Of feral pigs and beer

Every journalist dreams of getting to do stories like this.

OK, maybe only the immature ones like me dream of it, but most would agree some of the best stories are those that are so ridiculous or funny or heartbreaking or inspiring that they almost write themselves before you’ve typed even a word.

Oliver Milman, a reporter for The Guardian in Australia, had a story like that today, and I want to point out some of the things that make it so beautiful.

As a disclaimer, this story’s greatness is an equal balance of the situation and the reporter’s work; it could have been covered in a much more boring way.

First, the work of art that is the headline:

Drunk and boarish: swigging pig hogs 18 beers at campsite

You haven’t even started the story, but you already know this is going to be good. Several other pertinent lines:

The (feral pig) was seen stealing three six-packs of beer from campers before ransacking rubbish bags for food.

One camper reported seeing the pig guzzling the beer before getting involved in an altercation with a cow.

There were some other people camped right on the river and they saw him being chased around their vehicle by a cow.

The pig was reportedly last seen resting under a tree, possibly nursing a hangover.

A feral pig stole and drank three six-packs of beer before getting into an altercation with a cow in Australia. Photo from The Guardian.

Several journalists and others latched onto this story immediately, throwing out their own jokes on social media (I have Muck Rack to thank for this compilation).

James Montague, New York Times and CNN contributor:

Probably my favourite story ever. Pig steals & drinks 18 beers, nabs pizzas, starts fight with cow.

Danielle Ivory, Bloomberg News reporter:

A feral pig stole three six-packs of beer and that is not the weirdest thing in this story.

Matt Ufford, SB Nation Studios editorial producer:

Later: elected mayor. MT @guardianworld: Pig goes on bender in Australia, drinks 18 beers, has altercation with cow.

Debbie Carlson, Kitco News global news editor:

A “squeal-quel” to “Babe”: Drunk and boarish: swigging pig hogs 18 beers at campsite.

Everyone wanted in on this party.

The story’s reporter, Oliver Milman, recognized the gem he had here, tweeting, “a journalistic career highlight writing this,” when linking to the story.

I just hope his celebration tonight doesn’t extend to three six-packs of beer.

You can see the story here.

 

Of all the photos taken in 2010…

I’ve decided I really, really like photos.

Part of this might be because I just bought a really cool new camera and have digital imaging on the mind. But despite my passion for words and my staunch belief that some things can only be expressed through the written word, I am constantly reminded of the power just one photograph can have. So when I saw a 2010 in Photos compilation on the Boston Globe’s website, boston.com, I just had to respond.

This three-part series captured 120 of the best photos from 2010. I contacted Alan Taylor, the web developer for boston.com and creator of the Big Picture blog, to ask him how these 120 made the cut. He said some of the photos had been featured earlier this year on the photo blog, while others had been cited as top 2010 images by Reuters, AFP or AP.

“Basically if a photograph was really good — exceptionally evocative, or beautiful or moving or arresting — or if it was very representative of a big or important news story, the photo was considered,” Taylor added. “It’s very subjective, and I try to balance my choices between aesthetics and journalism. It’s so rare to have a photo that is both very newsworthy and gorgeous.”

I picked just a few of the photos that caught my attention most to display here. I reordered them so they were in chronological order. I did not take any of them, and I don’t own any of them. I kept all of the original captions and attributions, although if you see a parenthetical addition, I put that there for clarity’s sake. All of the photos can be found at the original post — parts 1, 2 and 3.

A young Haitian man cries out in pain as his mother comforts him while being treated for a trauma wound on his arm at the Center Hospitalier de la Renaissance January 20, 2010 in Port-au-Prince, Haiti. Patients are being treated on the grounds of the hospital by Cuban and German doctors due to fears of the building's structural integrity. (Win McNamee/Getty Images)

The earthquake that shook Port-au-Prince, Haiti, on Jan. 12, 2010 was worldwide news for months, but despite the constant updates and statistics, it’s photos like this one that really brought the devastation the people of Haiti experienced to life in a personal way. Reading or hearing that hundreds of people died is powerful in its own way, but seeing a photo like this that actually captures the pain a young man is experiencing, and the pain it is causing his mother, touches those of us who are thousands of miles away in a more intimate way.

