I still remember the day. Even though it was probably a decade ago, it seems just like yesterday.
A reporter was calling the then-police chief of one of the larger cities in our neck of the woods about an item he had seen on social media of some disaster, some heinous crime, something of definite public interest.
Mostly, I remember the chief’s tone, the volume of the conversation and his message.
“QUIT GETTING YOUR NEWS ON TWITTER,” the chief, normally a man of few words, screamed through the old-school telephone receiver at the reporter sitting across from me.
And that was way before the Trump presidency, before the Jan. 6 insurrection, before the COVID-19 pandemic and before the catch-all phrase “fake news” had even been uttered once in a public arena.
The advent of new technology has always proved challenging. Remember when digital cameras first came out? Everyone thought they could become professional photographers even though they had no idea of how to develop film, photo composition, what fixer was or how to “dodge” or “burn” a photo. Or remember when home computers put desktop publishing in everyone’s wheelhouse? Sure, anyone can produce a “publication” but most had no idea of how to use fonts or the basics of good design. No, you probably shouldn’t use a script typeface all caps.
And smart phones, where do I start there?
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