I subscribe to the New York Times for a major source of reliable news. I also watch the PBS NewsHour as I have since it was the MacNeil/Lehrer NewsHour. I do this because I’m interested in national and international developments and because I feel it’s my duty as a citizen of our US democracy to be well informed in order to help govern with responsible voting and informed comment.
As far at the informed comment part, I write to the White House and my elected representatives. I also reply to Times articles practically daily. For example, here are comments I made today after reading an article concerning the House speaker’s evolution that enabled him to push through long-delayed aid to Ukraine:
“Sometimes when someone is thrust into a position of responsibility and is forced to review the facts of a weighty matter, enlightenment occurs.
Could you imagine the withered soul of someone who could look President Zelenskyy in the eye and hear his dignified pleas for aid and not do everything in their power to provide it?
You’d be looking at a certain Georgian representative with the crass to shout interruptions during a State of the Union speech, and much worse.
Perhaps we’ll see a new version of the Republican party emerge that is determined to help govern our country? Maybe that’ll happen after a November Democratic landslide. God grant us both.”
I enjoy fulfilling my duty to be part of national debates in this way and I’m continually surprised by other commenters, both those who share my (informed by reputable news sources) world view, and those who don’t.
I also critique NYT editorial choices from time to time. Those don’t get published, but I sometimes get a reply. I have yet to be invited to consult with them. And I’m laughing because the odds of east-coast elites stooping to attend seriously to someone living in Oregon aren’t great.
Still, I do what I can to provide feedback.
My being in Oregon does hamper my comments getting toward the top of the Reader Picks list. But I do seem to have a following of sorts. Even if comments like those above are offered several hours after the article arrived in print, and wind up way down the list of many, many dozens, I quite often have a few dozen people recommending what I say. If I happen to comment on an article just printed, I often see my posting near the top of the Reader Picks list.
How gratifying.
