PAGE 4, WEDNESDAY, AUGUST 4, 1982, WHITBY FREE PRESS whi'tby Michael Ian Burgess, 1 Pub Publisher - Managing Editor The only Waify newspaper independently owned and operated by Whitby residents for Whitby residents. blshed every Wednesday by M.B.M. Publishing and Photography Inc. Phone 668-6111 The Free Press Building, 131 Brock Street North, P.O. Box 206, Whitby, Ont. MICHAEL J.KNELL Community Editor ELIZABETH NOZDIYN Advertlsing Manager Second Class Mail Registration No. 5351 We don't make the news, wejust report it Every once in a while (usually whenever he has the chance) Mayor Bob Attersley is fond of taking this newspaper to task for reporting bad news. It is usually His Worship's contention that the newspapers throughout this area are not positive enough in their outlook. He also remarks that we are usually far too interested in the negative side of life. Well, it is the negative side of life that produces news. News is normally considered to be those events, views, opinions or developments that are not commonplace. In other words, news is usually considered to be that which does not oc- cur everyday. For example, a newspaper will report that three people were killed in a traffic accident on a major freeway during the rush hour on a particular day. We do not report as a matter of course that over 10,000 people travelled that same route safely. Tragedy is often more newsworthy than safety. In our own'defense we must say that we usually do report on the good things that happen in Whit- by. Every three months we carry a story on the value of building permits issued for that quarter. This is a measure of Whitby's growth and is You don't have to look beyond the casualty figures to recognize the only beneficiaries in our recent wars. As always, it's the world's military industrial complex. i don't believe there's anything sinister about it. Most countries manufacture arms, and Canada'is no slouch in this regard. Arms are not manufactured to reap death and destruction. They're manufactured to make money. Arms manufac- turers. don't go out of their way to start wars. They don't have to. The nature of men and governments takes care of that. As a resuit, the people who build military hardware would appear to be one of the few growth industries in the midst of general Western recession, and if there were a few more wars on the scale of Lebanon and the Falk- lands, we might be able to pull ourselves out of these bad times. The industry will boom for awhile if only because all the equipment destroyed will have to be replaced, in many cases at a cost of half as much again as the stuff that's been lost. Billions of dollars worth have been blown to smithereens, sunk and shot down in the Falklands alone. And it won't simply be a matter of replacement for the countries who've been doing the fighting. It will mean huge new expenditures for countries who have not been fighting but who have been able to see what would happen to their equipment, if they were in a war. For the Canadian military, for example, the lesson derived from the recent British experience must be absolutely appalling. In some cases, the recent fighting will generate a good deal of satisfaction in the country of the hardware's origin. The French must be pleased about the exocet missile, for example. The Americans must be feeling justified after the performance of the F-15 fighter bombers and their gunship helicopters in Lebanon. The British must be more than satisfied with the performance of the Harrier jump jets in the Falklands. They've been tested in a way that can't be duplicated in peacetime, a test that immediately generates big new markets as well. It's as if the automo- bile companies could test their products by putting thou- sands of cars into high speed demolition derbies. They'd find out how they performed in stressful conditions, and they'd be creating a huge new market for automobiles at the same -time. The cost, however, would be high: in blood, dreams and shattered lives. »That's not news but that too is reality. usually accompanied by much needed job creation. Therefore, It Is not only good news, but it is newsworthy. By the same token, we must report when things go wrong. We are bound to report that JCL Tel- com Corporation is now out of business and has left some of its employees on the "dole." We must also report thatáSklar Manufacturing Limited lost an estimated $1.4 million during the first six mon- ths of this year. And again, our natidnal colleagues report on the war in the Falkland Islands, the troubles in the Middle East, the sagging value of our dollar and the nation's dis- content with our national government. The reason for this is more than simple, it is almost self-evident. These events, in some way or another, affect the lives of the people who read our newspaper. The bad things, the negative things more often have a greater impact on our lives than do the positive things. The rising rates of inflation would still be there if we did not report them. But would our readers be as well informed as they have the right to be? If we didn't report it,then'they would be left to won- der why the price of milk, bread and meat is literally climbing out of sight for the average wage earner. Perhaps'another thing that should be mention- ed is that-newspapers do not create the news they report (at least that Is our intention). Our storles are the resuits of actions and decisions made by politicians, businessmen, labor leaders, judges and other persons in authority. Essentially, a newspaper is, or should be, a mirror of the com- munity. We should be reflecting those things that Sct the lives of the people we try to serve. And ir.ore often -than not, we also reflect their values, lifestyles, thoughts, beliefs and outlooks. Simply because one is a reporter, editor or publisher that does not make us any different from the average citizen. Like them, we have our prejudices, our blases, our outlooks and these are reflected In the way we handle the news. Because we are more interested in the things that directly or indirectly affect us and our lifestyles, we tend to report them believing that others are aiso in- terested. Newspapers, including this one, are also of the opinion that the people want to hearthe bad news. This is working on the "no news is good news" assumption. Another thing we try to do is support positive things that will be tried to correct some of the negative events. For example, this newspaper has gone on record as supporting the extension of GO Train service east of Pickering, the expansion of Brooklin, the town's efforts to combat vandalism, the local transit service, the Whitby Police station, among others. Not everything we do is negative. We do report any positive news that's newsworthy and support many worthwhile projects. Sometimes, we may appear to do nothing, but show the negative side of life, but then again, we don't make the news, we only report it. Letters most welcome Mail to: The Editor Whitby Free Press P.O. Box 206 Whitby,,Ontario LIN 5S1 Voiceof the County Town