“Well you got your reasons
And you got your lies
And you got your manipulations
They cut me down to size.”
“If You Could Only See” - Tonic
The mid- to late-1990s saw an influx of pop rock artists and groups as the rock music scene responded to the early-1990s grunge era of rock with more upbeat music that was radio-friendly. Tonic was one of those groups, releasing their debut album “Lemon Parade” in 1996. “If You Could Only See” was the third single released from the album, hitting airwaves in March of 1997.
The song quickly rocketed up charts, becoming Tonic’s most successful single, spending 63 weeks on the Billboard Hot 100 chart, peaking at No. 11. It would reach the top overall spot for multiple weeks on Billboard’s U.S. mainstream rock chart.
Lead singer Emerson Hart wrote the song, as he dealt with his family’s disapproval of a relationship with a much older woman. The song aimed to encourage Hart’s family to look beyond the age number to the relationship as a whole.
Far too often, we see the surface and never dig back into the reality of the things that go on around us, and this week, I was reminded that we have a responsibility in the news media to do that as well. After someone mentioned that they appreciated this space for providing evidence behind the arguments presented, another person, having overheard that comment, smiled and said, “But, Ben, you’re still in the entertainment business, right?”
There is an unfortunate truth to that. The news business was once dominated by individual papers, owned locally and focusing on local news. The industry has changed drastically, with more than 85% of all local newspapers in the country owned by one of 11 companies.
Because of that, the news industry has a few very interesting challenges to face. Digital-only news sources, both statewide and local within South Dakota, have been very successful in their financial model as non-profit entities. Multiple grant programs have also been set up to encourage non-profit news sources in their development, creating new competition for print newspapers that were not present in the past. Of course, that doesn’t even take into account the fact that many primarily get their news from social media, so a newspaper has plenty of competition for eyeballs.
That means that, yes, our choice of stories to utilize does involve some thought of whether a story will sell or draw clicks online.
That said, even with picking and choosing stories catered to engage viewers and readers, those of us in the news business struggle to gather that same enthusiasm for the rest of the story, as Paul Harvey built a radio career upon explaining.
I figured this week would be a good time to reflect on a couple of the big stories of 2024 locally and nationally and follow up with some of the secondary information that likely was missed when it was published because it really wasn’t “sold” in the same way.
On a national basis, the election season had a fun way of spinning stories one direction or another, even stories that should have been focused on the people involved, not the politics of how the situation could be spun. A great example was the hurricane that swept across the Carolinas, leaving billions of dollars in damage.
Many heard about $250 vouchers and gift cards being offered by FEMA in the wake of the hurricane to those whose lives had been turned upside down and talk media blew this up as an example of the government not truly caring about its people, its inefficiency, and all sorts of other rants.
Except that was barely the truth - if it was truthful at all. The vouchers and gift cards were an initial funding source, a way for people to get groceries and household needs immediately while further funding was approved. Those same people who received a $250 gift card have, in many cases, now received thousands of dollars in federal aid, and many are eligible for much more once Congress approves the full depth of funding for the federal government.
No, money was not short for FEMA because of the drastic amount of immigrants that came to the country (the lowest documented number coming across the border since 2017, but that’s another story), but the available budget for FEMA had been utilized by the dozens of other departments that somehow are associated with that budget line in the Congressional budget, including, but not exclusively, immigration. In the same way, agricultural disaster funding can be influenced by the food stamp program in the country because their budgets draw from the same budget line source, not because the food stamps program is overwhelmed with fraud or any such thing and takes money away from funding farmers in time of need - just a budget line item issue.
Locally, many lamentations were put forth on the length of time that the construction through downtown Huron took. Many in town saw the removal of trees in the boulevard between Fifth and Seventh Street as an opportunity for photographs before the city and state ruined the “look of the city.”
Many of those same folks have been upset because of natural construction delays outside the city’s hands, calling for the ouster of the mayor and/or commissioners based on the length or certain details of the project. Multiple public meetings took place beginning in 2019 and 2020 and extended all the way to the month before the project began in Spring 2024. Information on potential spots that could delay the project was discussed, but overall, it was noted back in April that this would be a two-year project from Third St. N. to Ninth St. S., with the major focus in 2024 the downtown area.
Those who want to lay out that trees have been forever removed and won’t return may want to note the saplings that have already been replanted along the East side of Campbell Park. More replanting will occur as the project moves to residential space between Seventh St. and Ninth St. this year. The type of trees and the age of the trees to be used were something discussed heavily in public meetings before the project began, with an opportunity for public input.
This past week, an article from the paper was shared on social media. The very first response was someone asking for information that was very obviously stated within the article, indicating that the person hadn’t read the article, but instead saw the headline and immediately asked a question rather than be burdened by clicking through to read.
Certainly, that is a choice we all can choose to make for ourselves, but when it comes to a news story that is tugging on your heartstrings or pushing your emotions one way or another, it’s probably good to take a moment and make sure you have all the details behind the story, not just the first blush reactions, which can be manipulated by those who are more in the entertainment side of the “news and entertainment” industry than the news side.
As we open 2025, I’ll make the goal to ensure the follow-up articles are there for you to read here in the Plainsman, if you can join me by promising to read them!
