A Little Bit of Silver

Last week I was responding to some Facebook emails and attempted to answer one query concerning public accountability. In mentioning to a person I had never met that I was going to miss Toronto Star writer James Travers and his sage insights on politics the young man I was corresponding with replied back simply, “Who?” It turned out that he had never heard of Jim or read any of his columns. I suddenly felt a little isolated.America has been going through something similar, with the death of veteran Washington Post columnist David Broder. Cautious and objective, he had been the dean of Washington journalism and yet his passing merited barely a mention on the social media sites. Like Jim Travers, tributes had poured in, but mostly from former colleagues and political types. Facebook and Twitter had little.Both of these columnists had a distinctly measured and cautious tone in their writings and they wrote about what citizens should find important. The new social media, for all its advantages, often swirls around what the writer thinks is vital (a special event, a new or severed relationship, links to other stories), and they have no editorial filter to get through in making sure their stories are truly accurate. It’s a remarkable venue, but it’s largely subjective compared to the more impartial recounting of these two great columnists.I suppose that in many ways Broder and Travers were throwbacks, two talented writers stretched between the new and old media. Nevertheless, they were solid craftsmen of their trade who refused to go along with something new just because it was in fashion. One former presidential candidate in the U.S. said about the media that they were like blackbirds on a telephone wire. One takes off, then another, and finally the entire flock is heading in the same direction. When media outlets manically followed one another to this or that occurrence, writers like Travers and Broder just let them go, instead remaining behind and fulminating over the long-term trend of the political structure.Modern digital media still operates the same way, only there’s no such thing as a telephone wire in their universe. Instead, it’s Tweets, YouTube videos, messages, cell phones and satellite coverage. It’s a rabid chase to the next development, each rushing to the scene to get out the first digital image. It is compelling and immediate stuff, but it’s still the same pattern of the flock chasing after one another.In the world of American and Canadian politics there is no end of stories, but, as Jim Travers clearly reminded us, there are few anymore who take the time to ask, “What does this all mean? Is it true and is it relevant?” We are slowly losing the philosophical observers in journalism as they give way to the story chroniclers. Healthy media in any country requires both.Modern media has provided a clear glass through which we observe our world in real-time and graphic images. Travers and Broder coated some silver behind it and turned it into a mirror, encouraging people to reflect on what their responsibility was to those issues. Whitelaw Reid, editor of the New York Tribune, observed, “To say that newspapers are getting worse is to say that the people are getting worse.” Jim Travers likely would have agreed with that. He continually expressed his frustration at the pettiness of politicians and the system and often wondered when citizens would wake up and hold the system accountable. And his was frustrated with journalism that it wouldn’t take that responsibility of citizen education seriously enough.What a difference a bit of silver makes. Travers and Broder witnessed the same events as others, but to them the story wasn’t truly delivered until its meaning was explored. And in that reflection they attempted to get us to spot ourselves, to witness personally our own responsibility to the times.In their obituary concerning David Broder, the Globe and Mail spoke of how he was “respected for tenacity and objectivity.” He surely was, as was Jim Travers. But they were also human and keen observers of the human condition. If journalism couldn’t improve the accountability and responsibility of humanity, then it clearly had along journey to travel. These two great columnists were already well down that path at the time of their passing, aptly reminding us that if the philosopher-journalists fade into history, all that is left is the feverish recounting of today’s events. In a world of stressed blackbirds, silver has indeed become a rare commodity.