What If

I am going to resist the urge to get down and dirty with recent political happenings. It would be easy, but--no. After all, it's Saturday and everyone deserves a chance to kick back, read the funnies, eat their Pop Tarts and watch cartoons.

Instead, I ask: what if?

What if Columbia/Howard County had news? Yes, we have Amanda Yeager and the revolving door of young talent. We have a newspaper once a week and strategic online updating. No, I mean new coverage with a capital N--television news, radio news, a daily newspaper. Imagine it.

What would that be like?

Would we have "live local late breaking" coverage of Village Board meetings? Would there be ongoing scrutiny of the hijinks out at the Board of Ed.? Imagine how much time there'd be to fill. We might have coverage of summer swim meets and community theater productions. Restaurant reviews, cooking segments with local chefs, recommendations for healthy lifestyle changes from Haven on the Lake.

Some people think we are mostly a provincial, suburban backwater with barely enough news to support a weekly. But the local stories are here. They may not be negotiations of nuclear treaties but they are here and more people need to know about them. Our local reporters are chronically overworked and take direction from folks above them who don't always "get" the importance of local stories. The news business has changed. Newspapers fold or are sold all the time and the truth is we are lucky to have anything at all.

But just imagine: what if we could have it all? Would you want it? Would you watch HoCo television news? Would you read a daily paper to keep on top on local events? Would you tune in to a weekly radio program about what happened at the Board of Ed, or the CA Board, or in the local music scene? I tend to think we'd all be better off if we were better informed.

That doesn't mean that everyone is as geekily obsessed with hyperlocal current events as I am.

It's Saturday. I don't have to be completely serious. Enjoy your Lucky Charms and kids' tv and I'll fantasize about shows like "Bloggers Round-up" and "Music in our Schools."