I haven’t read Ms. Cahill for Congress, but Pat Holt has made me want to. Talk about how a teacher can impact students, change lives, make a difference… good for Tierney Cahill.
As well as selling me totally on the book, Pat raises an interesting point about “one story only” media coverage these days. I’m not sure I agree that this is the key driver of the many media failures we’re seeing. But it ties in for me to a larger notion that every “traditional medium” (publishing, newspapers, print magazines, television, Hollywood, yadda yadda) is in the throes of identity crisis. And although I believe in the power of the intarweb to tell complex and multi-layered stories, it’s still in its adolescence in terms of bringing focused attention to ideas, stories, cultural trends, etc. and in terms of providing access to cultural and political power (although the Obama communications team is at least making a start). Those who provide such content online are still learning how to do it best. And those who use it — we, the readers — are learning that focus isn’t just measured in MTV sound bytes and one-column articles.
We’re all, I hope, in the process of learning how to focus differently, how to decide when deeper attention is warranted. I think we have to, because otherwise stories like Cahill’s get lost. That’s a shame, and I hope that gap closes soon. I’m sure that when it does, it will be because the internet — and its readers — grew up a little.