7 ms·

The Eagle Never Sleeps: one Kentucky newspaper still screams for press freedom

143 points by samclemens 3y ago

rpmisms 3y ago
This is barely an hour from me. Thank you for this. I'm moved by the dedication to free information, especially by my own countrymen in this special place. I think I'll buy a subscription.
- daveevad 3y ago
  It makes my day whenever eastern Kentucky content shows up on here. It's such a contrast to life in the valley and it seems like our homestate might be setup well for remote work going forward, or is that just the eternal optimist in me?
  - rpmisms 3y ago
    [flagged]
    - zbrozek 3y ago
      I grew up in Lexington, KY and Sharps Chapel, TN, but spent the last eighteen years in CA. I'm hoping to move back in the next couple of years. My parents are still out there. I hope to still be welcome.
      - barake 3y ago
        Hit me up if you come back, there is a decent tech community in Louisville and Lexington.
      - rpmisms 3y ago
        You understand, you grew up here. As long as you don't try to change anything, I'll personally welcome you with open arms. I'm protective of the culture, not xenophobic.
        fibonachos 3y ago
        I have read this sentiment elsewhere and I’m genuinely curious about what it is that the imports try to change. I’m a California native and have lived here most of my life. Any time I have thoughts of moving somewhere else, it’s usually because I’m drawn to the culture. So the idea of moving somewhere only to try turning it into the place I moved from just seems odd to me. I know people move for other reasons, CoL being the most obvious one in this context. Even then I would expect people to choose a place where they would more easily assimilate rather than trying to change the existing culture. Lastly, California is far from being a monoculture. Even in the famously liberal areas, there is still a great diversity of culture and ideology in my experience. Drive two hours in any direction from those areas and you may as well be in rural anywhere USA. I feel like the California hate is rooted in stereotypes that don’t apply to a majority of the population here.
        rpmisms 3y ago
        I've watched many Californians move here over the past few years, and I've noticed a few things: There's the obvious, stereotypival Californians. Whiny, entitled, generally bothersome people. Not a lot of them move here. I know a couple families from conservative/rural Cali, and they're not too bad, although they just have a weird attitude. It's like their priorities are out of order compared to their surroundings. The air is different on the west coast, might be a part of it. The biggest problem is the imports who move here because it's so beautiful and cheap (true), but they just want to change a few things. We don't want your progressive policies, gun regulation, or any of the other hundred nitpicks you have. Some of them may be fair ideas, but the reason we don't have them is partly to keep people like them out, and partly because they stem from the way of thinking that goes with living here; We take care of our own business, we take care of our families and churches, we don't idealize ambition, and we don't like changing things. If you're willing to actively adopt that mindset, please come here. If you aren't, stay the hell out.
        alienthrowaway 3y ago
        If only California was as protective of its values against the many transplants who try and change its culture, the paradox of tolerance, I suppose. Sigh
- barake 3y ago
  The Mountain Eagle and Appalshop both have no reason to be as good as they are. Consider supporting both!
screeno 3y ago
[flagged]
- batch12 3y ago
  There's positive news?
  - salad-tycoon 3y ago
    Positive news = propaganda or state sponsored spin that shed a favorable light on things that suit the ruling class like “our struggles are our strength” not “man saves puppy” necessarily (though possible if fit into the political strategy).
- tehjoker 3y ago
  The news here (US) is military propaganda. It's not that sophisticated, but people eat it up. The key to piercing it is knowing a few things about the targeted country. i.e. read a book
- TulliusCicero 3y ago
  > I have to draw parallels between US and China here. Who honestly has a more free media That's easy: the US. It's not even close, unless you're one of those tankies that blinds themselves to anything bad about nominally socialist countries. Easy litmus test: critiques of the current government. It's incredibly easy to find very harsh, even incendiary critiques of the current president/administration in the US. Whoever is president will be absolutely lambasted, ridiculed, etc. by different press outlets depending on who's in power. How much can you say that for Chinese press? Or just look at controversial events like the Tiananmen Square massacre. Huge, recent-ish history that's suppressed and censored by the Chinese government for media and social platforms. Anyone can talk about the US doing horrible shit on Facebook, Reddit, etc all day long and nothing happens. You could look at the RSF's Press Freedom Index if you want. The US should be doing better than it is at 71 points, but China is at...23: https://rsf.org/en/index https://rsf.org/en/index And the US' weaknesses in the index are mostly not about government censorship, but about media company consolidation or rises in partisanship. I wish it was doing better of course, it certainly has room to improve, but comparing it to China of all places as if it's a real question who's better on the issue is completely laughable.
milleramp 3y ago
What a overly verbose article, I didn't see one link in the article to the actual newspaper. Judge it for yourself: https://www.themountaineagle.com/ https://www.themountaineagle.com/
- jessriedel 3y ago
  It would be nice to have an abstract to this article.
jclem 3y ago
I grew up in the Midwest, and my father, who went to the University of Kentucky, was fraternity brothers with Ben Gish, and so growing up it was a name that I heard often when he’d tell stories from that time. I remember always being aware that a friend of my father had been framed for burning their family newspaper. I live in New York City, now, and one evening found myself sitting at a bar in Brooklyn where my roommate, the bartender, was closing around 3am (at the time I worked a very late shift at the 24 hour Apple Store). The normal patrons had all gone, and myself, my roommate, and another man I’d never met were locked in having a last couple of beers while my roommate closed up. I had a long conversation with the man I hadn’t met before that eventually turned to where we grew up. It turned out that this man was Ray Gish (also mentioned in this article), the younger brother of Ben. Ray even recognized my father’s name, because Ben had mentioned him before. Ray invited my roommate (whom he already knew well) and I over to his place for a last drink, and I vividly remember him playing “Street Hassle” by Lou Reed on his record player. It was the first time I’d ever heard that song. Anyway—wildest coincidence that has ever happened to me. I see and say howdy to Ray every now and then when I find myself in that part of Brooklyn—one of the most genuine people I’ve ever met.