A man touches his newborn baby, born three days earlier, at the Israeli hospital in Port-au-Prince January 20, 2010. (REUTERS/Carlos Garcia Rawlins)

This photo, taken in Port-au-Prince on the same day, starkly contrasts with the previous one and offers a sense of hope. Despite the devastation, the thousands of people who were killed and injured and the rebuilding that needed to take place in the lives of those who remained, life went on. Few things could illustrate that as well as this photo of a newborn born less than a week after the magnitude-7.0 earthquake.

U.S. Marines from Bravo Company, 1st Battalion, 6th Marines, protect an Afghan man and his child after Taliban fighters opened fire in the town of Marjah, in Nad Ali district, Helmand province, February 13, 2010. (REUTERS/Goran Tomasevic)

Contrast can be a powerful thing. The contrast between colors, differently-sized items or situations can make each one more powerfully delineated. The photographer who took this photo doubtless understood the power of contrast and took full advantage of it with this image of a tiny child seated just inches away from Marines carrying powerful weapons. Although we have grown used to seeing photos of soldiers each day, seeing a child in this unlikely setting makes us stop and think.

A five-week-old Chinchilla rabbit nibbles grass at a rabbit farm in Moosburg north of Munich March 22, 2010. The rabbits at the farm are bred to compete in rabbit shows. (REUTERS/Michaela Rehle)

I don’t really have anything to say about this. It’s just adorable.

A penitent from "La Sed" brotherhood, walks to the church to take part in a procession in Seville, Southern Spain, Wednesday, March 31, 2010. Hundreds of processions take place throughout Spain during the Easter Holy Week. (AP Photo/Emilio Morenatti)

I wasn’t sure what to think when I saw this photo, but for some reason, the caption surprised me. I can’t imagine ever walking around in this garb for any reason, but this was a good reminder that for the rest of my life, I will read about, hear about and meet people who I may not understand. I’m headed to Spain this week, and Seville is on my list of possible destinations. If I happen to meet someone there dressed this way, I’ll plan on saying hello and asking his story.

Two-year-old Dhoal, a child suffering from severe malnutrition, is swarmed with flies as he cries on a bed at a local hospital in the southeast Sudanese town of Akobo on April 10, 2010. The population in Akobo and the surrounding counties in the Jonglei state in southern Sudan are suffering from the effects of a devastating drought and tribal conflict. Aid officials have called Akobo the "hungriest place on earth," after a survey showed that 46 percent of children under five are malnourished. (ROBERTO SCHMIDT/AFP/Getty Images)

This photo stood out to me because of its dramatic effect. There’s not much of a background. There’s no color. You can’t even see a face. Still, this black-and-white outline of a child, one who is obviously very young, obviously crying and too exhausted or hungry to even swat away the bugs swarming him, provides a stark reality check regarding the situation in which he finds himself. The photographer didn’t need color, didn’t need a face or a smile to make his point; this shockingly simple outline was enough.

After months of heavy rainfall caused some of the worst floods Europe has seen in decades, farmers help a horse to jump into an amphibious vehicle in flooded Juliszew village in central Poland at Wisla river on May 24, 2010. (JANEK SKARZYNSKI/AFP/Getty Images)

This photo is just crazy. We’re used to seeing rescue boats with wet, frightened people to go along with stories about floods (this is one powerful example), but this photo is different and it makes us look twice. The simple fact that even a horse needs a boat to be transported to safety demonstrates the seriousness of the situation, and the minor shock value of the photo definitely would have made me read the story.

Crude oil from the Deepwater Horizon oil spill washes ashore in Orange Beach, Alabama, Saturday, June 12, 2010. (AP Photo/Dave Martin)

The April oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico was one of the biggest stories in 2010, and its effects made front pages for months after. Americans saw photos of the burning rig, of people struggling to help with cleanup, of thousands of birds drenched in oil. Despite the action in many of the photos published after this event, this image, simple in comparison, is still effective. Everyone knows oil and water don’t mix. My reaction when I saw this was, “That’s now how water is supposed to look.” This simple, close-up photo of the oil-filled water tells its own story.

