THE FRIDAY PROGRAM: The State of Journalism in the United States (Mike Fancher) | Friday Potpourri | November Rotarian of the Month: Evelyn Cogswell | Giving Tree | Holiday Breakfast, December 15 | Silent Bell Ringing | Golfing With Elves | Penny LeGate's Ethiopia Documentary | Business Meeting | Double Dose of Students of the Month: Geraghty & Bochet | New Website for Agros | Web Fun
The Program:
In keeping with the holiday season, a benign Sergeant Face did nothing more than lead a round of "Happy Birthday" for those BBRC members with birthdays in December. Those attending with December birthdays included Kim Shrader, John Sheeran, Steve Szirmai, Peter Powell and Sayoko Kuwahara. No fines were imposed. Shelly Noble and Scott Sadler reported that 200 turkeys and dinners were provided through the generosity of BBRC to Hopelink families and 15 families through the East Side YMCA. Scott said that the 15 families who received Thanksgiving dinners through the Y actually helped 30 or 40 other families as well. Giving just goes on and on. Don Chandler is also looking for something — money. Even though he is really not a tax accountant (he just plays one at the BBRC), he thinks that this might be a good opportunity for BBRCers to get a final tax credit in by the end of the year.
Each table at Friday's meeting had handmade thank-you notes from third graders in the Bellevue School District, thanking the BBRC for providing dictionaries to their classrooms. For her work in spearheading this project, Evelyn Cogswell received the Rotarian-of-the-Month award for November. Congratulations, Evelyn! Generous Rotarians have now signed up for 112 of the 120 gift ornaments. That makes a 93.3% participation level! Unfortunately, eight of the tags were taken but no signature was left on the sheet, so we don’t know who took them. If you have number 5, 22, 48, 57, 65, 71, 83 or 114, please let Peter know so that we can properly track the goods. If you would still like to participate in this wonderful program, there are still some items left to purchase:
Again, please let Peter know as soon as possible if you would like to help out. Remember: Gifts numbered 1-79 are unwrapped, and gifts numbered 80-120 are to be festively gift wrapped. All gifts should be brought to Peter at the BBRC meeting by December 8! (Not to Hopelink or YMCA) or dropped at his office at 10822 N. E. 2nd Place, Bellevue. Thanks again for your generosity and help in making the Giving Tree Program a success! I won’t call it a grudge match, but Kelly allowed as though his wife is setting up a battery of similar faux bell-ringers from her Kiwanis Club outside Macy’s that same day. The question is who can make more money with silent bells? Can the BBRC out-peal the Kiwanis? Make sure that happens by signing up with Kelly. Bring your best Marcel Marceau impersonation and pantomime the BBRC to victory! Pursuant to the BBRC bylaws, a vote was taken on the proposed slate of Officers and Directors:
The slate was unanimously accepted. Congratulations to the clean slate! Double Dose of Students of the Month: Geraghty & Bochet Kevin sports a 3.8 grade point average and was Student of the Year in history and biology. In addition, he played offensive and defensive lineman on the East Side Catholic football team and has contributed over 100 hours to community service, including work at Harborview and Esperanza in Tijuana, Mexico. Kevin plans to attend the University of Portland next year and hopes to become a legal beagle. Congratulations to both of these future leaders! Over the last several months the folks at Agros have been asking some key questions about how to better connect the public to the mission and people of Agros. While technology can never replace real relationships, they also recognize that the advances of easy-to-use and inexpensive technology enables Agros to keep the public connected to the larger Agros mission like never before. With video, photography, and stories, Agros seeks to encourage, educate, and inspire your involvement in the life of the poor. So to that end, Agros has just launched a new website, complete with blog, video gallery, photo gallery, and a new and secure giving page. So check out the new website, and thanks for journeying with Agros! The Program:
Mike began by reciting part of the Journalist’s Creed, which was written by the first Dean of the Missouri School of Journalism, Walter Williams:
It was clear that Mike lives by this creed. The greatest threat to a vigorous press, in Mike’s opinion, are:
Only 300 of the approximately 1,500 newspapers in the United States are still locally-owned. Without public interest, the profit motivation alone is a potential danger point for us all. At the Times the Blethen family is starting its fifth generation of ownership. This is a remarkable accomplishment in any business. Mike’s comments were short, which allowed for a very lengthy question period and many, many good questions were asked and answered. Mike allowed as though negative news is more likely to sell newspapers in the short term, but he also asserts that over time good news sells more papers than bad news. It is obvious that Mike has a lot of respect for Frank Blethen, the owner and Editor of the newspaper. He stated that Frank only once ever asked him to change anything in the paper’s news reporting, and that was to stop calling the former owner of the Seahawks, Ken Behring, “Bubba.” A mark of Frank’s integrity is the fact that despite the Times having gone through tough financial times over the last six years, Frank has told Mike that even though he does not know what the future will hold for the newspaper, Mike’s job, in whatever time is left, is to put out the best newspaper he can. From the Seattle #4 Rotary Club Bulletin Rotary Closer to a bell than a bird, by turns louder triplets of alphabet And when you dialed, then the sound of the hole You had to wait for its return. you had to await The rotary was weird for lag, Before the touch-tone, they built glass houses When you stepped in your own lips move, Why did no one think Just try once like the sound of breath |
Greg Hendershot introduced Mike Fancher, the Editor-at-Large of the Seattle Times. Mike has been with the Times since 1978 and was executive editor from 1986 to 2006. He formerly worked at the Kansas City Star. He left in 1978 when that family newspaper was sold to a media conglomerate and came to Seattle to work for the Seattle Times, one of a dwindling number of family-owned newspapers. The Seattle Times has been owned by the Blethen family for over 100 years.
President Jim Zidar called the meeting to order. Jim Carney delivered the invocation, and Peter Stadelman introduced visiting Rotarians and guests.
Peter Stadelman, in addition to setting up two trees and receiving a number of gifts, noted that there were still a number of gift requests that needed to be filled.
Kelly Nolan is looking for A Few Good Bell Ringers. Actually, A Few Good Pretend Bell Ringers, since the bell ringing will take place inside Bellevue Square, where no bell ringing is allowed. Saturday, December 16, is the day. Two-hour shifts are available between 10:00 a.m. and 8:00 p.m. The site is outside Nordstrom’s. This is a great chance to fill the Salvation Army kettles.
Since November was a short month, the BBRC doubled up and presented two Student-of-the-Month awards. The November awardee, introduced by Larry May, was Kevin Geraghty of East Side Catholic, who was accompanied by his father, Bob, and principal, Greg Marsh.
The December Student of the Month, introduced by Bob Holert, was Mai Bochet, who was accompanied by her mother and father, Mohamed and Xuan. Mai has taken many AP courses and has studied the piano, karate and dance for many years. She actively participates in orienting incoming freshmen to Sammamish High School and teaches Karate to Kindergarten age kids. She intends to study medicine or computer science at UW, Boston University or Renselear Polytech.
Greg Hendershott introduced Mike Fancher, the Editor-at-Large of the Seattle Times. Mike has been with the Times since 1978 and was executive editor from 1986 to 2006. He formerly worked at the Kansas City Star. He left in 1978 when that family newspaper was sold to a media conglomerate and came to Seattle to work for the Seattle Times, one of a dwindling number of family-owned newspapers. The Seattle Times has been owned by the Blethen family for over 100 years.
Mike stressed the importance of journalism to a democratic society since it provides the information necessary to allow the citizens to make informed choices, and he asked the question: Can democracy survive without a vigorous press? Obviously, in Mike’s mind, the answer is no.
In journalism today profits trump careful reporting. The internet has eroded a substantial amount of advertising; however, Mike believes that newspapers such as the Times can be successful on the Internet over time. The economic motivation of corporate owners puts continuing pressure on newspapers. For instance, even though operating margins are healthy at many newspapers, it has come at the cost of relentless cost-cutting, which has impacted reporting..
He is concerned that readership has gone down in every generation, but papers such as the Times are doing things to stop that, such as providing classroom study guides using newspapers, and he stated that the readership between 18 and 30 is actually higher than in most age categories, principally because of success on internet-based publication of the news. Trust is a big issue to Mike, and it is only with verifiable and in-depth reporting that the public will continue to trust newspapers such as the Times. According to Mike, the highest calling of his profession is to bring problems to the people’s attention.
12/04
Join your fellow BBRC members for a bit of solstice fellowship. The sixth annual "Golfing With Elves" takes place this year on December 23rd, with a 9:00 AM tee time at Mt Si. Contact