143 points by samclemens 3y ago

This is barely an hour from me. Thank you for this. I'm moved by the dedication to free information, especially by my own countrymen in this special place. I think I'll buy a subscription.

daveevad 3y ago
It makes my day whenever eastern Kentucky content shows up on here. It's such a contrast to life in the valley and it seems like our homestate might be setup well for remote work going forward, or is that just the eternal optimist in me?
- rpmisms 3y ago
  [flagged]
  - zbrozek 3y ago
    I grew up in Lexington, KY and Sharps Chapel, TN, but spent the last eighteen years in CA. I'm hoping to move back in the next couple of years. My parents are still out there. I hope to still be welcome.
    - barake 3y ago
      Hit me up if you come back, there is a decent tech community in Louisville and Lexington.
    - rpmisms 3y ago
      You understand, you grew up here. As long as you don't try to change anything, I'll personally welcome you with open arms. I'm protective of the culture, not xenophobic.
      - fibonachos 3y ago
        I have read this sentiment elsewhere and I’m genuinely curious about what it is that the imports try to change. I’m a California native and have lived here most of my life. Any time I have thoughts of moving somewhere else, it’s usually because I’m drawn to the culture. So the idea of moving somewhere only to try turning it into the place I moved from just seems odd to me. I know people move for other reasons, CoL being the most obvious one in this context. Even then I would expect people to choose a place where they would more easily assimilate rather than trying to change the existing culture. Lastly, California is far from being a monoculture. Even in the famously liberal areas, there is still a great diversity of culture and ideology in my experience. Drive two hours in any direction from those areas and you may as well be in rural anywhere USA. I feel like the California hate is rooted in stereotypes that don’t apply to a majority of the population here.
        rpmisms 3y ago
        I've watched many Californians move here over the past few years, and I've noticed a few things: There's the obvious, stereotypival Californians. Whiny, entitled, generally bothersome people. Not a lot of them move here. I know a couple families from conservative/rural Cali, and they're not too bad, although they just have a weird attitude. It's like their priorities are out of order compared to their surroundings. The air is different on the west coast, might be a part of it. The biggest problem is the imports who move here because it's so beautiful and cheap (true), but they just want to change a few things. We don't want your progressive policies, gun regulation, or any of the other hundred nitpicks you have. Some of them may be fair ideas, but the reason we don't have them is partly to keep people like them out, and partly because they stem from the way of thinking that goes with living here; We take care of our own business, we take care of our families and churches, we don't idealize ambition, and we don't like changing things. If you're willing to actively adopt that mindset, please come here. If you aren't, stay the hell out.
        alienthrowaway 3y ago
        If only California was as protective of its values against the many transplants who try and change its culture, the paradox of tolerance, I suppose. Sigh
barake 3y ago
The Mountain Eagle and Appalshop both have no reason to be as good as they are. Consider supporting both!

