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Former publisher writes about effects of new ‘cut and paste’ and political coverage
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By Tom Murphy
Caledonia Argus
If you read my story of Mary Ann Schmitz five weeks ago, you may have noticed a space with no type at the end.
Somewhere in layout, a few paragraphs dropped from the story. In
the old days when this happened, we searched with some anxiety looking
for the errant copy which had been cut, pasted (actually waxed) and
rolled. There were times when the clip attached itself elsewhere
on a page, too often over an ad. The page was shot and printed
with the unwelcome news item on top of paid copy. It was the
worst of both worlds. Not only was the story incomplete, but we
would lose revenue from that ad.
That didn’t happen here. The copy went into space and that’s a good thing. Here’s the balance of the story.
Spiritual support from Father Leif and Sister Michaeline also meant a
lot to the Schmitz families. “They give you faith from above so
you can have faith in yourself,” Mary Ann said.
“Support so helps people suffering from cancer. I can’t tell you
how many people supported me,” she recalled. Two examples were a
large heart-shaped cake she received from Barb Ferkingstad and the
strength of Gen Jahn. She was a three time cancer survivor who
told Mary Ann, “Whatever will be, will be. The Lord will provide
for me.”
Mary Ann was raised a Welscher and how could there be a story without
that family’s wit? “Tell everyone that the best cure for cancer
is bingo! It’s a family joke.”
I now have to add, ‘Take that, Maynard!’
It’s the political season
The last time I covered Norm Coleman was about 10 years ago. He was
pretty much a one man band then. Last Thursday, he had a
staff that preceded him and traveled with him that may have been
greater than the number of customers in the Redwood the last time I saw
him.
By political measures, it would seem that Coleman will win
re-election. He is an incumbent, has led in the polls, has as
much campaign money as his opponent, and there is a third party
candidate in the race who generally takes votes from DFL candidates.
In reading my notes and thinking back to what was said, it was hard to
tell if Coleman is an incumbent front runner or a
challenger. One needed to shape everything in a context
that this was a pure rally and not a public appearance because the
senator ‘had it both ways.’ There was little room for anyone with
opposing views as his loyalists nearly filled The Redwood early.
Senator Coleman was ‘singing to the choir’, his organizers made sure of
it.
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