BP CEO Tony Hayward prepares to testify on Capitol Hill in Washington, before the House Oversight and Investigations subcommittee hearing on the role of BP in the Deepwater Horizon Explosion and oil spill on June 17, 2010. (AP Photo/Alex Brandon)

My first reaction to seeing this photo was, “Oh my gosh, seriously? Photogs are vultures.” While that may have been a bit strong, this photo did incite a momentary pang of pity for Tony Hayward. I’m glad that at least one photographer jumped off the bandwagon to get this angle and capture the shutter-snapping frenzy, because it gave me pause. I constantly hear admonishments to be dogged when chasing a story, and I’m sure it’s no different for the people capturing the images to accompany the story. I can’t really fault these photojournalists for their mass attack, but I will say that I hope I’m never on Hayward’s end of a big story; staring down all those lenses has to be intimidating.

A farmer works in a field southwest of WaKeeney, Kansas with ominous clouds looming overhead on Sunday, June 20, 2010. Severe weather battered parts of northwest Kansas with heavy rain, wind, hail and isolated tornadoes. (AP Photo/The Hays Daily News, Steven Hausler)

I would modestly place myself somewhere in the middle of the spectrum spanning I’d-skydive-off-anything-gutsy to shaking-in-my-boots-in-an-elevator-wimpy, but despite any claims of bravery I might offer, if there were clouds like these in the sky, I probably wouldn’t be outside. Still, even with the threat of “heavy rain, wind, hail and isolated tornadoes,” this farmer is still outside doing his thing. My grandfather was a farmer, and seeing a photo like this made me proud to be descended from someone who would place way higher on that spectrum than I do.

Phillip Serwinowski (center), father of Lance Cpl. Timothy G. Serwinowski, rests his head on the forehead of Marine Lance Cpl. Nathan McCormack of Garden City, Michigan as he presents the flag to the family outside Amigone Funeral Home on Sheridan Dr. in Tonawanda, New York on Saturday, June 26, 2010. Serwinkowski's mother Sally Urban reaches out a supportive arm to the visiting marine who served in the same platoon as her son and escorted the body home after his death. Serwinowski was assigned to 3rd Battalion, 6th Marine Regiment, 2nd Marine Division, II Marine Expeditionary Force, Camp Lejeune, North Carolina, and was killed on June 21, 2010 while supporting combat operations in Helmand province, Afghanistan. (AP Photo/Robert Kirkham)

I remember the protests that ensued when photos were released of hundreds of flag-covered coffins carrying American soldiers who had died overseas. Those photos were incredibly jarring, but this photo, of two people who didn’t know each other but had both loved a young man killed in Afghanistan, touched me as well.

A boy dances in the rain during a heavy tropical shower in a street of Havana, Cuba on July 19, 2010. (REUTERS/Desmond Boylan)

This photo just makes me happy. I don’t know this boy’s story. I don’t know if he’s poor, if he has family or if he had a place to go at the end of this day. Still, he took the time to dance on his way through this rainfall, and right now, I can’t think of anything cooler.

In seawater covered by a thick layer of spilled oil, two Chinese firefighters, Zheng Zhanhong (center) and Han Xiaoxiong (top right) attempt to rescue their fellow firefighter Zhang Liang (only his hand visible) from drowning beneath the oil slick during clean-up operations at the port of Dalian, China on July 20, 2010. Zhang Liang was unable to resurface, and drowned. (REUTERS/Jiang He/Greenpeace)

The other day, I stumbled upon this quote: “If you saw a man drowning and you could either save him or photograph the event, what kind of film would you use?” It’s funny enough on an average day, I guess, but in this case, the saying actually came through. I don’t know how far away this photographer was. I don’t know if he could swim. I don’t know if he thought the two firefighters in the water had the situation in hand. But I wonder if he watched this man drown. I wonder if, later, he asked himself what would have happened if he had dropped his camera and jumped in. In truth, I have no way of knowing that he didn’t try to help. At any rate, I can only imagine how difficult situations like this, and especially their aftermath, have to be.