screeno 3y ago

[flagged]

batch12 3y ago
There's positive news?
- salad-tycoon 3y ago
  Positive news = propaganda or state sponsored spin that shed a favorable light on things that suit the ruling class like “our struggles are our strength” not “man saves puppy” necessarily (though possible if fit into the political strategy).
tehjoker 3y ago
The news here (US) is military propaganda. It's not that sophisticated, but people eat it up. The key to piercing it is knowing a few things about the targeted country. i.e. read a book
TulliusCicero 3y ago
> I have to draw parallels between US and China here. Who honestly has a more free media That's easy: the US. It's not even close, unless you're one of those tankies that blinds themselves to anything bad about nominally socialist countries. Easy litmus test: critiques of the current government. It's incredibly easy to find very harsh, even incendiary critiques of the current president/administration in the US. Whoever is president will be absolutely lambasted, ridiculed, etc. by different press outlets depending on who's in power. How much can you say that for Chinese press? Or just look at controversial events like the Tiananmen Square massacre. Huge, recent-ish history that's suppressed and censored by the Chinese government for media and social platforms. Anyone can talk about the US doing horrible shit on Facebook, Reddit, etc all day long and nothing happens. You could look at the RSF's Press Freedom Index if you want. The US should be doing better than it is at 71 points, but China is at...23: https://rsf.org/en/index https://rsf.org/en/index And the US' weaknesses in the index are mostly not about government censorship, but about media company consolidation or rises in partisanship. I wish it was doing better of course, it certainly has room to improve, but comparing it to China of all places as if it's a real question who's better on the issue is completely laughable.

milleramp 3y ago

What a overly verbose article, I didn't see one link in the article to the actual newspaper. Judge it for yourself: https://www.themountaineagle.com/ https://www.themountaineagle.com/

jessriedel 3y ago
It would be nice to have an abstract to this article.

jclem 3y ago

I grew up in the Midwest, and my father, who went to the University of Kentucky, was fraternity brothers with Ben Gish, and so growing up it was a name that I heard often when he’d tell stories from that time. I remember always being aware that a friend of my father had been framed for burning their family newspaper. I live in New York City, now, and one evening found myself sitting at a bar in Brooklyn where my roommate, the bartender, was closing around 3am (at the time I worked a very late shift at the 24 hour Apple Store). The normal patrons had all gone, and myself, my roommate, and another man I’d never met were locked in having a last couple of beers while my roommate closed up. I had a long conversation with the man I hadn’t met before that eventually turned to where we grew up. It turned out that this man was Ray Gish (also mentioned in this article), the younger brother of Ben. Ray even recognized my father’s name, because Ben had mentioned him before. Ray invited my roommate (whom he already knew well) and I over to his place for a last drink, and I vividly remember him playing “Street Hassle” by Lou Reed on his record player. It was the first time I’d ever heard that song. Anyway—wildest coincidence that has ever happened to me. I see and say howdy to Ray every now and then when I find myself in that part of Brooklyn—one of the most genuine people I’ve ever met.