Editorial
As an opinion writer as well as a person with a genuine curiosity about what motivates people to do the things they do, I sometimes have to reflect upon what motivates me to do what I do, and often I don’t like what I see any more than anyone else. One of the benefits of an editorial is that it gives the writer and the reader a chance to look into the mirror together.
I recall Dee Snider, host of a nationally syndicated radio show House of Hair, discussing his feelings on ‘80s and 90’s rock star Jon Bon Jovi. For anyone unfamiliar with Snider, before he hosted a radio show focusing on hard rock and heavy metal, he was the lead singer of 70’s and 80’s rock band: Twisted Sister.
Snider has never been a fan of Bon Jovi’s music, and as host of his own show, often shared his disdain for Bon Jovi’s contribution to the industry. However, in the fairness of music history, Snider could not deny Bon Jovi’s place in it.
As he prepared to play one of Bon Jovi’s tracks on a list of the most influential rock songs, Snider again commented on his dislike of Jon Bon Jovi. However, on this occasion, he followed this with the fact Snider’s wife attributes these feelings to the fact Bon Jovi was a better singer, better looking, and more successful than he was. “And she’s probably right,” Snider had said.
Although Snider was classy — in a heavy metal kind of way — in the way he presented his admission, and his humorous approach aside, it has been my experience that even these subtle admissions among people are rare.
I know one of my publisher’s go-to responses when I’m stressed about meeting a deadline, unsatisfied with weak news coverage I’ve written, or frustrated with a sense of not having enough time to write as much as I want, is to ask if I could have perhaps spent less time on phone calls or maybe skipped an episode of The Blacklist. It really ticks me off.
These are statements that force reflection, a weighing of factual merits that often result in an uncomfortable admission about ourselves, and when faced with it, the reactions are as vast as the number of people reflected. Some deny it, others despair, some may weep, and still, others hide away in shame.
I tend to be the kind that angrily shatters the mirror and go to my room to sulk until I can get to the woodshed and start fixing the problem.
We often see politicians at all levels cope with similar feelings of reflection in advance of action, especially when tackling a controversial issue of public interest. They struggle with such deep concerns of facing the reflection of a poor decision to the point they become impotent when acting void of the confirmation of majority agreement.
Being held accountable for public action is one of the reasons newspapers are so disliked — or at least the good ones—and with the incorporation of technology and the internet, even local officials in our little slice of the world can instantly be held accountable. Sometimes unfairly because even though people saw part of the story in a meeting on Facebook, it doesn’t mean that is the whole story.
The question is when the story is put together, with information and voices from all sides of a debate shared, do you have the willingness to read it, to consider its implications, to look into the mirror and see a situation’s unvarnished reflection?
A quote often attributed to Ben Franklin states: “A Bible and a newspaper in every house, a good school in every district, all studied and appreciated as they merit, are the principal support of virtue, morality, and civil liberty.”
As I remarked to someone who stopped by the office earlier this week, Jesus isn’t as popular as he used to be in our country either is he?
Probably because God’s word forces one to be reflective on the person they are so they can work to become the person they were meant to be. And where it was once easier to break the mirror, with today’s technology we can simply put a filter on it to make us appear as we choose. Don’t like what you see? Pretend it away.
Of course, I am only an editor of a tiny little newspaper in Texas with so much yet to learn. This reminds me of another quote from Dale Carnegie, who wrote, “Any fool can criticize, condemn, and complain — and most fools do.”