Anger overshadows justifiable concerns
Righteous indignation is a gift of sorts that allows each of us to get fired up enough about something to make a difference. It has fueled changes for generations — from the Declaration of Independence, to women’s right to vote, to Civil Rights legislation and more.
In the last week we’ve all read accounts of indignation that went beyond righteousness to plain mean spirited, angry and violent. Regardless of how anyone feels about health care legislation and the means by which it was approved, most people would disapprove of adults acting like insolent children who didn’t get their way.
There are those who continue to call for investigations and lawsuits regarding the legislation and still others who seem to want to punish anyone involved. Thank goodness we live in a country where we can still express those opinions and let our leaders know of our concerns. But, we all know there’s a right way to do that.
That said, this national behavior is eerily similar to something that’s also happened at The Enterprise. People are angry, really angry.
They scream on the telephone; they use profanities; they demand that people be fired; they want blood. Though there might have been a few times in my 30 years here that justified that behavior, it’s rare.
One caller last week told me we were all stupid and that it was obvious that nobody up here even had a high school education — because our printed television schedule was wrong.
The caller, who said he had an MBA, was complaining about a printed television schedule being incorrect when my assumption would be that someone with an MBA would approach what is, essentially, a consumer complaint in a more professional manner.
He wanted to know how we could possibly have done something so stupid and how on earth it could have happened. I explained it pretty succinctly: one of the imperfect human beings who works for The Enterprise made a mistake . . . period.
It wasn’t a plot or a purposeful omission. We weren’t trying to ruin his day, or his life, or make him angry. A human being just made a mistake.
Other callers also have turned their complaints into personal attacks full of anger and name calling. In the last six months, I’ve been screamed at, cussed out and hung up on more than in all the previous years I have dealt with customer concerns.
So, here I am, in a newspaper column that is supposed to be about newspaper concerns offering a personal opinion and a bit of personal advice: Chill.
Seriously folks, take a deep breath and a moment to think and put things in perspective. This can’t be good for your blood pressure or your karma.
We make mistakes, bad mistakes, too many mistakes. But we also do a lot of things right. When we make an error, we own up to it, correct it, and frequently apologize as we continue to try to do our best job every day. When we fail, we start over again.
So, call, please. Don’t hesitate to let us know when we’ve made a mistake, but please, leave out the screaming and name calling. We have the right to expect respect just as you have the right to expect accuracy.
•
When people call to complain about the decreased size of our newspaper, or the content, or how much things have changed, it’s my job to take the time to explain to them why.
Everyone knows about the economy. Everyone knows about the changing face of media, the Internet, and the soaring number of sources that supply “news” and information.
But this week I heard about a project that might offer a bit more enlightenment about what’s happening to newspapers and how concerned people should be about it. A Web site called Stop The Presses shares information about the difficulties of the American newspaper.
A former Dallas Morning News entertainment critic and a Dallas documentarian have released a film, “Stop the Presses: the American Newspaper in Peril,” airing on some public television stations, that explores the plight of the American newspaper and the potential impact on American democracy.
It would be a good thing if some of the people who are angry about so many other things could work up some righteous indignation to realize how important newspapers are to this country’s communication system and way of life.
Freedom of the Press is a very important concept with newspapers at its foundation.
In the last week we’ve all read accounts of indignation that went beyond righteousness to plain mean spirited, angry and violent. Regardless of how anyone feels about health care legislation and the means by which it was approved, most people would disapprove of adults acting like insolent children who didn’t get their way.
There are those who continue to call for investigations and lawsuits regarding the legislation and still others who seem to want to punish anyone involved. Thank goodness we live in a country where we can still express those opinions and let our leaders know of our concerns. But, we all know there’s a right way to do that.
That said, this national behavior is eerily similar to something that’s also happened at The Enterprise. People are angry, really angry.
They scream on the telephone; they use profanities; they demand that people be fired; they want blood. Though there might have been a few times in my 30 years here that justified that behavior, it’s rare.
One caller last week told me we were all stupid and that it was obvious that nobody up here even had a high school education — because our printed television schedule was wrong.
The caller, who said he had an MBA, was complaining about a printed television schedule being incorrect when my assumption would be that someone with an MBA would approach what is, essentially, a consumer complaint in a more professional manner.
He wanted to know how we could possibly have done something so stupid and how on earth it could have happened. I explained it pretty succinctly: one of the imperfect human beings who works for The Enterprise made a mistake . . . period.
It wasn’t a plot or a purposeful omission. We weren’t trying to ruin his day, or his life, or make him angry. A human being just made a mistake.
Other callers also have turned their complaints into personal attacks full of anger and name calling. In the last six months, I’ve been screamed at, cussed out and hung up on more than in all the previous years I have dealt with customer concerns.
So, here I am, in a newspaper column that is supposed to be about newspaper concerns offering a personal opinion and a bit of personal advice: Chill.
Seriously folks, take a deep breath and a moment to think and put things in perspective. This can’t be good for your blood pressure or your karma.
We make mistakes, bad mistakes, too many mistakes. But we also do a lot of things right. When we make an error, we own up to it, correct it, and frequently apologize as we continue to try to do our best job every day. When we fail, we start over again.
So, call, please. Don’t hesitate to let us know when we’ve made a mistake, but please, leave out the screaming and name calling. We have the right to expect respect just as you have the right to expect accuracy.
•
When people call to complain about the decreased size of our newspaper, or the content, or how much things have changed, it’s my job to take the time to explain to them why.
Everyone knows about the economy. Everyone knows about the changing face of media, the Internet, and the soaring number of sources that supply “news” and information.
But this week I heard about a project that might offer a bit more enlightenment about what’s happening to newspapers and how concerned people should be about it. A Web site called Stop The Presses shares information about the difficulties of the American newspaper.
A former Dallas Morning News entertainment critic and a Dallas documentarian have released a film, “Stop the Presses: the American Newspaper in Peril,” airing on some public television stations, that explores the plight of the American newspaper and the potential impact on American democracy.
It would be a good thing if some of the people who are angry about so many other things could work up some righteous indignation to realize how important newspapers are to this country’s communication system and way of life.
Freedom of the Press is a very important concept with newspapers at its foundation.
posted by Sheila Friedeck at 9:19 AM
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