Pilot Capt. Brian Bews parachutes to safety just as his CF-18 fighter jet plummets to the ground during a practice flight at the Lethbridge County Airport for the weekend airshow in Lethbridge, Alberta, Canada on July 23, 2010. (AP Photo/The Canadian Press, Lethbridge Herald, Ian Martens)

This is a situation similar to the previous one, but it appears the outcome for the people involved was positive, so instead of despairing, I marvel at the fact this image was captured at all. One second later, the plane would have hit the ground and the pilot would have been out of the frame. Obviously the crash wasn’t planned, and photos like this make me wonder how often a photographer has the opportunity — and the reflexes — to capture a split-second, freak incident such as this one.

Chilean President Sebastian Pinera shows a message reading "We are fine in the refuge, the 33 of us", from the miners trapped in the San Esteban gold and copper mine on August 22, 2010. The miners were alive and contact was established with them 17 days after a structural collapse trapped them below ground. (HECTOR RETAMAL/AFP/Getty Images)

Another of 2010’s biggest stories, this one with a happy ending, the 33 Chilean miners trapped underground for 69 days had readers and viewers waiting breathlessly for weeks on end. I can only imagine the effect this simple, crude message, received after days with no communication, had on the miners’ friends and family.

An Italian soldier of NATO's International Security Assistance Force (ISAF) stands guard as an Afghan boy aims a toy pistol inside Herat's prison, in western Afghanistan on September 14, 2010. (REUTERS/Raheb Homavandi)

This is another photo that struck me because of the contrast it presents. The combination of a soldier carrying a weapon and a child with a proportionally small gun, along with the added effect of the barbed wire, carries a good deal of shock value.

Friends, colleagues and family members embrace while mourning the death of Luis Carlos Santiago during his funeral in Ciudad Juarez, Mexico on September 18, 2010. Santiago, a 21-year-old news photographer working with Juarez-based newspaper El Diario, was killed after an attack by gunmen. (REUTERS/Alejandro Bringas)

Despite the obvious sadness of this scene, the first thing that struck me when I looked at this photo were the cameras around this person’s neck. My first thought was, “What’s going on? The photographer isn’t supposed to be crying.” The caption completed the story, though, and I realized these were journalists mourning the loss of one of their own. It’s so common to see photographs of grieving people at funerals, but seeing the photographer as the one grieving rather than the one photographing the event was striking for me. This was a good reminder of the danger facing many journalists who put themselves in less-than-ideal situations in order to tell a story or capture an image.

An Israeli motorist runs down a masked Palestinian youth who was standing among a group of youngsters throwing stones at Israeli cars on October 8, 2010 in the mostly Arab east Jerusalem neighborhood of Silwan. (ILIA YEFIMOVICH/AFP/Getty Images)

Many of these photos stood out to me because of their shock value, and this one is no different. Even more shocking than the fact that these Palestinian kids, none of whom can be more than ten, are participating in the sort of protest that would cause them to throw rocks at Israeli cars is the callous carelessness with which the driver is hitting two of them with his car. This photo also makes me ask, as do many, at the reflex that caused this photographer to take this photo rather than trying to shove the children out of the way of the oncoming vehicle.

A North Korean man (right) on a bus waves his hand as a South Korean man weeps after a luncheon meeting during inter-Korean temporary family reunions at Mount Kumgang resort October 31, 2010. Four hundred and thirty-six South Koreans were visiting North Korea to meet their 97 North Korean relatives, whom they have been separated from since the 1950-53 war, for three days. (REUTERS/Kim Ho-Young)

This is such an emotional photo. I can’t imagine being kept away from family for more than 50 years, and then having only three days to catch up in person before we were forced to separate again. The photographer captured a truly poignant moment that would have strengthened any story.

Julian Assange, founder and public face of WikiLeaks, which has made public thousands of classified U.S. diplomatic cables and files on the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, holds a news conference at the Geneva Press Club in Geneva, Switzerland on November 4th, 2010. (REUTERS/Valentin Flauraud)

The Wikileaks scandal, like many scandals, was particularly interesting to journalists this year, not just because of its scandalous-ness but because it dealt with freedom of speech. As noted politician Ron Paul said after the release of classified war documents and cables, “In a free society we’re supposed to know the truth. In a society where truth becomes treason, then we’re in big trouble.” This quote perfectly describes the conflict faced by newspeople (or, I don’t know, maybe it was just me who was struggling) during this time that brought Julian Assange into the national spotlight.

