It was Easter Sunday.
Today, I am reflecting on a bias in the news that we on the West Coast have grown used to over the years. From their headquarters in New York and Washington, the east coast media giants focus on what is happening close to home while more or less ignoring what is happening out here.
Our public officials, including Gov. Gavin Newsom, acted decisively early in the crisis to shut down all non-essential activities. We've all been sheltering in place for weeks now, and so far, the results appear to be promising. Californians are getting the virus, and dying from it, at far lower rates than are our friends in New York.
To a certain extent, we are accustomed to disasters here, as earthquakes, floods, wildfires and landslides are common occurrences. Many of us plan for calamities, stocking up on food, water and medical supplies during normal times.
But despite this reality, the national news cycle has a rhythm of its own. From today's New York Times:
“News in this country flows east to west, always has and always will, but political and cultural movements flow west to east,” said Averell Smith, a longtime Democratic strategist who how worked in campaigns nationwide and grew up in San Francisco, where his father was the district attorney.
***
As I hear from reporter friends, it's clear that they are taking extraordinary measures to continue bringing you the news. Friends of mine at KQED, the public media company where I capped off my career before retiring last fall, are filing radio reports from home by creating acoustical environments suitable for the sound quality that characterizes their reports.
One reporter described for me how she goes into a closet and gets under a blanket in order to voice her pieces.
Another told me he has set up a mini-recording studio in his home so he can continue to host his shows.
These folks, like the rest of us, cannot venture out to the streets as they normally do to gather our news. So they are improvising.
***
Isolation is not a normal state for human beings; we are social beings. One only has to visit a zoo (alas, probably closed for now) to observe how the monkeys we evolved from play and fight and care for one another.
But with today's digital media channels, one need only be as isolated as one chooses to be. This is a wonderful time to reach out to old friends and acquaintances, to try and reconnect.
Isolation is like poverty in one sense. There are limitations to what we can do physically and financially, to alleviate these conditions. But we can embrace a more hopeful attitude if we choose to.
I am reminded of Dolly Parton's beautiful song, "Coat of Many Colors," which tells the story of how her mother sewed her a coat from rags in their impoverished home in Tennessee:
"...And I told 'em all the story
Momma told me while she sewed
And how my coat of many colors
Was worth more than all their clothes
But they didn't understand it
And I tried to make them see
That one is only poor
Only if they choose to be
Now I know we had no money
But I was rich as I could be
In my coat of many colors
My momma made for me..."
-30-
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