Hang in there
Perhaps “the news” isn’t as important as I had thought. For years, I’ve given great credence to what comes across my desk as coverage of the world at large. I read newspapers, listen to the radio, watch the evening telecast of local content (although the Bruce and Boomer show winds up tomorrow evening, replaced with as yet unrevealed changes). Over all, I take pride in being able to (at least) recognize names, faces and places.
Today, the most important story involved a crane. No, not one of those spindly birds; a construction crane, with dangling cables and a place for a hook. And there it was, the perfect “hook” for a story on the networks. Sometime during the night (and a dark and chilly one, at that), a young woman climbed the structure, shimmied down one of the cables and took her place as a watcher. With a camera, in case anyone doubted her athletic prowess. And there she hung. Getting down was much more difficult than she had planned, I guess.
Like with cats stuck in trees, they (who?) called the fire department. One brave soul, with more of a head for heights than me, climbed the structure, shimmied down one of the cables, and joined the watcher after attaching a safety harness. I can only imagine that he then gave the universal gesture to “Lower away!”
The #crane affair ended safely, although we still don’t know the answers to the classic questions. For those unfamiliar with the basics of journalism practices, that includes who and why.