A Transportation Security Administration (TSA) worker rubs her hands across a female traveler's chest during a pat-down search at Denver International Airport in Denver, Colorado on November 23, 2010. This year, the TSA began implementing wider use of full-body scanners and "enhanced" pat-down procedures at airport security installations across the United States. (REUTERS/Rick Wilking)

I remember first seeing stories about this around Thanksgiving time. People were complaining that, during this time in which they were supposed to be giving thanks, they were being near-molested in airports. I’m not sure yet how I feel about these “enhanced” searches or their effectiveness, but in several days, I’ll be going on my first international flight and will very likely be subjected to my own search. After that time, maybe I’ll have more to say.

Police officers in riot wear contain student protesters on Westminster Bridge during a large protest over a proposal that would triple tuition fees on December 9, 2010 in London, England. The proposal was later passed. (Oli Scarff/Getty Images)

Students at Ohio University are familiar with tuition increases, as are students at every other public university in Ohio after the recent lifting of a state-wide tuition freeze. Now, I won’t ignore the differences in our situations — these English students who were protesting were facing a change that would triple their tuition fees. Still, I wonder at the fact that police in riot gear were needed to combat the reaction of these students to their tuition increase, while the only reaction anyone ever really saw at OU was a few letters to the editor or passing remarks made across campus. I don’t think students are completely uncaring, and I hate to be one of those clichés who ask what students today are coming to, but, really, what are we coming to? (Also, check out the guy with the upside-down shield).

A dragonfish with teeth on both jaws and tongue is pictured in this image provided by the Census for Marine Life. (It) even has teeth on its tongue. Though terrifying in appearance, the fish are only about the size of a banana. (AP Photo/Dr. Julian Finn, Museum Victoria, Census for Marine Life)

This photo just makes me laugh, especially since the dumb thing has teeth on its tongue and is banana-sized.

South African Lucas Mahuca, 3, kicks a ball as he plays soccer in a field next to his house in Diepsloot, north of Johannesburg, South Africa. (AP Photo/Emilio Morenatti)

Although I’m very vocal about my dislike for sports, I did write a post earlier conceding the point that, once in a while, athletics can be useful. In that case, I was commending a program that combines soccer with media training among adolescents in South Africa. This photo reminded me of that — plus, it’s just a great photo.

So, these are my picks. Is there one that stands above the rest? Did I miss any really good ones? I may make it my goal to create a compilation like this myself once 2011 draws to a close, but until then, I’ll definitely be keeping an eye on The Big Picture.

 

What happens when you wait

I received an e-mail this afternoon, one that made my heart stop for just a second as I read the subject line and first few words.

The e-mail was sent to inform me that Herman Leonard died yesterday.

Herman Leonard was 87, a famous photographer known worldwide for his black-and-white photos of jazz legends taken during the mid-20th century.

Self portrait. Photo from hermanleonard.com.

He lived a full life, a long one, and according to the e-mail, he died swiftly and with his family nearby. I’m sure I would have experienced sadness if I had just heard about his death in the news, another in the tragic lineup of deaths reported every day. I’m sure I would have felt for his family no matter who he was.

However, the death of this man meant more to me than that. See, I knew Herman Leonard.

Oh, we weren’t friends, or even acquaintances, really. But I got to know him in one of the most intimate ways possible for a journalist — I wrote about him.

After reading about Herman and learning he had graduated from Ohio University, I set out to write about him for The Post, Athens’ independent student-run newspaper. In a very short amount of time, I was permitted to set up a phone interview with him, and for almost an hour, this man favored me with stories about his life, witty anecdotes, fond memories and advice. He was a man who loved music and loved art and wanted to make a difference. He described photography as “magic.” He laughed and joked with me and turned my questions back on me. He was generous with his time and his words, and I ended up with an article I enjoyed writing more than almost any other.

I have one regret.

Herman asked for a copy of the newspaper once the story about him ran, and I became so caught up in my everyday life that I set the issues aside and didn’t take the time to mail them to him.

Oh, I sent him a thank-you e-mail through his secretary and included a link to the online article. But still, he’d asked to see the paper, and I didn’t follow through.

