The Casual Historian
I suppose I should just face it. I am getting older and it is no use denying it any longer even though, as my Dad used to say - “I still feel young on the inside”. I always wondered what he meant by that statement but now, as I have passed the crescent of fifty, I think I know.
So, when I was asked to do a blog and share some of the contemporary history of Panama City, anecdotes about growing up here, and weekend adventures, my first thoughts were I am too young to be a casual historian. I seem to always forget that the majority of employees in our newsroom were not even born when Ronald Regan was elected and most of the political memory began during the Clinton administration. I suppose that makes me, by comparison, an internal historian of sorts. Maybe it just makes me an old reporter. After all, I am a card carrying member of the Geritol Generation and completely unashamed to take my hotel and restaurant discounts.
Working with and hiring the new crop of young reporters is a challenge. Generation Y, as it is called, is somewhat unique. There are major differences in this group of employees and if you work with them, you know exactly what I mean. For example, most don’t eat fried chicken and that alone speaks volumes about the nature of generation Y. It is tough to trust someone that doesn’t eat fried stuff. Need I say more?
To be completely fair, there are some very good things about our young reporters. Most are extremely intelligent and eager to learn. They are here to hone their skills and most will eventually be very successful journalists. There is a sense of the “positive” that I find very refreshing. Most really do want to report on positive things and they would were I not at their backs pushing them to kick down doors to seek the truth, hold the powerful accountable, give voice to the voiceless, and arm our viewers with insight to cope with their daily lives. We simply have a different point of view on what is positive.
I think when we find someone foolishly wasting “our’ money and we point it out, it is a positive story. I think when a bad guy is put behind bars and taken off the street, it is a positive story. When we do a story on a Bay County Commissioner spending “our” tax dollars yet declines to pay his taxes, it is a positive story. Oh boy, don’t get me started! I feel a rant coming on!
It hasn’t always been this way. When I started reporting in 1976, no one was interested in investigative reporting. We simply never rocked the boat or challenged authority. My job was the “meatball” beat. I covered luncheons, banquets, ground breakings, and ribbon cuttings. If the meal was free, the story was covered (especially if it was fried chicken.) Thankfully, that has changed mostly because the market has grown and viewers demand and deserve more from their news departments.
Sometimes, it is all too stressful. Young, bossy reporters, flippant politicians, corporate paperwork, well, you know the drill. So, when the weekend rolls around I find myself on the back roads of our bountiful and beautiful part of the state looking for bluegrass music, interesting things to do, and, of course, fried chicken. I will try to share some of these “finds” with you.
There are a thousand stories left to be told or simply remembered. Don’t expect to find them all here; maybe just a little stroll down memory lane or maybe a little skewed insight into topical issues. Just don’t expect too much. Heck, I have enough trouble remembering all my pins and passwords much less historical anecdotes or things that I did this weekend. It seems we tend to forget things as we grow older, even though we still feel young on the inside.
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About Me
The life of any News Director is stressful most days... so, when the weekend rolls around I find myself on the back roads of our bountiful and beautiful part of the state looking for bluegrass music, interesting things to do, and, of course, fried chicken. I will try to share some of these "finds" with you. There are a thousand stories left to be told or simply remembered. Don't expect to find them all here; maybe just a little stroll down memory lane or maybe a little skewed insight into topical issues.
Larche Hardy,
News Director
All My Entries:
- Nashville Bluegrass at IBMA
- Marty Raybon and Georgia Bluegrass
- Curse of the Acoustic Guitar
- A Millville Hero
- Bluegrass at BAMA JAM a hit!
- Bird watching not a bore
- No Poet Laureate
- Let the Bluegrass begin
- Hurry Spring
- Alabama’s Highway 52
- Cell Phone Interuptus
- Bellying up to the bar
- Resolutions are Doomed to Failure
- Bah-dad-gum-Humbug
- A hunting we will go!
- Hot Stuff!
- My new camo hat… A bargain at $34
- The Road Trip
- “If you don’t want to make the news, just don’t do it.”
- Hostage
- Not a Cat Person
- Hollywood - Here I don’t come…
- Found: a cure for the blues…
- It won’t be long…
- Not Enough Historical Markers, I say…
- Evolution takes many forms
- Revisiting Vernon
- All I know is that it’s hot…
- I Love Slocomb
- The Not-So-Casual Traveler
- The Casual Historian
Other News13 Blogs:
- The Casual Historian - Larche Hardy
- Derby Girl - Enocha Van Lierop
- The Newby - Jessi Chapin
- Gainesville, Georgia's All American Girl - Tuquyen Mach
