Unleashed: How would 9/11 have looked with social media's influence?
Worst "reporters" gain traction in the aftermath of Charlie Kirk's assassination, don't let them
I saved copies of my old newspaper from Sept. 2001, thinking I might pull them out and reflect on a 25th Anniversary or something like that. Today I woke with the idea that it was a good time to pull them from their old wrappings.
This is perhaps a more critical time than something simply tied to the calendar.
The past 24 hours, I’ve felt some echoes from my life, and 9/11 is a suitable date for these reflections. I’ve long believed that we cannot have a healthy community without solid, healthy communication. That goes double in times of strife.
Never Forget.
Many look back on 9/11 as a time of unity and healthy patriotism in the USA, but there were sad undercurrents for people with brown skin and dark hair. Thankfully, at that time, George W. Bush had a team that knew how to use the Bully Pulpit to foster unity.
Today I wonder: How would 9/11 have looked with social media's influence?
As the hunt for Charlie Kirk's assassin is underway, a lot of people are spouting off with assumed causes and motives, drawing lines in the sand, talking about history-changing politics, talking retribution and comeuppance, blaming the victim himself, and it goes on.
As a young man and massive fan of Ronald Reagan in 1981, I'm glad I didn't have social media when he was shot and press secretary James Brady took a bullet to his head that would prematurely end his life 30 years later. That was before I entered journalism.
My close circle of friends and I at Iowa State University were sure it was "some damned Iranian" or some extreme Democrat. NEVER would a Democrat be elected to office in this country EVER again! We were sure, and we were pissed!
Then we found out it was just another wingnut with a gun using twisted logic to try to impress a famous actress.
First echo.
I see that anger now, especially among younger people who grew up listening to Charlie Kirk—and in some older folks who should know better. Kirk was a charismatic man, still evolving, and with much to contribute. His death is a tragedy. He built something powerful in TurningPoint USA. I pray it develops into something powerfully positive in the future.
Back in the 1980s, I learned. Don't go off all half-cocked, pounding your chest, when you can’t really know what the hell you're talking about. You'll get egg on your face every time.
Twelve years later, under a Democrat in the White House, we passed the Brady Bill background checks, and a year after that, the Assault Weapons Ban. Both were bipartisan and passed with plenty of Republican support.
Guess we weren't as smart as we thought.
The course of democracy is a pretty tough thing to predict.
When Reagan was shot, when the planes hit the Twin Towers, the fights we share publicly now around the obnoxious table at the sleazy bar called Social Media were carried out in newsrooms.
Second echo.
But those voices were tempered by the high bar raised by placing those words on paper for thousands to read, and the physical, ominous turning of the presses. What you thought and what you wanted to say, and what was fit for print, were often very different things.
What should we publish? What is responsible and ethical—both in news and on the opinion page?
We had referees, editors, publishers, co-workers, who reigned us in, challenged our premises, and told us to quit wasting their limited time with a bunch of crap if that's what we were full of.
Bottom line: What did we really know? What theses were public officials working on that were legitimate news and not pure speculation? (like crap cable news often aired, desperate to fill every minute of the day)
What is the best we can do for our community on short notice against our deadline?
What should be at the breakfast table with Mom, Dad and the kids tomorrow that, even if it hurts, will be what is best for our community? What about the kids?
Now, we all have our own little publications. We think of it as barroom talk among friends, but we know it’s forever, and anything can go viral. Then, of course, there are the trolls. They’re out there tempting us.
Ten followers or 10 million, we all "publish” now. Millions of “reporters” with their own little publications.
This aging editor is seeing a helluva lot of half-cocked crap out there the past 24 hours. Seems more aimed at destroying the community than building it. “They” are all under attack at the same time that “They” are attacking us all. And around it goes.
It makes me weary. It makes me worry. But above all, I recall a time so many of us took that rollercoaster ride, HORROR TO HOPE.
Now is a time to feel deeply, but hit pause before publishing for Mom and Dad and the kids. Mourn and feel crappy and reflect. This is a proper day for that.
Never Forget.
Thanks