After writing that article, I went through the days without finding much time to sleep or eat, much less sit down, stick a thank-you card and some newspapers in an envelope and mail them. Telling myself I was dealing with a schedule that added up to the equivalent of two-and-a-half work weeks didn’t make me feel much better, though.

I’m sure Herman saw dozens of articles about himself throughout his lifetime. I doubt seeing mine would have affected him all that much. But, still, he never got to see that he made the front page of The Post, along with three huge photos he had taken. He never got to read the story telling about his life after OU in the paper distributed at his alma mater — because I was just too busy.

What’s ironic, really, is that I went through my newspapers just days ago and set aside those that needed to be mailed. Within the few weeks left of my summer, that story would have been in his hands.

I was thinking just this morning, following an unrelated event, how much I hate platitudes. However, as trite as they can be, sometimes they do hold a spark of truth. And the age-old saying that you never know how much time you have is all too true.

I experienced something similar in March of this year, when my grandmother died somewhat unexpectedly. Her death occurred just days before my family was scheduled to visit her, and I deeply regretted not having the chance to say good-bye or attend her funeral, but in the odd way of life, one of my biggest regrets was a rather trivial one.

I had put together some photos several months earlier, a combination of senior photos and prom pictures — things that are vitally important to a high school girl and, thus, also important to grandparents.

However, as in the case with Herman, I never took the few minutes it would have taken to sit down, address the envelope and send it on its way. Maybe I wanted to give it to her in person, but I think the main reason was that I thought I had plenty of time left to finish the deed, and I didn’t want to cut into my schedule.

I’m so glad I had the chance to speak with Herman and write about him. But I wish I’d followed through with our meeting by allowing him to see its result. And although I spent almost 20 wonderful years getting to know my grandmother, time during which she saw hundreds of pictures of me, I still wish I’d sent her those last photos she’d been asking about.

It took two incidents for it to really sink in for me, but I hope that when I’m faced again with the opportunity to set aside whatever all-too-important task has me immersed and stop for just a few minutes to take care of something more important, I’ll do so.

Because as much as I feel the need to fill my schedule as much as possible, thanking someone for his time, sharing a piece of my life with a beloved relative and keeping a promise are infinitely more valuable — and those things won’t wait.

 

I think it’s time to write about LeBron…

It’s been more than 72 hours since Cleveland received a slap in the face — a description most would probably call mild. There are few who haven’t heard about, or reacted to, LeBron James’s decision to “take (his) talents” from Cleveland to Miami. Equally shocking, though, and the focus of my observations over the past three days and this post, is Cleveland’s reaction.

I feel led to start this out with a disclaimer. I’m not a sports writer. I’m not even a sports fan. With the exception of ice skating, which for some reason has always fascinated me, I could care less (no offense). Because of my deplorable lack of any type of athletic skill, paired with the fact that there never seem to be enough hours in the day, I’ve never seen any reason to spend time learning about, following (and especially playing) sports. Because I also don’t live under a rock, as a rule, I have heard and do understand the bare bones of this whole LeBron situation. However, you’ve been warned. This post is my reaction to the situation as a human being and as a journalist. Any sports facts I get wrong are beyond my control.

That said, I might as well begin with a fairly harmless topic — Twitter. I don’t actually know when James started his Twitter account, but I do know that he had close to 100,000 followers before he ever tweeted a word. When he did start sharing his thoughts with the world, his following skyrocketed. However, the night James announced he was leaving Cleveland, more than 100,000 people took the time to log onto their computers (or their iPhones for those really high-tech people) and “unfollow” James’s account. The decision affected them enough that they decided to take that step in a rather blatant display of reneged support. These numbers are, again, an estimation, and I could be short. But, regardless, a whole lot of people unfollowed “the King” that night.

Speaking of Twitter, ESPN’s response to James’s Twitter account — and every other second of his life — is another indication that this one man’s story sparked an unprecedented reaction. Just one example: When James joined Twitter and actually penned (metaphorically speaking) his first tweet, the event made the top of ESPN’s headlines. The coverage culminated in a hyped-up, hour-long special dubbed “The Decision,” which, apparently, has never been done for another free agent. A friend of mine posted a stellar writeup detailing just how ESPN was lacking. This was online less than an hour after James announced his decision — like I said and will keep saying, Cleveland was reactionary that night.

