That's a cliche, but like a lot of cliches, it's true.
We learn about our past from the record.
Sometimes those records are personal. My cousin and I were going through boxes in our great-grandparents house which is no longer occupied, but is lovingly cared for on the family farm. Photos of people we don't remember with names (if we were lucky) scrawled on the back. We can piece together some of our personal record from family Bibles and yellowed newspaper clippings.
Newspapers, even the first draft of personal history.
The engagements, weddings, births, graduations, county fair ribbons. And not just general circulation newspapers. A picture of my grandfather and two of my uncles with one of their beloved English Shepherds and the Alamance County Agricultural Agent that was used in an extension service brochure.
Even today, with must news broadcast or on the internet, the public record is there. Older records are on paper, later on microfiche, now on servers or in the cloud -- which I still think is an old Westinghouse elevator warehouse in Pocatello, Idaho managed by six guys who wear hoodies and live in their mothers' basements. But, wherever, it's the public record.
I'm not one for predictions, but I have a feeling our descendents won't be amused by our public record of today.
The fourth marriage of the third Kardashian? Seriously?
The public really doesn't want that stuff.
The Jefferson Township Council is not too glamorous, but they are doing their job.
Oh, they may be mildly amused when Alec Baldwin is dragged off a paparazzo by two burly cops.
They may even be appalled when David Duchovney confesses to being a sex addict. Especially considering his father-in-law is Italian.
But, it's not what they want.
Surveys have shown the public wants news about the thing that have an impact on their lives: traffic tie-ups (natural or politically made), weather, crime, tax increases, local elections. They want national and international news if they can relate to it.
Horace Chamberlain is not a celebrity, except to old-timers in Jefferson Township who elected him mayor several times.
Yet "news" shows fill their time with silly celebrity gossip, the latest diet tips followed by the latest recipes and sob stories of "regular people," who cease to be regular when they become celebrities.
I'd venture to say if the Today show or Good Morning America woke people up to news, they'd like it better. And maybe even be more awake.
