesel mechanic and a football coach. “He was very active in school football,” Matt said. “He was a member of the best team that has ever come through Hermann.” Now, former teammates were planning to name the town’s new high school field after Erik. A monument would also be built there. That evening I wrote in my story that the lights would keep shining on Erik just like they did in his teens.

Matt and Chris described their little brother as, “the referee” between them in their youth. “He always stood up for the little guy,” they said. It was one of the reasons he was in Iraq. He joined the Marines after the September 11 attacks. He joined expecting to go to into combat. Erik had a choice between the Army and the Marines but chose the latter because he felt it would allow him to do more for his country. “He paid the ultimate price so we could go to church and see our kids. He did it because he thought it was the right thing to do,” Matt said. While the nation debated whether fighting the war in Iraq was the right thing to do, Erik knew that serving his country was. Us reporters didn’t ask the family if they were supporters of the war. That didn’t matter; this was about their brother.

Whether or not the American invasion of Iraq was right, their brother’s service was honorable. And Erik’s name would be engraved in stone somewhere in Hermann just like his grandfather, who fought and died in World War Two. To me, such American immortals are examples of how there is always a duty bigger than ourselves and how there are still those willing to sacrifice for some undefined good.

Simulation: Rescue Workers Extricate Me From Car

The simulation was extremely realistic. The rescue workers who organized it told me to crawl into a beat up Volvo. Then they began the process of rescuing me. Their goal was to practice and show off their skills. More importantly, they wanted to scare me and others watching into being careful behind the wheel.

I was inside the car, sitting behind the wheel, when rescue workers asked me about my condition.  I told them I was OK but had neck and back pain.  They used their hands to keep my head in place before putting a neck brace on.  At one point, one of the rescue workers smashed the passenger window.  They had already prepared me with eye protection and blankets to keep debris from hurting me.  Still, I felt the little bits of glass hit my face.  Almost immediately they started cutting a large hole in the windshield.  My side window shattered once they foced the door open.  I was unable to move my head and see everything these men and women were doing.  But I tried to soak in as much as possible. 

The so-called Jaws of Life were impressive.  Workers removed the car’s roof in just minutes.  Those teeth were able to cut through metal without difficulty.  I imagined what they would do to a human finger!

I thought the excitement was over once the EMS workers had dismantled the car and were ready to drag me out.  But they proved me wrong.  Several of them crowded around me and discussed among themselves strategies to get me out safely.  They put some sort of board on my back and strapped it to my body. Then the rescuers slowly carried me out of the seat, put me on my back and, counting down, slowly placed my body on the gurney.  Exactly what they did is hard to describe because of my limited ability to study their actions.  All I can say is that I was impressed by how smooth and painless it was to be dragged out of that car.

All the screaming from the rescue workers, cutting and shattering glass kept me entertained.  So it wasn’t until I they wheeled me into the ambulance that realized how serious this whole exercise was.  This could happen to anyone.  Staring at the lights on the ambulance ceiling as we drove away made me think about the times that I send text messages while driving or steered with my knee.  This experience will make me think twice before doing that again.       

Thanks to the good folks at Lynchburg College EMS and the Lynchburg Life Saving Crew.

http://www.wset.com/news/stories/0309/608178_video.html?ref=newsstory

War In Iraq: The Homefront (c. 2003-2004)

I woke up upset one Saturday morning because instead of going to work at 2 PM, my News Director told me to start my duties earlier that morning. It would be my first time covering the impact of the war in Iraq. I was assigned to go to a country fish fry in Boonville, MO.  It was a family get together to welcome an injured soldier back home after months of being away fighting the war in Iraq.

I felt intimidated when I arrived. There I was. A Hispanic who grew up in Puerto Rico and blossomed in Washington, DC attending a fish fry lunch deep in the Missouri countryside. As I parked my car somewhere in their farm, I saw the family gathered. There were neighbors and every generation of this veteran’s family members. Even their minister was present with his wife. And then there was the man of honor; a shy, slender 19 year old guy.

In my mind, he slowly grew to represent the thousands of soldiers who were fighting the war in Iraq. At first he refused to talk to me, at least not on camera, even though all his proud family members wanted him to speak up about his ordeal. “I won’t do it, I won‘t do it!” he said. I decided not to point a microphone directly at him and just let my camera record between my legs, as I sat on the floor in front of him. When I asked him if he was proud of his service, he replied: “I guess.” I asked him why and he told me what most veterans say: “I was serving my country.” He said he “understood” why the United States invaded Iraq and deposed Saddam Hussein but he clearly seemed ambiguous about the matter. Most of his family members were not as positive about the invasion of Iraq. His girlfriend and his mother both told me they supported him and but not the war. They said it was unnecessary.

