Welcome to Thinking Out Loud, a blog that contains postings from The Tampa Tribune’s Editorial Board and from various Tribune Community Columnists. Unlike the unsigned editorials that represent the newspaper’s institutional voice, the blog postings offer personal perspectives on the issues, personalities and events of Tampa Bay.
We invite you to participate by posting your comments. We’ll do our best to respond.
Contributors:
Joe Guidry
Joe Guidry is the deputy editorial page editor of The Tampa Tribune. He is a Tampa native and a graduate of the University of South Florida. He is married and has an adult son.
Jeff Stidham
Jeff Stidham grew up and lives in Bartow. He has been with the Tribune for nearly 22 years, the last 10 on the editorial board.
William Yelverton
William Yelverton is a Tribune editorial writer who has worked for the paper nearly 22 years. He lives in the Dade City area.
Jim Beamguard
Jim Beamguard is a Tribune editorial writer. He is a native of North Carolina and a graduate of Davidson College. He and his family live in Brandon.
Jackie Papandrew:
Jackie Papandrew is a freelance writer and editor. Her syndicated humor column appears in publications in the United States, Canada and India. She lives in Largo with her husband and children. Visit her website at www.jackiepapandrew.com.
Camille Beredjick
Camille Beredjick is a senior at Chamberlain High School, an avid musician and a scribbler with a quirky sense of humor. In the fall, she will be attending Northwestern University to study journalism, political science and music, and she plans to pursue a career in journalism.
Jim Harnish
Jim Harnish is in his 17th year as Senior Pastor at Hyde Park United Methodist Church in Tampa. He and his wife, Marsha, have two daughters and two grandchildren. He is a graduate of Asbury Theological Seminary and received the honorary Doctor of Divinity degree from Bethune-Cookman University. He is the author of six books and numerous articles and studies. He enjoys playing with his grandchildren and cheering for the Florida Gators.
Angela Hunt
Angela Hunt is a novelist living in Pinellas County with her husband and two 220-pound mastiffs.
Sheryl Young
Sheryl Young was a Tampa Tribune Community Columnist in 2005-2006. A freelance writer since 1997, including the Tampa Bay Business Journal, Tampa Style Magazines, St. Pete Times and nationally in Better Nutrition, Today’s Christian Woman and more. She’s received a First Place Amy Foundation national "Roaring Lambs" Writing Award, and has lived in Tampa Bay with her family for over 20 years.
Christie Gold
Christie Gold teaches English and journalism at Freedom High School in Tampa where she advises Revolution, the school newspaper. She has been both the Hillsborough County Teacher of the Year and Florida Journalism Teacher of the Year. She lives on a small farm in Wesley Chapel where she trains as a competitive equestrian.
Natalie D. Preston
Natalie D. Preston is a karaoke singing, only-child pouting, Seminole Tomahawk waving, newlywed bride blushing, 50-state traveling, girlie girl who loves to shop, read, run and jump up and down on her soapbox.
Fernando Figueroa
Fernando Figueroa is a researcher, educator and lives in Riverview.
Gary Beemer
Interests include humor, politics, economics, community and world affairs, finance, people, religion, music, sports, current events, the arts and education.
Nicole Yunger Halpern
Nicole Yunger Halpern is an undergraduate at Dartmouth College, where she studies everything she can get her nerdy little hands on. Desired major: life. No, not necessarily biology. Life.
Kris DiGiovanni
Kris DiGiovanni is a Tribune Community Columnist, Huffington Post contributor, Daily Kos diarist, and teacher, who recently moved from NW Hillsborough to another planet - a small beach community in Pinellas County. She also blogs at www.sandscript.wordpress.com
H. David Braswell Jr.
H. David Braswell Jr. is an Information Systems Professional. He is a native New Yorker and a lifelong NY Giants fan. He attended college in California (Cal State Northridge) and moved to Tampa in 1998.
Sean Marcus
Sean Marcus teaches creative writing, journalism and reading at Chamberlain High School. He has one son and is
expecting a daughter in early March. He can be reached at wuizabug@gmail.com
Pro-lifer’s murder - where was the “mainstream” media?
Posted Sep 29, 2009 by Sheryl Young
Updated Sep 29, 2009 at 10:30 AM
This month’s murder of pro-life sign carrier Jim Pouillon in Owosso, Michigan has still gone largely unnoticed by what we call “mainstream” media…big stations like NBC, CBS, ABC. All have been silent, in stark contrast to their immediate and nearly never-ending coverage of abortion provider George Tiller’s murder some months ago. I wonder how Bay News 9 and TBO.com would handle this story if the murder happened here.
Dr. Tiller’s murder was tragic, heinous and a sad day for the Christian community as we will all, once again, be unjustly placed in the same general stereotype as his hateful killer. However, Jim Pouillon’s death is no less important.
Pouillon, a disabled activist, was involved in a peaceful pro-life protest across the street from Owosso High School when he was shot several times and killed this past 9/11. The suspect now in custody is Harlan Drake, whose license plate number was cited by several witnesses to the crime.
With respect to CNN’s coverage as pretty much the only visible “mainstream” journalism on this case, even CNN kept calling Pouillon anti-abortion rather than pro-life. In nearly every sentence where victim Pouillon’s name is mentioned, the words anti-abortion follow or preceed. Here’s a question to “pro-choicers” – if choice is a good thing, then why not say Pouillon chose to be “pro-life”? Why must the term anti-abortion always be used to make pro-lifers appear more hateful and intolerant?
The media originally avoided the pro-life murder as being some “random” incident. To the liberal media, any shooting of a person who’s on the “correct” side of today’s politically correct causes is cruel, pre-meditated murder; but killing a conservative must be a random shooting. Drake has apparently admitted to another murder that day, the murder of business owner Michael Fuoss. So to liberal forces, Drake was on a random shooting rampage.
Not according to the CNN report. Authorities feel the shootings were not random. Drake admitted being offended by Pouillon’s anti-abortion sign, and Drake was no stranger to Fuoss. Could this be another reason why the Big Three haven’t picked up the story?
That the politically correct crowd are always the “tolerant” ones is debatable. On several articles, for instance this one at Andover, MA’s Eagle Tribune, several bloggers have said things like “Thank you Harlan Drake [the accused] – the world is a better place,” and “He [Pouillon] deserved it.” This coming from the ones who call themselves tolerant.
President Obama’s statement had been immediate on the day of Tiller’s murder. He waited until two days after Pouillon’s murder to speak up. However, he did state that violence over our differences is never the answer. This writer agrees.
