Invisible, always in sight - Shawn's Sense with Shawn Loughlin

Wes Anderson’s The Grand Budapest Hotel, his Academy Award-winning film from 2014, tells the story of a hotel concierge and his protégé as a conflict very closely resembling World War II breaks out. Amid the chaos, violence and uncertainty, M. Gustave, our concierge, offers Zero, his young pupil, these words of dignity and reassurance about the nobility and importance of the hotel trade, even as the walls begin to crumble around them. “You see, there are still faint glimmers of civilization left in this barbaric slaughterhouse that was once known as humanity. Indeed that’s what we provide in our own modest, humble, insignificant... oh, f—k it.” He then looks out the window of a train, despondent, taking a pull of Champagne.

 

Sometimes, I feel like that, maybe minus the Champagne, which, I’ll admit, I don’t have at hand nearly as frequently as I’d like.
The business of journalism is changing. In many ways, it has been forced to change, but in others, it has changed on its own accord, to its very detriment. And, in the wake of U.S. President Donald Trump and all of the minions he has spawned in his wake (not just south of the border), doubt has been cast on anything the media does, says and writes. Furthermore, there is this alternative truth that forms when a handful of like-minded individuals unite. 

 

This, I suppose, is not new. Yet, years ago, it was confined to coffee shops and bar rooms. Now, it’s in the highest halls of democracies.

 

However, we won’t be dwelling in those high halls today. We’ll be right here in Huron County. The other day, The Citizen posted a picture encouraging people to read this week’s issue or visit our website to read a story about the closing to vehicular traffic of Ball’s Bridge. (This is, of course, because we cannot post a proper link to a story on Facebook.) Then the chatter began. Some lamented the loss, while others questioned what kind of vandalism and damage could cause the bridge to be closed. 

 

Now, these are questions easily answered by reading the story (available to read for free on our website - despite being created by paid professionals - and, at just over 400 words, taking up just two minutes of your time), but, of course, that is simply asking too much. This, dear readers, is not directed at you, with the paper in your hands. You, clearly, are all about that reading, retaining and understanding life. But those who see a Facebook post and read a few words of it, they’re a different breed. 
I have lamented this lack of engagement and respect before, but, this time, it went even further. A few folks put their heads together and spun a new tale. They blamed newcomers and said that what’s happening at the bridge is what has always been happening, but these sensitive city folks - the same touchy ones fighting a potential gravel pit in that area - were making a mountain out of a molehill and that no damage to the bridge had been done. 

 

A few people agreed and then that became the narrative. I may as well have never written the story, which details the vandalism being done and the cost to repair the bridge. Worse than ignoring the facts, here they were elided for a story that better fit the poster’s narrative.

 

This is the world we live in now. These are the people who give us Donald Trump and his ilk. The people who look at a set of facts and say, “Nope!” and create something new, out of thin air, that suits them better than the facts.

 

So, as journalism falls out of favour with the unwashed masses and journalists like me plead and beg and bargain for its importance, on some days, it can be hard not to stop, reach for the Champagne and just say, “F—k it”.