Published: June 20, 2009 04:04 pm      

VASICEK:Lackluster, vintage news

Sometimes I chuckle when I peruse news headlines. I am not envisioning those newspaper headline bloopers, like: “Drunk Get Nine Months in Violin Case” or “Teacher Strikes Idle Kids,” but rather news that has lost its newsy-ness, like, “Something Went Wrong in Jet Crash, Experts Say.”

A wealth of items hitting the presses and airwaves seem anything but surprising. Take the recent stories about the Iranian elections. Expecting free and honest elections in Iran would be about like expecting true elections in Stalin’s Soviet Union or Hitler’s Germany. True, free elections – now THAT would have been news. I suppose the information about what happened in Iran is technically genuine news (because it was a happening), but how can writers act surprised or shocked by it? The president of Iran is a fanatical, control-freak nut. What do you expect – Mr. Rogers?

Or take an AP article described thusly, “New research suggests that sleeping and dreaming are crucial for the processing of human emotions.” Wow, what an insightful breakthrough! Like we don’t already know that people who do not sleep enough are grouchy, crabby and oblivious. When I come into the office on Monday morning (if it is still morning) with my adrenaline completely depleted, it’s not a pretty picture. Think Lon Chaney Jr. and a full moon. And that’s with sleep.

Then there is news that is current, but simply the same old same old. AP released this report, “The former top executive of American International Group Inc. plundered an AIG retirement program of billions of dollars because he was angry at being forced out of the company, a lawyer for AIG told jurors Monday at the start of a civil trial.” What would really get our attention is, “Honest Big Executives Save Corporation Billions.” Oh, that we had news flashes like that!

It’s not the fault of media – the national and international news resemble summer reruns. Gasoline is going up. Gasoline is going down. Up. Down. Up. Down. The economy is doing badly, but showing signs that it is declining at a slower pace. Analysts say maybe things are bottoming out. Next month’s report, same story. And the next. North Korea is playing with nukes, Israel threatens pre-emptive strikes if Iran keeps developing nukes. Obama is loosening security, Cheney says we are endangering ourselves. These items are important, but sometimes there isn’t much “new” in the news. Like leftover turkey after Thanksgiving, reporters must ask “what more can we do with it?” At least local news has been more interesting!

Not all news needs to be exciting or late-breaking. Some articles publicize long-standing issues or opportunities.

One lesson I have learned and relearned is that people forget. Why must I keep relearning this lesson? Oh, (this is embarrassing): I keep forgetting it! Many of you are like me: Information can slide right off my head and out the door (that’s how I got this massive bald spot).

Here is a positive example of relevant (but not late-breaking) news. The Kokomo Tribune recently ran an article about the Reservoir Park – one of Kokomo’s best kept secrets! I resided in the City of Firsts for years before I discovered that park! When I overheard people chatting (or boasting in exaggerated ways) about fishing excursions at “the reservoir,” I assumed they meant Mississinewa; I was wrong! We need to continue to advertise the Reservoir Park more aggressively.

The Chief Kokomo monument is another local site that has been around for nearly 100 years, yet all but forgotten. For one of our church youth group’s summer activities (the wife and I lead our summer group), our teens will be taking an “urban walk” down the Walk of Excellence from Foster Park eastward to the monument. I mentioned this walk to a group of lifelong and longtime Kokomo residents, and I discovered that only a small percentage had ever seen or knew where the monument was located! For many folks, old news is new news! And newer news is, well, old news. Go figure.

• Ed Vasicek is pastor of Highland Park Church and a weekly contributor to the Kokomo Tribune.