Up and Coming Weekly is a weekly publication in Fayetteville, NC and Fort Bragg, NC area offering local news, views, arts, entertainment and community event and business information.
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4 MAY 14-20, 2014 WWW.UPANDCOMINGWEEKLY.COM I read with great interest and remorse the Fayetteville Observer's Executive Editor Michael Adams' "admission of omission" (Fayetteville Observer, Sunday, May 11) as it pertained to his brother's unfortunate situation in Durham County. I admire his forthrightness but, then again, we are three weeks out on this story. Even though the Associated Press might not have picked it up, the WR AL TV offices are located in the Observer's offices on Whitfield Street. Nonetheless, as painful as it must have been for Adams to share his story, he did it with sincerity and with style. I also found it very interesting and relevant that he made reference in his article to the way newspapers are doing, or, in many cases, not doing their jobs. His observations are absolutely correct. Having dependable access to news and information is the bedrock of democracy. And, from where I sit, that is a much bigger and looming issue undermining the effectiveness, trust and integrity of our beloved Fourth Estate. For those of you who are not familiar with the term Fourth Estate it refers basically to the media creating "checks and balances" on government. Thus, being the "fourth branch" of government. Sir Edmund Burke, while addressing the English Parliament, originally coined the term in 1787. At the time, Burke is reported to have said that, "There are Three Estates in Parliament, but in the Reporters' Gallery yonder, there sits a Fourth Estate more important far than they all." Yes, it is the media that are supposedly safeguarding our democracy; making sure ill intended politicians don't abuse or game the system. We the media, the Fourth Estate, are supposed to be the watchdogs, reporting the news, stating the facts and uncovering wrongdoing. Instead, we are now tending to mold the news, report selectively, omit the facts or just blatantly refuse to tell the story. Sometimes people forget that news reporting is supposed to be objective. Well, here's some news, no one expects the Fayetteville Observer to be perfect. Yes, we all make mistakes and no reporter to my knowledge has ever lost their job over making an "honest" mistake. But, more and more we see reporting becoming politically or racially biased omitting obvious facts and generating slanted stories. It's almost at a point where the politicians have manipulated the media to a point where they have become their pawns with the determination to render the Fourth Estate impotent. Adams reminds us all that it's hard to reflect fairness and build a public trust in the absence of integrity and transparency. I admire him for coming forward about the Durham story. It gives us hope and confidence knowing that our daily newspaper, which is the oldest in North Carolina, still has a conscience as well as journalistic integrity and strives to reflect the values, traditions and ideals of the Fourth Estate. Thank you for reading Up & Coming Weekly. Executive Editor Upholds Ideals of the Fourth Estate by BILL BOWMAN STAFF Calendar.......................................14 Concert.Connection....................19 Movie...........................................20. TV.................................................21 Free.Wheelin'.Feelin'...................22 Horoscopes/Advice.Goddess.....23 Classifieds....................................24. Games..........................................26 INSIDE PUBLISHER'S PEN PUBLISHER Bill Bowman Bill@upandcomingweekly.com ASSOCIATE PUBLISHER Janice Burton editor@upandcomingweekly.com OPERATIONS OFFICER Jerred Sanders accounting@upandcomingweekly.com EDITOR Stephanie Crider stephanie@upandcomingweekly.com ART DIRECTOR Alicia Miller art@upandcomingweekly.com CONTRIBUTING WRITERS D.G. Martin, Pitt Dickey, Margaret Dickson, John Hood, Erinn Crider, Shanessa Fenner, Heather Griffiths DISTRIBUTION MANAGER/ OFFICE COORDINATOR Laurel Handforth laurel@upandcomingweekly.com MARKETING/SALES Linda McAlister Brown linda@upandcomingweekly.com Kristy Sykes kristy@upandcomingweekly.com Beverly Pone beverlypone@upandcomingweekly.com ––––––––––– Up & Coming Weekly www.upandcomingweekly.com 208 Rowan Street P.O. Box 53461 Fayetteville, NC 28305 PHONE: (910) 484-6200 FAX: (910) 484-9218 Up & Coming Weekly is a "Quality of Life" publication with local features, news and infor- mation on what's happening in and around the Fayetteville/Cumberland County community. Up & Coming Weekly is published weekly on Wednesdays. Up & Coming Weekly welcomes manuscripts, photographs and artwork for publication consideration, but assumes no responsibility for them. We cannot accept responsibility for the return of unsolicited manuscripts or material. Opinions expressed by contributors do not necessarily reflect the views of the publisher. The publisher reserves the right to edit or reject copy submitted for publication. Up & Coming Weekly is free of charge and distributed at indoor and outdoor locations throughout Fayetteville, Fort Bragg, Pope Air Force Base, Hope Mills and Spring Lake. Readers are limited to one copy per per- son. Subscriptions can be purchased for $30 for six months or $60 for 12 months, delivered weekly by first class mail. ©2007 by F&B Publications, Inc. All rights reserved. Reproduction or use of editorial or advertisements without permission is strictly prohibited. BILL BOWMAN, Publisher, Up & Coming Weekly. COMMENTS? Bill@ upandcomingweekly.com. 910.484.6200. High 82° Low 61° Scattered Storms 7 Forecast available 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. Monday May 19 Tuesday May 20 High 79° Low 56° Partly Cloudy 24 / Thursday May 15 High 79° Low 55° Partly Cloudy High 80° Low 56° Partly Cloudy High 78º Low 56º Partly Cloudy Friday May 16 Saturday May 17 Sunday May 18 Fayetteville's Weather Forecast Call 910.354.1679 High 80º Low 57º Partly Cloudy The term Fourth Estate refers to the media creating "checks and balances" on government. Thus, being the "fourth branch" of government.