Their opinions had nothing to do with their love for America, however. The Stars and Stripes wove in the middle of the food table and yellow ribbons decorated the farm’s white picket fence; a show of support for the troops still fighting in Iraq.

—

The situation in Iraq was looking up when I covered the fish fry. America had just overthrown Saddam Hussein, its arch enemy, and Iraq’s reconstruction had slowly begun. Yet, American soldiers started dying at an increasing rate and a nation wary of war became concerned.

I first realized this when I covered a vigil for the troops in the small Mid-Missouri town of Glasgow. The rain and the fog caused the event to be moved inside from a veterans memorial overlooking the Missouri river to a VFW outpost. The move was unfortunate. The wet weather made a beautiful combination with the dark fields and the dim lights of the tiny farm town.

The people of Glasgow, as many Americans, knew more names would soon be added to such memorials, common in most towns. “We pray for them every day,” a woman told me. “Every single day we pray for them.” The mayor told me dozens of young men and women had been deployed from that area alone. He knew many of their families personally and, like many of the folks at the ceremony, seemed concerned. That, they told me, is why they planned the vigil. They felt that was all they could do in solidarity of those who were shedding their blood for America‘s safety, whether justified or not. “We are forever and eternally grateful,” the mayor said.

The ceremony started with the presentation of Colors. Old Vietnam and World War II veterans carried the flags. They marched slowly towards the front of the small wood room and carried the banners gallantly.  It seemed like doing that small task was one of the proudest moments of their lives. That was followed by prayers, a rendition of “America the Beautiful”, candles and a few words from town and military officials. Everyone was quiet and reverent. It felt like a funeral even though most of the mourners did not personally know for whom they were crying.

Still, the gathering was not a funeral and the residents of Glasgow did not second-guess President Bush‘s call to war. The whole room seem to support the war and they nodded their heads to every sentence their town leaders spoke justifying it. Even in a little mid-American town, one could hear sophisticated comments about U.S. foreign policy. I remember an older woman with white curly hair sitting in the second or third row. She kept nodding her head and smiling at speeches stating that the overthrow of Saddam Hussein would start the domino effect of democracy throughout the Middle East. That, in turn, would slowly eliminate terrorism and make America safer. President Bush said weapons of mass destruction were the main reason for invading Iraq. By the time of this vigil, coalition forces had found none. Still, the crowd seemed firmly aligned to the government’s new message that overthrowing Saddam Hussein was justified whether he posed an imminent threat to the United States or not.

The American people seem to know and accept sacrifice. They are, in general, not opposed to war. But they are wary of it. “We discuss it every day and we are very concerned,” a woman told me. “We will be happy when the boys can come back home!”

A Changing Media Landscape

Newspapers around the country are closing. And many journalists say less newspapers means less people keeping an eye on the powerful. That may or may not be true.

While a newspaper closure may mean less professional journalists working in a certain community, the growth of new media means there are an increasing number of people talking about the issues. I am not equating all bloggers or people who tweet to professional journalists. Still, there is no doubt the Internet has become a powerful tool for collecting and spreading information.

Moreover, there is an ongoing debate as to whether media organizations are using professional journalists wisely.  In other words, quantity may not equal quality with what seems to be a trend towards less investigative, watchdog journalism.

I Finally Joined Twitter

I am done resisting technology.  In the past, I have been skeptical of MP3 players, Facebook and even Instant Messenger.  Yesterday I put up the white flag against Twitter and joined.  Even though I hesitated, I understand not joining would have hurt me personally and professionally.

I enjoy watching television news broadcasts and reading the newspaper, but that’s the past.  My job as a journalist is to gather and spread information.  Therefore, I must embrace all the different ways to reach an audience. 

Follow me: ManuelQ

Reporters Blogging

Like most everyone else, television and newspaper reporters are getting their own blogs.  Many news outlets even encourage them and promote them on their web-sites.  They see blogs as a way to appeal to this increasingly tech savvy and online based marketplace.  The problem comes when figuring out what’s useful to include in a blog and how to do so while following standard journalistic ethics.

I wish I wrote more on this web-site.  But concern about being useful and impartial keeps me from posting more than I already do.  There is so much I could say.  But, should I say it?  And, will I get in trouble if I do?  Several times I have written a short essay only to erase it when it fails to comply with my own tough guidelines.  As a journalist, I want to make sure that nothing I write compromises my job.  At the same time, I don’t want to be so overly cautious that I produce sterile, meaningless posts.

A good way for a journalist to blog is to add perspective, not opinion but perspective, to a story he is already covering.  A reporter can also keep their audience updated about current events and include information she could not fit into a story.  I feel these are two good examples of how journalists can blog.

What I don’t like is reading or writing posts that add nothing to information that’s already readily available. In other words, people should not write blogs just for the purpose of writing a blog.  People depend on journalists for useful information and the web should not be the exception.