23 DEC 04: YOU CAN'T HANDLE THE TRUTH
It was 8:00 a.m., and several mothers were upset. It was the first day of "winter break" in Muscogee County schools - and the pressure of having children at home was boiling over already?!
The mothers called this week to complain about a news story concerning Santa Claus. The Mobile Register and the University of South Alabama surveyed Alabama residents, about the right age to "tell children the truth about Santa." From the outcry, you'd think someone was revealing he's bisexual or something.
This survey found Alabamians had various ideas, about when parents should tell children "the truth about Santa Claus." Some said age six, others went as high as 10 or 11 - and based on the numbers, a majority of adults may wish the whole issue would "dash away all."
By even mentioning this survey on the air, the mothers were upset. They'd told their children Santa Claus was coming, and now the children were asking what "the truth" was. And you thought only politicians called, to complain about news stories which make them look bad....
The calls of complaint led to a local news media decision: the Mobile Register survey would NOT be mentioned. Yes, it was a Santa Claus cover-up - as big and red as anything the Chinese Communist Party did under Mao Tse-tung.
Not everyone in the local news media was satisfied by the Santa survey suppression. Your blog saw one e-mail, which noted stories about the risks of smoking aren't taken off the air if smokers complain. But of course, smokers can always go outside and light up to avoid them.
More pointedly, this e-mail stated negative stories about Iraq aren't kept off the air - so why should a story dealing with "the truth about Santa Claus" be censored? Maybe it's because mothers do a better job of "psychological operations" than the military does.
There's a core issue at the heart of this whole discussion - the role of journalists in reporting "the truth," whatever it may be. For 11 months a year, the job seems easy. Then one guy shows up at a shopping mall, and all the rules change.
Let's be honest here -- the mothers who called the other day actually wanted the news media to reinforce a lie. Should parents lie to their children? Children lie to each other enough already - about things like the cooties.
"But it's an innocent lie," some parents may say about Santa Claus. The jury didn't buy that defense in the Scott Peterson trial -- and the jurors weren't far from Santa Clara.
Even some churches buy into this, by having people dress like Santa Claus at holiday events. Haven't the ministers of these churches read the Bible verse about "all liars" winding up in "burning sulfur?" That sounds a whole lot worse than one lump of coal.
People who know me know I'm not a fan of Christmas. In fact, I've written at length online about it. Yet Christmas supporters seem to be screaming louder this year - even opposing phrases like "Happy Holidays." That's the way to make Hanukkah-keepers feel welcome.
The bottom line issue here is this: If you expect news reporters to lie about Santa Claus during December, do you also want them to lie about other things the rest of the year? Maybe that's why some of the Santa stuff is left to weather forecasters - because people expect them to be unreliable at times.
E-MAIL UPDATE: The debate over Jesse Jackson's financial boycott of Columbus begins:
I find it interesting that Calvin Smyre was so outspoken several weeks ago at a local press conference, I believe held to announce the lawsuit filed against David Glisson and Sheriff Ralph Johnson, and now he acts as though he has been completely left out of the loop with this financial boycott on Columbus. Calvin may want to decide which side of the "white-washed" picket fence he is going to stand on and stay there.
tired of ALL the fences in Columbus,
Christine
Christine, I'm tired of all the fences as well. Please, Columbus State University - open up Bay Avenue at Tenth Street SOON!
But anyway: Rep. Calvin Smyre is a churchgoing man. He'd probably say Jesse Jackson felt "moved by the spirit" to announce a boycott. Whether it was really the spirit of attention-getting remains to be seen....
Christine raises an interesting question here: why are picket fences "whitewashed," anyway? Was the inventor of this approach subtly racist?
Now other items of interest from Wednesday:
+ The Lee County Sheriff's Department announced two more methamphetamine arrests, pushing the total for the year to 100.
This is the sort of "new meth" we'd rather not learn.
+ Port Columbus marked the 140th anniversary of the Confederate warship Jackson. But a planned appearance by the CSS Jackson at a celebration near the Space Science Center was called off for "technical reasons." Take that, Jesse....
(A 140-year-old warship has TECHNICAL problems?! C'mon - where did the tugboat break down?)
+ Jay Jacobs was named the new Auburn University athletic director. Inspired by this, the Auburn men's basketball team lost at a tournament in Puerto Rico -- to Toledo. There's still time for Jacobs to pull a Rick Majerus, and back out of this....
+ Instant Message to El Vaquero restaurant: How do you keep doing it? Even on Wednesday night in a holiday week, you were full - and you didn't even serve combined red and green margaritas.
2004 IN REVIEW CONTINUED: April found Georgia Tech's basketball team playing in the national championship game. But the fervor for the Yellow Jackets may be waning. Not one Columbus radio station thought Tuesday night's appearance in the "Champs Sports Bowl" was worth broadcasting.
But the owners of the Columbus Cottonmouths announced in April they'd move the team to Florida's west coast. Somehow the Cottonmouths resurfaced in the fall in a new league - proving a chop at the head doesn't always kill a snake.
While the Cottonmouths left the Civic Center in April, the country band "Alabama" showed up for a concert. Columbus residents view the group's songs a bit differently. They hear "Mountain Music," and think of a parade in Pine Mountain.
Brian Sharpe left WRBL in April after several years, to take a job with the Columbus Chamber of Commerce. Maybe the one-cent sales tax would have in November if Sharpe had issued a "Recreation Report Card" about it.
Rep. Tom Buck announced a career change as well in April, retiring from the Georgia Legislature. Former Columbus Councilor Richard Smith will have his seat in January - so truly the Buck has been passed.
Riverfest returned to its roots in April, holding its annual spring party on Broadway in the Historic District. They were flushing hydrants in that area just the other day - so the hooligans hid their vandalism really well.
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