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League of Women Voters Manistee County P.O.Box 320, Bear Lake, MI 49614 E-Mail: info@lwvmanisteecounty.org Join US! Be Part Of The Solution!
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LEAGUE OF WOMEN VOTERS MANISTEE COUNTY: 2007 Light In Dark Places Award
On Wednesday, December 5, local League members, friends and neighbors met at a very special 'get together' with Thom Paulson, Vice-President for Media, Interlochen Center for the Arts, Interlochen Public Radio.
(Video Here)
This evening marked the first of what will become an Annual Award - The "Light In Dark Places" Award - to honor an individual or organization who has most exemplified the basic civil liberties contained in the Bill Of Rights.
To read the original document, which became law on December 15, 1791 go to:
http://www.archives.gov/historical-docs/document.html?doc=4&title.raw=Bill%20of%20Rights
Most of us know the principles: freedom of religion, freedom of expression, freedom from unreasonable search and seizure.
Perhaps no one has expressed them so passionately as President Franklin Delano Roosevelt on January 6, 1941, in his famous "Four Freedoms" speech. At a time so reminiscent of today, in the midst of war, Roosevelt's words ring equally as true:
"For there is nothing mysterious about the foundations of a healthy and strong democracy. The basic things expected by our people of their political and economic systems are simple. They are:
Equality of opportunity for youth and for others.
Jobs for those who can work.
Security for those who need it.
The ending of special privilege for the few.
The preservation of civil liberties for all.
The enjoyment of the fruits of scientific progress in a wider and constantly rising standard of living.
These are the simple, basic things that must never be lost sight of in the turmoil and unbelievable complexity of our modern world. The inner and abiding strength of our economic and political systems is dependent upon the degree to which they fulfill these expectations."
http://www.archives.gov/historical-docs/todays-doc/index.html?dod-date=106
So to honor what makes us so very fortunate to live in a society which exemplifies tolerance and open debate - our 2007 "Light In Dark Places" Award goes to - Interlochen Public Radio.
Accepting the Award on behalf of Interlochen Public Radio, and speak about the journalistic ethic inherent in public radio, was Thom Paulson, Vice-President for Media, Interlochen Center for the Arts.
When 'the news' can be as skimpy as a 2 minute soundbite, when an entire day's 'world news' can be zipped through in 90 seconds, when one is left wondering 'was that news or PR?' - public radio is the thinking person's doorway to multiple points of view.
While we will hopefully never lose the freedom to pick up and read a newspaper - the immediacy of the sound of a human voice conveys the humanity and the reality of the raw emotion behind the words on paper. In print we read words - but with sound we can judge honesty, sincerity and intelligence!
Thom Paulson's instantly recognizable Interlochen Public Radio voice, and his thoughts on journalistic integrity in a time of the Ph.D. of 'spin', can be viewed as a QuickTime video (30 minutes) by clicking on this link to start. If you have a slow internet connection please be patient while it loads.