Response number three belongs to Dan Gilbert, the majority owner of the Cavs (did you know you could own a sports team? I didn’t). Gilbert released an open letter to Cleveland residents and Cavs fans that included some not-so-nice words and accusations, an offensive font and an overall feel of unprofessionalism — driven by betrayal, to be sure, but unprofessionalism all the same. Just a few tidbits:

As you now know, our former hero, who grew up in the very region that he deserted this evening, is no longer a Cleveland Cavalier. This was announced with a several day, narcissistic, self-promotional build-up… You simply don’t deserve this kind of cowardly betrayal. … this shameful display of selfishness and betrayal by one of our very own…

Interestingly, Plain Dealer Cavs reporter Brian Windhorst, who tweets under the handle @PDCavsInsider, wrote soon after, “… from (someone) who’s dealt with Gilbert, I can only imagine what the first draft looked like. This was probably PR team’s compromise.” On a side (and admittedly snide) note, that PR team didn’t do a very good job copyediting. There are a couple of doozies. That aside, though, Gilbert’s very public attack on someone I’m sure he had a pretty good relationship with the week before is significant, especially given his promise to Cleveland in the letter that the Cavs will win a championship before James does. What happens if James gets that ring he wants so badly the next time around? Gilbert won’t look very good when his words are pulled up again (caps and bold not my own):

“I PERSONALLY GUARANTEE THAT THE CLEVELAND CAVALIERS WILL WIN AN NBA CHAMPIONSHIP BEFORE THE SELF-TITLED FORMER ‘KING’ WINS ONE”

You can take it to the bank.

Finally, the reaction by the city and the fans (many of them former fans), was irrefutably extreme. People called in to random radio stations to vent over a city-wide loudspeaker. I was at work when James officially made his announcement, so I didn’t hear about it until 10:15 when I was listening to the radio in the car. A woman had called and was telling the host how she really felt. There were more bleeps than there were actual words. People cried. They burned their jerseys. A mild reaction, I guess, given any number of alternatives, but still pretty aggressive.

One of the biggest indicators for me, though, was something that happened in downtown Cleveland that evening. Less than an hour after James made his big announcement, Windhorst informed the people using him as a source that night that multiple police cars were needed to protect the infamous “We are all witnesses” billboard prominently featured in downtown Cleveland — if you haven’t seen it, you aren’t really a Clevelander.

Photo from clevelandseniors.com.

But yeah, you heard me right. Multiple police cars. Protecting a billboard. It seems to me that on a Thursday night in downtown Cleveland, that’s a waste of manpower. And I’m not saying the police were wrong; I’m saying the people of Cleveland shouldn’t have put them in that position.

It’s a lot to take in, and I have no doubt I’ve only written about the tip of the iceberg as far as Cleveland’s reaction goes. Now, I’m not going to pretend I understand. I’m not one of the people who have followed James’s career with breathless anticipation for the last seven-plus years. Another friend recently published a poignant and eye-opening post about the effect all of this had on him, and after reading it, I was a little closer to understanding. Still, I can’t relate to the sense of betrayal Cleveland fans are feeling except in a sidelines kind of way. For the people who really are upset, I don’t want to downplay their reaction or be insensitive. And on the other side of things, I don’t want to condone the actions of James, who didn’t seem all that apologetic on the clip I watched of his announcement and, regardless of his decision, certainly could have handled it in a much more tactful and mature way.

I’m not an expert. I’m sure there are points I’ve missed, headlines I’ve failed to include and any number of nuances from the past seven years I haven’t picked up on. However, the intensity of Cleveland’s reaction seems a little wrong to me. All emotion aside, let’s look at the facts. James didn’t break any rules. His decision wasn’t anything that Cleveland couldn’t have predicted. He isn’t a president, or an airplane pilot with hundreds of people’s lives in his hands, or a surgeon about to cut a person open. He’s a 25-year-old mortal who screws up every day, just like the rest of us, who ultimately made a decision about his life Thursday night.

