Ed Peaco

The New York Times’ 10 best books of 2012 includes this novel with an intriguing description:

THE YELLOW BIRDS
By Kevin Powers.
Little, Brown & Company, $24.99.

A veteran of the Iraq war, Powers places that conflict at the center of his impressionistic first novel, about the connected but diverging fates of two young soldiers and the trouble one of them has readjusting to life at home. Reflecting the chaos of war, the fractured narrative jumps around in time and location, but Powers anchors it with crystalline prose and a driving mystery: How did the narrator’s friend die?

Lots of people have been complaining about the New Orleans Times-Picayune’s conversion to a mostly-web operation, with print editions on Wednesdays, Fridays and Sundays. I agree that it’s a ruinous move, but for somewhat different reasoning that is typically put forth.

The most recent piece that I have read is by John McQuaid in The Atlantic.

Most observers are proclaiming that New Orleans no longer has a daily newspaper. That’s not true. The Times-Pic will continue publishing every day, but four days a week it will be web only. As always, this type of conversion disappoints many readers. However, the move simply reflects the overwhelming trend of reader preference toward reading on screens.

It’s true that if the Saints win the Super Bowl again, folks won’t have a Monday-morning poster front page to frame. But for every cellulose reader who would be disappointed, there will be many more who will go to the photo galleries and enjoy.

If the conversion involved no more than this, then the paper could successfully provide the news in formats that readers expect. Except for three things:

1) Apparently the website sucks. However, that would not be fatal to the conversion. If the site were awkward and crummy, it could be improved by an infusion of smarter techies.

2) If the site were a click-centric, marketing-oriented quagmire, it could be improved by greater assertiveness on the part of editors — or an infusion of more assertive editors. But those outcomes are less likely in this age of contraction, so I suppose the venture could be doomed by this factor.

3) In addition to the conversion, the paper’s corporate administrators are also laying off hundreds of news employees at the same time. I could see how a handful of production people would no longer be needed due to the reduced print schedule, but the severity of the layoffs guarantees that reporters are being purged in large numbers. This decision is the fatal step. Regardless of the format, reporters are essential. Reducing their numbers will lead to ruin.

I don’t understand why the critics don’t start with Item 3.

MSNBC video, “Coming out: The Experiment”

Recently I saw an interview at MSNBC of an author who is finishing a book about his change of attitude toward gays after he posed for a year as a gay man.

In the video, Timothy Kurek says he embarked on his experiment to test his homophobic views that he acquired as part of his Christian faith. He says he began his experiment by “coming out” to his family, reasoning that he needed to experience this moment because of its extreme traumatic effect on a gay person. Fortunately, his family was supportive. Kurek goes on to describe his activities while posing as gay, frequenting the relevant bars, bookstores and cafes.

“I tried to be around these people as much as I possibly could to see if there was any justification in the fear that I had,” he says, though he acknowledges the limitations of these activities for gaining full understanding of gay life.

Kuerk says the experiment “altered my faith and challenged my beliefs.” He hopes that the book will change the outlook of Christians and serve as an apology to gays, whom he once despised.

I suppose this venture is well meaning, but I feel that, by lying and misrepresenting himself, Kurek severely undermines his lofty purpose.

Lying to his family on such an intimate level?

Faking as a means to gain honest understanding?

Journalism went through a process where serious practitioners stopped doing this sort of thing to gain access to guarded details for a story. The question of misrepresenting oneself to get a story is pretty much off the table now. It’s not done. It’s a matter of credibility. Kurek isn’t doing journalism, but, in his religious enterprise, he ought to be held to even higher ethical standards.

Kurek didn’t need to pose. He could have approached members of the gay community, told them that he needed to understand them better, and asked them if he could hang out with them for a while. There are limitations to this approach as well, but it would be real, not fake.

I am curious why those who say that the Census Bureau’s American Community Survey is too intrusive are not more disappointed with corporations that harvest personal data for profit.

We mindlessly agree to share our personal information with Facebook and Google, which say up front they will use it in various ways to make money — but suspicion surrounds the Census Bureau, which has a two-century track record of confidentiality and data protection.

Which terms of service seem to embrace data stewardship more rigorously?

Facebook:

For content that is covered by intellectual property rights, like photos and videos (IP content), you specifically give us the following permission, subject to your privacy and application settings: you grant us a non-exclusive, transferable, sub-licensable, royalty-free, worldwide license to use any IP content that you post on or in connection with Facebook (IP License). This IP License ends when you delete your IP content or your account unless your content has been shared with others, and they have not deleted it.

