IN OUR OWN TIMES

Is Dave Robinson has left a new comment on your post "THE DAILY BEAST....WHAT IS THAT?": 

The Daily Beast was the name of the newspaper in Evelyn Waugh's classic satire of journalism, Scoop. Journalists often are idealists at heart but keep this quality semi-protected by a thick shell of cynicism. The name was brought to real life as a political/cultural website about a decade ago by Tina Brown and others. It has since merged with Newsweek but has a wide following. 

Posted by Dave Robinson to  Our Town and Its Business at 6 March 2016 at 09:55

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Thanks Dave . I  just learned of the Evelyn Waugh classic, SCOOP.

I thnk journalists are mostly creative writers who work as reporters to pay the rent and put food on the table. 

Every story is shaped by good and evil ...has  a hero,a villain, a plot, a counter-plot and the reporter gets to decides which is which. 

On the other hand, it may be, the writing is just to encourage readership. 

In general, the business of newspapers and media, is not news. It's  advertising. The reality is everybody has to make a living . 

In particular, in politics, the story is never  Once upon a time and Happily ever after. 

Politics is about differences and complications. 

Democracy is about the right to be different ...and the right to be wrong without being the bad guy. 

The times are troublesome. But not for first time troublesome. 

A comment this morning opines there is no qualified candidate, Democratic or Republican,  in the race for office of American President. 

I beg to differ. 

No candidate is better qualified than Hillary Clinton nor has invested more of herself to make a difference in the lives of others. 

But the media has, not surprisingly, chosen Bernie Sanders as the hero.

To kin a phrase, the role is gender specific. He is the Man From La Mancha. 

He's not really but it's generally how a story unfolds. 

Sanders is as much opportunist as B.B. the Trumpeter. 

A villain must be also be cast. 

It's hard to be fair and negative about Hillary at the same time. They do it clumsily but they manage with the  proverbial thousand  small, telling, cuts.

I'm not even sure they know they're doing it  It's about trimming the narrative to fit the format or more precisely, cutting the coat to fit the cloth. 

The late Charlotte Whitten, Mayor of Ottawa in the fifties , a woman of  keen wit was quoted:

"Whatever women do, they must do twice as well as men to be thought half as good ; fortunately,

it's not difficult." 

Years of trying to make a difference in the public sector, has no doubt taught Hillary Clinton to take 

nothing for granted. She will stay the course  because it's harder not to. 

 She doesn't know how. 

On Friday, I watched the  newly -released Oscar-nominated movie TRUMBO. It's the  tale of the 

Shameful House Committee on Un-American Activities. 

I've been so looking forward to the movie. It relates toThe Hollywood Ten ,writers in the early forties, who were blacklisted from making a living at their profession.

To-day Nancy Reagan died at ninety-four. Stories of her life returned us to those ugly times in Hollywood and American politics. 

As we speak , a great historic drama  is writing  itself.