NEWSPAPERS AND POLITICS GIVE PERSPECTIVE

AS I WAS SAYING ...

Contrary to most counties, Cape County's unemployment is LESS than 5%.

The recently let highway contracts to complete the Lexington Street Highway 61/Mt. Auburn Road intersection; the completion of Lexington to Perry Ave., and shortly to 177; the widening of Rt. K west of I-55 to five lanes in a joint venture with the state, Walmart and Drury Development; these are all signs of continued infrastructure improvement.

Attendance was UP at last weekend's Home Show and this month's regional TIPOFF guide is a record tying 60 pages ... and the updated regional and local content of area events and tasteful ads is "don't miss reading."

Monday's The Best Years (TBY) ... (inserted in the Southeast Missourian) has an exciting story on State Representative MARY KASTEN, and a cover feature on an "almost local Olympian" JOY GILBERT, who gives a great quote on one's health: "The first 50 years are a gift ... the second 50, I have to take care of."

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March was one of the busiest in our company's history and since we serve primarily businesses with our advertising and printing division ... this means business has, is, or will be picking up for many others.

Monday, an exciting new community feature starts under the guidance of Perspective Editor JON RUST, who also joined our editorial board five weeks ago.

PERSPECTIVE is one of the most ambitious news dialogue features being undertaken in the Midwest. We're anxious to hear and receive your comments.

Our editorial board consists of KEN NEWTON, Editor; JONI ADAMS, Managing Editor; JON RUST; PETER KINDER, Associate Publisher ... who will serve on the board (except for political issues), and write his column until the August primary. Then he plans to take a leave of absence in his quest to represent this area as its State Senator. I'm the other regular editorial board member.

On occasion we will be joined by members of our experienced staff when discussing their area of expertise.

Peter Kinder (as a State Senatorial candidate) recognizes that his column will be under scrutiny for objectivity, facts, and viewpoints. But this area has had the experience of former elected State Legislator/publisher Marvin Proffer for over 20 years; myself for six years; Paul Simon (now U.S. Senator, who once owned a network of weekly newspapers in Illinois), former Secretary of State/publisher James Kirkpatrick; and over 100 elected editors who now currently serve dually in local, state or federal governments.

Both news and government require communication skills and seek public approval of one's hard work, integrity, intelligence, credibility, fairness, willingness to serve and leadership.

Both require listening to opinions from all sides of an issue before taking action.

As Associate Publisher, Kinder's major responsibilities fall outside the news department ... and none of his salary is expensed to news.

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From a recent publication "The Publisher - Public Official"

"Another ethics expert, H. Eugene Goodwin, cites several instances where political involvement of publishers becomes problematic but,nevertheless, raises the question: "After all, conflicts of interest are all about us; no one--not even journalists--can avoid all of them. The avoidance of all conflicts of interest that arise in daily life is another way of saying that you are avoiding life itself in that you are removing yourself from the mainstreams of human action and thought. Do we really want journalists who are so aloof from the rest of us that they inevitably fail to understand the rest of us?"

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And in 1960 PAUL SIMON (now the U.S. Senator from Illinois acknowledged that occupying both roles is not a "black and white, clear cut" situation without its special problems, nevertheless contending:

The people who could best serve their government in positions of leadership have many good excuses why they cannot assume responsibility. Teachers point out that they must avoid it; clergymen have their reasons; housewives say they must take care of the home; businessmen say that to do an effective job ... You know your excuse! The upshot of it is that when those who should show leadership in a democracy give excuses or show how they're serving better in some other way, too often this leaves government leadership to people who have no ability, no courage, and occasionally to irresponsible rogues. Weekly editors who hide behind a shield some journalism professor gave to them (perhaps his own excuses for inaction) are not doing a service to our country ... (1960)

PAUL SIMON