Census Bureau:

Violating the confidentiality of a respondent is a federal crime with serious penalties, including a federal prison sentence of up to five years, a fine of up to $250,000, or both. We promise that every person with access to your information is sworn for life to protect your confidentiality. We promise that we will use every technology, statistical methodology, and physical security procedure at our disposal to protect your information.

A couple of years ago, I signed up for Census Bureau updates as part of a story I was doing. In recent weeks, I have received two e-mails from that agency regarding challenges to its funding.

Specifically, politicians are trying to delete the American Community Survey from the bureau’s research portfolio. This survey fills in the gaps between the decennial surveys and provides a rich and dense body of data for citizens and businesses to use for planning their futures. Some politicians say it’s too intrusive, unconstitutional and a waste of money.

Each message from the Census begins with the same language and follows with links to news and opinion articles from major media organizations.

Today’s message reads:

Last week the House of Representatives passed a bill that contains the Census Bureau’s budget. We are receiving many questions from the press and stakeholders all across the country. In an effort to continue to be responsive to these questions, we are providing an editorial from the Washington Post and an opinion piece from Roll Call.

Washington Post
http://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/the-american-community-survey-is-a-count-worth-keeping/2012/05/15/gIQALTRISU_story.html

Roll Call
http://www.rollcall.com/issues/57_136/Research_Cuts_Are_Akin_to_Eating_Seed_Corn-214527-1.html

Observations:

1) The Census Bureau may be prohibited from doing PR on its own behalf. In any case, this is a great way to conduct a PR campaign without doing any PR.

2) I worked for the Census Bureau in 2010 as a clerk, handling tons of raw data compiled by the enumerators. For two months, I entered the bureau’s world of privacy and confidentiality. The data protection practices were comprehensive and rigorously observed. Although my experience was a limited glimpse, I feel that it suggests the whole of the bureau’s culture. So, I suggest that though the American Community Survey may be intrusive, it also is secure.

3) If the American Community Survey were discontinued, the need for this data would not disappear. I suppose Census opponents would suggest that this function should be left to private enterprise. Then what? No research firm would take on the project unless it could be monetized. In this mindset, would only people who paid a fee be counted? Would the only people who could access the data be those who could pay for it?

4) This latest turn for the worse in our politics confirms the continuation of a campaign of willful ignorance and the denial of the value of facts, science and knowledge of all forms. We are trying to be stupid.

Back in the early 1970s, we began the transition to gender-neutral pronouns. The laudable principle of overturning patriarchy in pronouns led to various solutions.

Old way:

The person texting should at least be aware of where he is.

New ways that are more or less correct but awkward:

The person texting should at least be aware of where he or she is.

The person texting should at least be aware of where she is. [And perhaps use "he" the next time such a situation occurs to even things out.]

New way that many grammarians recommend:

People who text should at least know where they are.

New way that millions of non-grammarians use every day:

The person texting should at least be aware of where they are.

This last version contains an agreement violation. However, why not just change the grammar rule to make this usage acceptable? Of course, editors of dictionaries and manuals resist caving to the rabble, but, over the decades, the rabble usually prevails on such matters. If we caved now, we could save a few decades of fuss.

In my new freelance role as a music writer for the News-Leader, I had the pleasure of interviewing JJ Grey in advance of his performance with his band, Mofro, at the Gillioz Theater in Springfield. Grey, purveyor of rural wisdom with plenty of soul, told me a fascinating story behind one of his more curious songs, “King Hummingbird,” from his current album, Georgia Warhorse. I have been learning that it’s easier and more fun to ask musicians to tell me a story than to try to talk about music with them (although of course I must do both).

Read my article before it passes to the dark side of the News-Leader pay wall. Read my impressions of the concert at my personal blog.

I am working on a story for the Springfield (Mo.) News-Leader about a small group of Civil War re-enactors based in the Ozarks who will be participating in the 150th Anniversary Re-enactment of the Battle of Wilson’s Creek, August 12-14. For these guys, re-enacting is part history, part recreation. In addition to numerous interviews, I spent an afternoon with some of the group at the rural home of one of the members. They drilled and planned for the event and also provided a shooting demonstration. Look for their story — plus pictures by a professional photographer — in Sunday’s News-Leader.