by Robin Garr » Thu Sep 19, 2013 9:21 am
Ellen, this is a hot-button issue for me because I lived through the onslaught at the CJ. As I held the mini-CJ this morning and read the publisher's article, my heart just ached. The whole long slide was really about greed, first among Barry Bingham Sr.'s children and grandchildren, then the corporate moguls at Gannett Corp. The corporate drones thought they could get rich by cutting corners on people and product, and I guess they did, but the city and state have been the losers. This is just one more step, and it's pitiful.
My best guess is that the Internet is loosely, irregularly taking over. I do get a lot of my news from The New York Times now, in print and online with a paid subscription, and local news from ... well, here, and Facebook, and other sources, although you have to pick and choose as there's some pretty bad stuff out there too.
I rarely go to the CJ Website, by the way. It's the same poor content, and I don't like to give them traffic or encourage others to do so.
I'm afraid the only way we're likely to see a solid internet alternative under a single flag would be for someone like the Binghams to come along, again, with a personal fortune and a community-service commitment that would inspire them, as the Binghams were inspired for so long, to put top priority on the community with the understanding that even a 2 percent return on investment would give them mansions in Glenview and more wealth than their children and children's children could ever spend.
But that wasn't enough for Gannett, or for much of corporate America, and that's why the Baby Boom will probably be the last generation to do better and have higher hopes than their parents did.
In the Desert
BY STEPHEN CRANE
In the desert
I saw a creature, naked, bestial,
Who, squatting upon the ground,
Held his heart in his hands,
And ate of it.
I said, “Is it good, friend?”
“It is bitter - bitter,” he answered;
“But I like it
“Because it is bitter,
“And because it is my heart.”