Sure, it can be expected that the sports fans who have been following and supporting him for close to a decade would react. The reason they call (called?) him “King James” probably had to do with his athletic ability, which, from what I understand, is pretty significant. But that’s not all there is to this guy. For some inexplicable reason, he was able to bring a city of more than 400,000 people — and that’s not even counting the surrounding area and the thousands of fans who live elsewhere — together in an extremely violent reaction. There are plenty of Clevelanders who could care less, but the response was widespread and shared by many.

Is this what it takes to bring a city together? An athlete switching teams — something which, from what I understand (don’t forget my disclaimer), isn’t that uncommon?

Is this what it takes to make journalists sit up and take notice? A basketball player writing a tweet?

Why isn’t there a similarly widespread public outcry every time a rape is reported or a child abuser goes free? Why aren’t journalists delving more deeply, more often, into the city’s spending and seeing what funds might be better put aside to support Cleveland’s thousands of homeless people?

Pretty soon, I’m going to go to sleep in my safe house with a full stomach. So will Dan Gilbert. And so will LeBron James. But there are plenty of people who won’t. And maybe, someday, the people of Cleveland will get more upset about that than the decision of one man.

 

An unlikely combination: Soccer used in training underprivileged journalists

I just read an article from CNN that made me interested in the World Cup for the first time in the past few weeks. As a failed athlete, I have a hard time dredging up interest in any topic that involves athletic ability, but this article about a program that combines soccer with journalism training in the midst of the World Cup caught my eye.

The Siyakhona project uses soccer as something of a catalyst to teach journalism skills to adolescents and young adults in South Africa. Between bouts of kicking muddy balls around, the program participants are taught the basics of seeking out sources, interviewing, compiling stories and photography, and are provided with the technology to carry out their newfound skills. Although the program is taking place during a time when soccer is very much in the international spotlight, its directors hope to extend its scope beyond the World Cup’s schedule.

The Siyakhona project teaches underprivileged adolescents in South Africa about soccer — and journalism. Photo from cnn.com.

This fairly recent program is associated with Football for Hope, a movement that, also using soccer, promotes various types of social impact and development. I believe that in taking on the challenge of bringing journalism’s impact to these small townships, Football for Hope and the founders of the Siyakhona project are promoting a cause that is not only noble, but necessary. The fact that the people leading this project are using soccer (a necessary evil) to interest disadvantaged South African adolescents in journalism is nothing short of completely and thoroughly cool.

Siyakhona is a side project of Football for Hope, a larger program that uses soccer as a tool to promote social development. Photo from fifa.com.

CNN’s article introduces Azola Maliti, just one of the many participants benefiting from this initiative. Maliti’s passion is photography, and he’ll be able to document a World Cup match alongside professional photographers. The enthusiasm is contagious, according to Danny Lurie of Hillside Digital, a nonprofit media organization assisting with the project:

[Maliti] is so excited. If you talk to the participants, you would see it in their eyes. Their passion is unbelievable.

One goal of the Siyakhona project is to create a way for the residents of these townships — the program currently reaches out to adolescents in Khayelitsha and Alexandra and its directors plan to extend to almost 20 more — to tell their stories themselves, rather than relying on outside sources and media. Those teaching journalism skills to these South African adolescents want them to be able to tell, from an inside perspective, about the poverty and crime they experience. However, the aspirations of the participants go beyond that. Amidst the poverty and crime are talented artists, musicians and innovators, and they want the chance to share that talent with the world as well.

Those involved with the Siyakhona project are taught how to use cameras, video production equipment and social media tools. Photo from filmcontact.com/south-africa.

Despite my partiality to print media, I can’t refute the great point made in the article. This program’s emphasis on video, photography and social media allows people who aren’t literate to still share stories and spread news. The Siyakhona project makes journalists out of people who normally might never have been given the chance, Lurie said:

The great thing about film is that you don’t need to be literate. Quite a few of the participants are living with AIDS and one [program] participant is an orphan. These participants come from the poorest areas and have really taken to the program very strongly.

During a time in which citizen journalism is growing by leaps and bounds, the Siyakhona project has the right idea in bringing the necessary skills and technology to those who have some of the most powerful stories to tell.