All The News That Is Unfit To Print

     I was gloomily turning a page of a news magazine, reading again of how our country 

will never be a true democracy, as long as the filibuster remains in place for the minority

to rule the majority, when I heard, "Are we ready to go to print?"  That was when I looked

up to see that my little friend, thespian and sometime model, Horatio H. Hamster Esq, had

popped in again.    

                                                       

     I recognized Horatio in his journalist persona, so I set my magazine aside, to respond

to his appearance. With his green eye-shade and an editing pencil parked over his ear, 

he was the image of the hard-bitten, newspaper editor, as seen in the movies of the 

1930's and 1940's. All that was missing was a lighted cigarette dangling from the corner

of his mouth and another one still smoldering on the rim of an ashtray filled with butts.

      "We can go to print as soon as you finish editing the copy", I answered, as I 

picked up a sketch book to try and capture the image of the editor at work.

 Horatio is the editor of the theater page of The Kingdom Weekly Bugle, located 

here in our little kingdom of the animals, and which is published regularly every 

three or four months or so, depending on when the printer, (that would be me, 

 the blogger ), can get around to doing the job. 

     He said that his contributors had submitted several pieces for consideration.

One was a new critique of Shakespeare's Taming Of The Shrew, from the point

of view of a shrew, but he was thinking that piece might be a bit too esoteric for

the readers.   But he did have a couple of articles which were informative about

conflicting influences in the theater world.  On the positive side of the news was a

story about how he and the other members of the Quadruped Playhouse, were 

beginning rehearsals again, using the safety protocols of masks and vaccines, 

and were now looking forward to performing for audiences who were equally

well protected from being infected or from infecting others.

     On the negative side, is the ongoing story of some of the ex-members of

the theater company, who have been voted out but who continue to deny the

validity of the vote.  Most prominently among those rejects is, of course, Donald

J. Skunk, who always insisted on hogging the best of every production for himself,

and also that family of blind and deaf foxes which follows him around like an

ignorant fan-club of his lies and his denials of the truth.  Their visual and hearing

impairments don't hinder their ability to stay behind the skunk because they just 

follow his stench, wherever he goes. 

      As I was finishing my sketch, Horatio and I agreed that the article about 

Donald Skunk's continuing efforts to spread disinformation and false conspiracies, 

should be the featured story of his page.  When I set my pad aside, he charged off

like a dedicated news editor, to prepare the article for publication. 

     Horatio's brief visit can serve as a reminder that we are now living in an age

of disinformation.  So many of our newspapers, the old, reliable and honest 

sources of truthful information, have succumbed to the onslaught of social media,

and the lack of financial support from their local communities, that it is difficult or

impossible, in a growing number of cities across America, to find truthful, 

written articles about local and national news events.  

    I would just like to say to those of you who happen to be lucky enough to

still have an independent, truthful newspaper, with dedicated editors, in your

community, please do whatever is in your power to help those brave publications

survive.

                                             Eugene P. McNerney