As many of you may already know, this is my feature Blog named Talk of the Town. My task is to profile Sahuarita’s people, places, and things. This is a great task and I just love the idea of it. One would think that this is an easy task, right? All we need to do is find out what makes this town great and write about it, correct? Not so fast. This task is not an easy one-which surprises me. Whatever could be the problem, may you ask? Well, let me elaborate.

Getting people to respond to my inquiries is the problem. I have had a few difficult weeks just trying to get people out there to talk to me about their businesses, careers, and basically, just life-in general. I have to admit that, as a result, I have been a bit discouraged by this lack of response and in a benign and surreal way, it saddens me. It amounts to a kind of a loss of innocence-if you will.

It is not as if I have not given it much effort. Quite the contrary, I have actually put in some laborious efforts. As always, I use the kind and gentle “Please” and “Thank You” words that used to open doors for me back in the day. These tactful attempts just don’t quite “cut the mustard” any more.

After some serious introspection of this issue, there evolved a strange truth about all of this. Not only do people choose not to talk to a writer/reporter, it has become evident that people are actually afraid to talk! People are afraid of the media. It is a sad truth, but can we blame them?

Ask yourself this simple question; if a reporter/writer were to call your home, your business, or place of work asking to speak to you about your position on this planet, would you be open to such an inquiry?

Be Honest.

I am talking about a complete stranger claiming to be from the “Any-town Gazette” who wants to talk to you. Yes YOU. This stranger may possibly want to talk about your life, your duties, your job, your family…you get the picture.

In a nutshell, some stranger wants you to open up to the world so that we may all see what’s inside. It sounds terrifying to some-and rightfully so. Especially if you hold a position in your community that is highly scrutinized by its population.

Why the fear though? Why is it so scary to open up to people and share some of yourself? Maybe if we all shared a bit of ourselves, we could understand each other better and possibly eliminate some of the inadequacies that plague us all.

I know, this sounds so cliché, right? Opening yourself up, sharing, saving the world etc…so cliché…But, what is the answer?

The answer is deceiving and it really boils down to our choices and our freedoms. You really do not have to talk to anyone ever! Even in a court of law you can “Plead the Fifth”.

Making the choice to open yourself up and talk to a “Reporter” does not sound so bad if you were a model citizen with a skeleton-less closet. But, throw in a few rowdy moments in your life where you may have been caught with the proverbial “hand-in-the-cookie jar” with the pants down, and you may be risking your reputation-to say the least. You could also be risking your freedom.

Take, for instance, the Family of six in Oregon who recently spent 17 days stuck in the snow inside their RV. They were lucky to be rescued but once their names hit the media airwaves, it turned from a miracle to a misdemeanor and now to a felony. It turns out that two of the six rescued (Grandma and Grandpa Higginbotham) were wanted in Heber, AZ for possession of dangerous drugs for sale-methamphetamine-and possession for sale. Grandpa was also wanted on weapons charges.

The Ashland Daily Tidings newspaper said the warrants were issued after Arizona authorities saw TV coverage of the rescue. Do you suppose that there are “authorities” out there watching TV for the purpose of catching criminals?

That being said, it is really no wonder why I have not heard from some of these prospective people that I have recently solicited for a story? Not to say that they are guilty of anything, but, even if they are innocent and outstanding citizens with nothing to hide, who is to say that they will come out of any printed story unscathed?

Just ask Richard Jewell. You know- the “washed-up” wannabe cop who was the FBI’s number one suspect for months in the Atlanta Olympic Park Bombings during the summer of 1996? The media dissected this man’s life and exposed everything he did since he graduated from High School. He was certainly a guilty looking man according to the “The Authorities”. Unfortunately, Richard Jewell happened to be in the wrong place at the wrong time and was actually a Good Samaritan who saved lives while trying to help evacuate people from the bombing site. Eric Rudolph (the real bomber that the “Authorities” identified later) was probably sitting at home watching it all on TV and reading about it in the newspaper the next morning over tea and crumpets. Talk about irony. Trying to salvage what little reputation Richard Jewell may have had left, He actually sued several media conglomerates and they settled out of court.

Of course these are the extreme cases that we use to judge the worst possible scenarios of dealing with the media, but the threat is real folks. Freedom of speech can bite you and it can hurt you. It is a scary world out there and the media wants to show it to you, expose it to you, and bring it into your living room. Are you scared? Perhaps you should be. I don’t blame you if you are. I would be.

By the way, would anybody like to talk to me about doing a profile about you for the Sahuarita Star? I would love to profile you in one of my blogs. Do not be afraid! I will not contact “The Authorities”.