It is hard to believe that such destruction occurred in our community five years ago, but it did. It is difficult to look at the photo above and believe that no children were killed that day, but they were not. For those family members who did lose loved ones in other areas, that day, are hearts go out to you.
That day was surreal, to say the least. Nobody came to work that day, expecting anything like that to happen. But, when it did, everyone ? both in government and the private sector ? did their jobs and they did them well. Sometimes, it is during hard times that we see the best in people emerge.
My most vivid memory of that time was driving to the damaged area with Mayor Robert Smith and then-School Superintendent Dale Phillips. To say everyone was nervous would be an understatement. No matter how much we wanted to believe everything was okay, deep down, each of us was thinking the worst.
Another vivid image from that day was that of my best friend, radio personality Scotty D, hanging out the window of the Cumulus Building and telling me that he and his co-host Chrissie B would stay on the air until the crisis was over.
Scotty was a real trooper and believed deeply in the community.? He was a great friend and not a day goes by that I don?t miss him. As I get more and more involved in media, I can?t help but think he would have gone along with me for the ride. He was a helluva guy.
And, as usual, the City of Columbus and Lowndes County did a bang-up job. No matter what people might think of this area, when the going gets tough, we get to work. It has been proven, over and over again during the five and a half years that I have been here.
The other thing that surprised me is that I found the picture that appears above posted on Facebook. That?s right; the five-year anniversary of this incident ? to the best of my knowledge ? was not covered by any other news outlet. However, it was there for all to see on social media.
And that cannot be reiterated enough. As I have examined different elements of the media, over the past eighteen months, it has become obvious to me that social media and the internet are the ?real? media of the future. Whether anyone likes it or not, that is the fact.
From Facebook to YouTube to 24-hour news and sports, people want their information now. For better or for worse, no media outlet covered the emotions of the 2012 elections better than Facebook. Even if some of the raw emotions scared you, the facts remained the same: you could take the pulse of what people felt about the election ? both the good and the bad ? by examining social media.
For the mainstream media, that development is bad news. The media powers of the past are failing because the ?regular folk? can circumvent the papers and other media outlets and get their message ?on the street.? Add to that the fact that many of them have more clout than their local media and you understand that we truly do live in a ?Brave New World.?
Ten years from now, the news media will be part of the worldwide web or they will be dead. That is cold, but it is also true. It?s a staggering fact.
Is that a bad thing? No! It is great because when people receive a myriad of ideas, it causes them to think. Plus, one power broker can no longer run the media.
And, it is always good when the power is in the people?s hands.? It is always good when people can offer their opinions. There should never be a time where one person or a small group of individuals can control the media. We should all be glad about this development.
The King is dead.? Long live the new King!
Notes:
Thanks to the Treasury Department for not minting the Trillion Dollar Coin. America looks silly enough because of the national debt. Printing this coin would have only made us look sillier. To paraphrase Chris Rock, ?Our money is worthless. I went to London and gave the person at the currency exchange $3,000.00?..she gave me a loaf of bread.?? Nuff said!
MoJo
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