Brief Hiatus in Biloxi, Mississippi
June 19th, 2009 at 3:19 pm by Dee O'Neil Andrews
I’m writing to you today from Biloxi, Mississippi from the Beau Rivage Casino Hotel Resort where we are attending the 143rd annual Mississippi Press Association’s summer convention. That’s a long time, folks, for newspapers in Mississippi (and newspapers in general) to have been such a big part of American life.
I mean – we’re talking about the Mississippi Press Association starting its first summer convention in 1856. That’s before the Civil War. Our country at that time was only 80 years young. Isn’t that amazing?!
Here in Mississippi, as well as in I would guess every state of our union, most newspapers are not the vast regional/national papers that we’ve heard and read about having so much trouble staying alive. We are talking about small town, home town newspapers that share with us the local news and events that we want and need to know about in our daily lives. We want to know about and see newspaper pictures of our kids’ baseball games, football games, basketball games, scouting activities, school awards’ days, engagements, weddings, deaths, obituaries, political goings on.
These are the realities of our daily lives recorded for us for posterity. How many of you do not have newspaper clippings tucked away in boxes in closets that are treasures kept from long ago and to be passed on to those who come after us? I know I have yellowed newspaper photos of my kids when they were little and doing all of the fun school and scouting stuff
I treasure a small cut out photo of my little four year old son Mark chomping down heartily on corn on the cob caught by a local newspaper reporter covering the town’s 4th of July celebration one summer. Every time I look at it I smile at how cute he was then with his long, thick paint brush eyelashes shading his golden green eyes.
I still have my dad’s obituary cut out and saved in a drawer. That will pass along to my children one day, along with much older newspaper clippings that my mom has saved for many decades now from her own family’s history.
So, while we are having fun here – and we are (I’m feeling "pretty" good, but am quite tired) – we also take seriously the reasons that bring us all together and bind us as print media journalists and families. We do not confuse our duties and responsibilities to our communities with the glitz, glamour & frenzy wrought by scandal tabloids and celebrity papparazi. Nor do we bow to those in places of power, status & wealth who would sway opinion among their readers by reporting through biased filters and lenses rather than objectively reporting the news and letting the public draw their own conclusions.
So, when you think of newspapers and print media, do not make blanket statements and judge all for the shortcomings and sins of some. There are vast differences between the two groups.
Wish us well and pray community newspapers will not cease to exist. They are of vital importance even today – maybe even moreso today – than ever. Do not take your community newspaper for granted.
That’s a blogger’s view here today from the beautiful – but very hot – Mississippi gulf coast at the Mississippi Press Association’s summer convention.
Stay cool! Dee
So glad you’re still feeling better! I always loved the small town newspapers. Hate LA Times and the bigger, extremely liberal papers. You would have loved being here today. Stayed overcast almost all day long … we had over 20 people here for lunch (2:00pm lunch, that is) and the temps never got out of the mid 70’s.
We hit a temperature of 100 yesterday. Heat index was something like 110, I think.
I still have newspaper clippings my mother cut out and saved about me when I was in junior and senior high schol, as well as obituaries, and old-time pictures. I do not subscribe to my howmtown newspaper, only because of the cost.
Hope you are still feeling better. I was glad to see your note at FB about the doctor’s encouraging outlook.