News Media ,,,
A nostalgic look at news as it used to be.
I don't think there's enough paper for me to
discuss what it is today.
Submitted to Poets United Midweek Motif
May 3, 2017
After supper, my father sat hunched in his old rocking chair
beside the console radio, dialed to the evening news. It was
World War II, and I can still hear the sonorous tones of
Gabriel Heater reporting on “our boys on the Western Front”.
This was our contact with the world beyond our rural part of
north central Illinois. When the news reported a need for
blood for “our boys”, my father and a few of the neighboring
farmers, all of whom were above age for the draft, drove the
100 miles north to Chicago to donate blood. The country was
united in patriotism and support for our military. Stars hung
in the windows of those who had fathers or sons in service.
Sadly, gold stars hung in the windows of those who’d lost that
father or son. The newscasts on the old radio were never
questioned, but taken as gospel truth.
How I wish we could rely upon truth in our journalism today.
**************
A blog for the midnight epiphanies and idle thoughts of a hopeless wordaholic.
I remember that "one voice of truth" from the 50s, too. The details here paint strong images.
ReplyDeleteOh you took me back to days when the radio was our only window on the world. I used to rock in my grandma's rocking chair in the afternoons and listen to children's programs......I can see your father, listening intently to word of the war........a great write, Bev.
ReplyDeleteA bygone era, for sure, that of truth in the media. It must have been an amazing time, when you could trust what came out of the radio.
ReplyDeleteYou've taken me to another era...simple, honest, sincere.
ReplyDeleteBev, your poem brought memories of my own, of Knowlton Nash, who was the senior anchor, the CBC's late night broadcast, "The National". Only remember his later years, before he retired, in 1988, but to me, as teenager, the voice of the world, to Canada.
ReplyDeleteI too remember the war as a child in the 1940's and how we trusted the news even though locations of bombed cities were never mentioned and everywhere there were warnings "Loose talk costs lives" to prevent gossip and so not dishearten an already war weary country but never as a child did I ever doubt that we would win!
ReplyDeleteah...this touches the heart at the right point...sharing this!
ReplyDeleteI feel like i have been transported to another time. Powerful write!
ReplyDeleteWhat a wonderful story and nostalgic account of yesteryear!
ReplyDeleteIt was very similar in Tasmania at that time!
ReplyDelete