Grover's Take on Things

 
It seemed to me that, in the run-up to the deadline date for the release of the JFK Assassination documents, the national media were really trying very hard to make it into a story — and by that I mean, a really big story with mega-overtones. It was almost painful at times to watch them report it, struggling to find an appropriate historical or political underpinning (translation: spin) to put on it.

Many of the reports were collective “ooo-ing” and “ahhh-ing” about it, and it was easy to believe they were making a bigger deal of the “event” than was warranted. Yes, it’s high time these documents finally are coming out of deep freeze, but it’s going to take quite a while for us to know everything that’s in them, and how important (if at all) they will be in the grand scheme of things.

The national media have grown accustomed to the 24-hour news cycle, where, if a story is more than a day old, it’s ancient. I think they wanted (and maybe a few were actually expecting) the documents to be released at 8:01 a.m., and by 9:15, the entire JFK assassination to be solved.

The old aphorism says that it is the exception which proves the rule. And such was the case here — twice. I’m very happy to report that both the UNC Public Radio program The State of Things and The News and Observer (nicknamed “The Old Reliable” for several decades long ago) got it right.

 

Camila Molina’s article in the News and Observer, “Will the JFK files tell us more about Lee Oswald’s call to Raleigh?“, which was published on both the N&O and Herald/Sun websites, has set itself and its author apart.

It’s thanks to a journalist who did her homework, researched the facts, digested them without prejudice, and reported them clearly, accurately, and without editorializing. You wouldn’t think this would be so unusual, would you? But Camila Molina distinguished and differentiated herself from a large number of her colleagues from years past, who were not known for unprejudiced, well-informed reporting of the issues surrounding the investigation into the JFK Assassination.

I was pleased to be interviewed by her for the article, and happy that I am able to commend her for her obvious grasp of the facts which I discerned from the questions she asked.