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Sports |
ICONIC attorney Nero Wolfe sealed his large bulk within his New York
brownstone and left his side-kick Archie to do the leg work. Wolfe’s
hobby lay at rooftop level – a magnificent collection of rare orchids,
plants that he communed with daily. Woe betides any weeping damsel or
harrowed husband who knocked on his front door seeking legal
representation during those hours.
***
WOLFE was of course a fictional character whose various legal cases kept
readers and later television viewers enthralled. But we feel a very real
affinity with the grossly overweight and housebound sleuth, particularly
during election campaigns. We wish that we too had a brownstone mansion
to which we could retire, tend the orchids – or smell the roses – and
wait for the insane world outside to simmer down and regain some
semblance of normality.
***
YOU see, this is the period when journalists are simultaneously both
idols to be revered and objects to be spat upon. Our iconic status comes
from those anxious to have the best possible press coverage of their
campaigns from us. They urge us to present them as the most outstanding
candidates or politicians the nation has ever seen.
***
BUT to those who regard reporters and editors as objects of revulsion,
scribblers who dare to reveal often-unpleasant truths about themselves
and their dubious activities – we are unprincipled and unqualified
commentators who have been “bought by political interests,” who
“fabricate stories and distort the truth” and who “fail to check our
facts before publication.”
***
SUCH an extraordinary diversity of opinions shared by political
old-timers and wet behind the ears aspirants suggests that the media has,
once again, just about got the balance right. In other words, we’re liked
and loathed in equal proportions. That’s some guarantee to our readers –
your newspaper reports, radio news bulletins and TV news are, on balance,
unbiased and fair to all involved.
***
ONE disturbing note: The established political parties that have dared to
endorse candidates whose reputations are at best highly questionable and
at worst have been proven criminal in the past. Do we need such people in
Parliament?
***
COLUMN One rises until tomorrow. Cheers!
– Dee Nesenolis
 
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