The sun is blazing outside, high tide is about one pm, and I am sitting here in our winter quarters near San Diego wondering what to do about kirbyontheloose. My higher power tells me that I have had a good run over the last three years, reporting on Northampton issues that no one else wants to cover, spotlighting failures in city government, and whatnot. I am not getting any younger, and stories like the last one, about Opal Development, take their toll. And my other writing seems to sit around and go nowhere because I am out chasing some local story. I guess it is time to retire. Just before we left town, I happened to go into the Gazette office on an unrelated matter. I looked around at the great expanse of desks, mostly empty. The daily deadline had come and gone, and another paper was out on the stands.
I didn't like where the Opal story had lead me, and I wondered, why me? Why are all these people who are paid to report the news not doing it, and why is this old guy taking it upon himself to step into this particular meat-grinder? It's not doing my blood pressure any good. And yes, I am getting a mite bad-tempered in my old age. So, I am calling it a day. And yes, I have done this work up til now because I enjoy it and I think it is useful. Kirbyontheloose will stay up on the web, and will get reorganized a bit, so that older stories are easier to access, and I may post new chapters of my book about the fall of Heritage Bank.
Local journalism has changed profoundly over the last century, and it is only once in a blue moon that we get stories in the Gazette that go beyond what is in the press releases. I guess I am old fashioned. I believe that community newspapers should be a watchdog, they should bark once in a while, and their reporters should not be rewriting press releases and anointing development groups like Opal Development with their good housekeeping seal of approval. How far we have fallen can be seen by the Picknelly family choosing who they did to head up a major real estate venture in Northampton. They must have assumed that no one at the Republican or the Gazette would ask questions and look into his background. I hope Clarke School will change its mind, rebid its acreage, and pick a group with a proven track record.
5 comments:
Mike, good luck to you. I can understand your decision. I'm consistently disappointed by the toothless "journalism" in our local paper of record, which seems most content playing the role of booster for local advertisers. Without you, and occasionally the Advocate, the voters in this city are going to be left completely in the dark.
Mike- I too am sorry to see your reporting end. Like Ed Shanahan tried to do with his DownStreet website, your effort has been appreciated. I fully sympathize with your decision to call it quits. Life is too short to tilt at windmills, and most folks don't care enough to read beyond the headlines. good luck, and try to enjoy yourself.
The first two posters let you off easy. Not me. I think you're a damn fool for stopping the blog. It was, and is, excellent work, and it was important to Northampton. You did great research, you told it like it is, and you don't have any sacred cows. Mike, the worst thing a man can feel is useless and unnecessary; you know darn well that your journalism was effective. So take your break out in beautiful San Diego, get rested up, but don't stop making a difference.
Mike,
Thank you so much for your blog. It brought back both my father and I to old/new Northampton/Amherst.
We both live many miles away, but your writing gave us something to talk about.
All the best!
Miguel:
I can relate to your desire to pack it in, even though both of us still have lots to say and write. But it is so hard to get the attention of the madding crowd. And to what purpose? I liked your Clarke School piece which I read while in Thailand where we visited Bill Norris and Bua. The Gazette ran one piece based on your research and article, but no folo. They never seem to do the folo stories on issues which are so crucial to gaining public attention and possible action. They just take one bite at a story and drop it. Have a good winter. Cheers, Ed
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