PAGE 4. WEDNESDAYJULY 27, 1983, WHITBY FR EE PRESS whitby Voice of the County Town iblished every Wednesday Michael Ian Burgess, I The only Whitby newspaper independently owned and operated by Whitby Publisher . Managing Editor reicie&n1t or Whnlwy residents. by M.B.M. Publishing and Photography Inc. Phone 668-6111 The'lee Press Building, 131 Brock Street North, P.O. Box 206, whitby, Ont. PO. Box 206, Whitby, Ont. Ragistration No. 5351 TIMOTHY BAINES Community Editor ANDY THOMSON Advertising Manager Second Class Mail Registration No. 5351 Sickening incident at Robert Urich appearance This newspaper experieraced a sickening In- cident at an appearance by Robert Urich, on behalf of the Durham Chapter of the Canadian Cystic Fibrosis Foundation, Saturday at the Oshawa Centre. Members of the media were given an oppor- tunity to interview Urich during the afternoon. A reporter from a local newspaper chain took potshots at Urich by discrediting his appearance as pure hype. The reporter implied that In fact the crowd did not give a damn about cystic fibrosis and were merely there to see a television star in person. Sure reason, idea of many people were there for that very but the key Is they were there. The whole the event was to promote awareness of I was somewhat surprised the other day that after about 30 years of co-existence in this country, some good newspapermen can still feel real hostility towards their counterparts in television. I understand the feel- ing because I feit it myself 25 years ago when i was still working as à newspaper reporter. i remember be- ing infuriated by the tangles of cables and cameras which had just begun to dominate the average press conference. The print people were gradually'being squeezed off centre stage and into the corners. More and more at press conferences, the print guys had to resign themselves to being able to hear, not necessari- ly see, their subjects. It was then we learned that the film would be unuseable if the cameras were jostled; that repeating four letter words in a loud voice could wreck a sound track. Those days have long gone, of course. News conferences, as we in television now call them, are structured so that everyone gets equal treat- ment, at least most of the time. I understand that the scrums at Queens' Park can still get pretty ugly, but they're an exception. I suppose that human nature and ignorance being what they are, that there is stili a tendency for print reporters to view their television counterparts as grandstanders and actors. That's true to some extent, i suppose. Performing is part of the television reporter's job. And if he doesn't have a healthy dose of ego, he'il wind up slashing his wrists in sheer embarassment. A lot of television reporting is cursory and shallow. But the best people in television, in my view, have to be betterjournalists than the print reporters they're working against. The television reporter has fewer words to work witl and he's got to fit them to the available visuals. There is almost no room whatsoever for self-indulgence. Shorter is not necessarily shallower, but it is always tougher. I began thinking about ail of this yesterday when with two old colleagues, I found myself talking to a group of military men about their relations with the media. One of us, now an academic, ventured the opinion that the televi- sion reporter in the Parliamentary press gallery was now the elite. To support his argument, he said that a TV reporter with a camera crew behind him found it much easier to get into a minister's office than a newspaper scribe. To my astonishment, the newspaperman in our trio took umbrage. He said it was still newspapers which set the agenda, and that if we had any doubt about it, we should check the first half dozen subjects in the Commons' daily question period and compare them with the front page of that day's paper. If I'd wanted to retort, I'd have suggested that he check the front page of the newspaper against the previous night's television newscasts. But i didn't. I was too busy being amused at the discovery that the war I had forgotten about is'still on. cystic fibrosis and what better attention-getter than to bring in a celebrity. To merely set up a booth and stock it with panV phlets and literature would certainly not get much response. The recriulting of Urich was a major coup for the Durham Chapter. People could identify with Urich as private detective Dan Tanna in the television series Vega$. Many donations (over $750) were dropped off in the cash bubble but awareness of the organization extends beyond this. Public awareness Is the key to the whole event. The Durham Chapter for cystic fibrosis was only relatively recently formed and although this fine organzation has earned a high level of public recognition in the area, more is still necessary. The group does not want to remain stagnant. Through the appearance of Urich, more people now know what cystic fibrosis ls and how resear- ch Is helping. In fact, cystic fibrosis is a life-threatening hereditary disease affecting children. Did you know that CF is second only to cancer in taking childrens'lives in Canada? It is these children who should be part of our future. Reader condemns Council Dear Sir: Youths 8 to 18 - what could anyone say about them that would be good? Wel I could write a book about 50 friends of mine who fall in that age category. They make up the Whitby Youth Theatre. July 21 to 24, they presented their second annul "Collection of Classies," a variety show consisting of musical numbers, skits and dancing, directed, choreographed, written and performed by these multi-talented kids. Al those who atten- ded will agree that it was an excellent show, far beyond what most expected. However, there were a number of Whitby citizens who did not attend. I find it very distur- bing to see this town Research has helped increase life expectancy from a median age of 4 in the-1960's to about age 22 now. Continued research will create better forms of treatment along the way to the ultimate goal, a cure for the disease. What is wrong with celebrities appearing on behalf of such a vital disease? People obviously respond to people they know and respect. It is unfortunate that some members of the media have sarcastic and cynical attitudes, but some of these 'local' editorial types apparently believe they've hit 'the big time' (working for a large chain) and hence think they have achieved 'Pierre Berton status'. To be objective la part of a reporter's job, but to come out with guns firing with no reason for it, is one reason why some people avold reporters like the plague. Talk Is cheap, and the talkers are rarely the doers. Never the less, there are some of us mem- bers of the Fourth Estate (usually referred to as the 'small town hokey press') who wIlli continue to work for and support the many worthwhile organizations that are indeed the heart of our communIty. communitv. ignore the youth of the community who are ex- pending their energies on a worthwhile produc- tion project but wiil spend hours of time writing, talking and condemming the few who vandalize, rob or assault. A special condem- nation is extended to several of our 'Town Councillors and our very own Mayor. They were personally invited to attend this show during one of its five performance and none of them could find the time to even make an appearance. I was severely distur- bed that not one of them could give of themselves to attend a performance and by so doing let the Youth Group know that Whitby does care.Ž From all of us who at- tended, hats off to you ail at Whitby Youth Theatre and for ail of you who missed the show, my deepest con- dolences. Ann Reeks Whitby