The grandkids on the cusp of magic and some more thoughts about journalism

Posted By: David Fortier September 15, 2024

By David Fortier

Come Sunday morning, Mary and I will have babysat Grandchild No. 1 (GC 1) Saturday evening and gotten back late. We may or may not get in our regular Saturday night TV show. Lately we are watching “Madam Secretary,” followed by a dose of “Abbot Elementary.”

GC 1 is 4 years old, and very competent. Her parents do not have to leave instructions because she knows the routine. She is also adept at her letters and is on the cusp of reading. This reading thing is a small miracle unfolding among the grandchildren. (Two of them are 4 years old.) I was there the time when GC 1 read, “turtle.” T, u, r, t, l, e–turtle. Yes, a light lit up from behind her eyes and all around her head and there was singing in the background.

Grandchild No. 2 is also 4 years old and close on his cousin’s reading heels. I spend my Thursdays with him. These consist of a visit to a local diner for a small cup of soft serve chocolate ice cream and a healthy (unhealthy) dose of gummy bears. I bring a backpack of art supplies and printouts of coloring pages. He eats his treat, we chat about his day, and he colors. Typically, he eats the gummies and I end up finishing the ice cream). Afterward, we head to the library.

This evening with GC 1 was mellow. We had leftover pizza and for dessert we shared chocolate moon pies, sandwich cookies filled with cream and something flaky with cinnamon. GC 1 insisted on trying a bit of each. There were two moon pies.

“But they are the same,” I said.

“No, they are not,” she said. “They are different.”

I conceded, because, of course, she was correct. There were two different treats, even though they were the same type of treat.

Score: GC 1 — 1, Papa — 0.

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Picking up where I left off last week, by way of a reminder, the news is only the news, the same way food is only food. We need to eat, and often our meals are nothing special, in the sense, our meals provide us with the nutrients we need but are not events.

News must have a standard — it must meet a certain bar, such as those established by journalists — just as food has to. My mom used a basic understanding of food groups by determining that there should be greens, starches/carbs and protein on every plate.

It’s that way with journalism. Stories must be accurate reports, sources attributed, facts checked–and if at all possible, include different perspectives. At TBE, I prefer the standards of the Ethical Journalism Network.

EJN has a video from which I quote below, with its five core values of journalism:

–accuracy (“no deceptive handling of the facts”),

–independence (“you are not there to be a spokes[person] for the government, you are not there to be a representative of a particular business group or a special interest group–you have transparency in what you do so that when you are speaking and dealing with your audience and producing material you are acting independently, acting as an independent professional.”)

–impartiality (“you recognize that there is more than one side of a story, and very often there’s more than two sides of a story, and as a journalist you are responsible for looking and thinking about what are the other sides of this story, … what are the opinions that I need to bring in make the story whole.”)

–humanity (“as a journalist you are expected to show humanity, you are responsible for what you publish and what you broadcast, so you have to be aware, sometimes, the words you use, the pictures you show can do damage, they can be harmful to people–it is not the job of the journalist to do undue harm, it’s our job to protect people.)

–accountability (“we have to engage with the audience, we have to correct our mistakes, and we have to be prepared to provide remedies when we get it wrong.”)

For the full 2:55 minute video, “Ethics 101: The 5 Core Values of Journalism,” click here.

Check out, “Ethics 101: What is Journalism and Who is A Journalist,” by clicking here.

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And all this leads to listening for this week, beginning with the Hard Fork podcast episode, “Do You Need a New iPhone? + Yuval Noah Harari’s A.I. Fears + Hard Fork Crimes Division.” There are three separate segments.

The segment that interests me the most, and the one I hope you tune into, is the one featuring Harari, author of “Sapiens,” who discusses with hosts his latest book, “Nexus.” Much of his conversation centers on democracy and how technology impedes, rather than improves, our ability to engage with each other. Most telling is his retelling of the effects of the printing press, which did not usher in the Enlightenment for 200 years, but went through a period of disinformation that is both amusing and instructive, paralleling our current situation. Click here.

For reading, I picked up “How to Read Literature Like a Professor: A Lively and Entertaining Guide to Reading Between the Lines,” by Thomas C. Foster, who is, you might have guessed, a professor of literature. As a teacher and writer, as well as a journalist, this subject might appear to be pretty mundane, but for anyone who is a reader and thinker–or anyone who might aspire to but a reader and thinker–this book is mandatory reading. I picked up a digital copy from the library. For a review and comments, click here.

***

City meetings this week include the following:

On Monday, Sept. 16

  • Zoning Commission, 6 p.m. Council chambers, city hall. For a virtual meeting link, click here.
  • Aquifer Protection Agency — Special Meeting, 6:30 p.m. Council chambers, city hall. For a virtual meeting link, click here.

On Tuesday, Sept. 17

  • Board of Assessment Appeals, 3 p.m. Meeting room 1-1, city hall.
  • Real Estate Committee, 5 p.m. Meeting room 1-2, city hall.
  • Real Estate Committee Public Hearing, 6:30 p.m. Council chambers, city hall.
  • Sewer Commission, 6 p.m. Bristol Water & Sewer Filtration Plant, 1080 Terryville Ave.
  • Water Commissioners, 6:15 p.m. Bristol Water & Sewer Filtration Plant, 1080 Terryville Ave.

On Wednesday, Sept. 18

  • Code Enforcement Workshop, 3 p.m. Mayor’s Office, city hall.
  • Salary Committee–cancelled.
  • Fund Development and Advocacy Committee — Special Meeting, 5:30 p.m. Meeting room 1-2, city hall.
  • Police Commission, 6 p.m. Council chambers, city hall. For a virtual meeting link, click here.
  • Board of Park Commissioners, 6 p.m. Meeting room 1-2, city hall. For a virtual meeting link, click here.

On Thursday, Sept. 19

  • Commission on Aging, 11 a.m. Bristol Senior Center, room 103, 240 Stafford Ave.
  • Citation Hearing, 3 p.m. City hall.
  • Board of Assessment Appeals, 3 p.m. Meeting room 1-1, city hall.
  • Animal Control Building Committee, 5 p.m. 30 Cross St. No virtual meeting available.
  • Board of Public Works, 6 p.m. Council chambers, city hall. For virtual meeting link, click here.
  • Energy Commission, 7 p.m. Meeting room 116, city hall.

On Friday, Sept. 20

  • No meeting posted.

TBE will do our best to update meeting times and locations, but it’s a good idea to check the agendas ahead of time for cancellations. Click here for specific meetings and times.

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The new school year has arrived. If you know a high school student who would like to get first-hand experience covering sports, send them our way. Contact editor@bristoledition.org.

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Enjoy!

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