Consider the worm. Some species of worm are parasites that live off the human body. But others are essential to our ecosystem. They add nutrients to our soil that enable food to grow and they serve as essential food for all kinds of animals. Some worms have been so decimated by loss of habitat and […]
Marcy Burstiner
Marcy Burstiner is a professor of journalism and mass communication at Humboldt State University. If there's something about the media that confuses you, e-mail her at mib3@humboldt.edu.
Posted inLetters + Opinion
Sinclairly Yours
Hi, I’m Marcy Burstiner. My greatest responsibility is to serve my community. I am extremely proud of the quality, balanced journalism that I produce, but I’m concerned about the troubling trend of irresponsible, one-sided news stories plaguing our country. The sharing of biased and false news has become all too common on social media. More […]
Posted inLetters + Opinion
The General Concerns
Seeing The General at Arcata High School last month totally changed how I view the Civil War. The silent film about a battle between the Confederate and Union armies premiered in 1926 and stars Buster Keaton. Last month, students from Arcata and McKinleyville high schools, in the ArMack Orchestra, performed a live score to the […]
Posted inLetters + Opinion
Save Our Speech
I’m pro-free speech and I am not a Nazi. I feel I have to to start there following news story after news story about people protesting “free speech rallies” when what they are actually protesting is the gathering of Nazis and white nationalists and the spouting of racist ideas. These images give me chills: mobs […]
Posted inLetters + Opinion
Keep a Lid on the Id
In my fantasy dinner parties, Lost Coast Outpost Editor Hank Sims is a frequent guest. I am socially reluctant so I don’t host actual dinner parties. I invite him because he says thought-provoking, conversation-stimulating things. If you didn’t tune in June 14 to KHSU’s Thursday Night Talk you should stream the podcast. As part of […]
Posted inLetters + Opinion
Land of the Free and Uncomfortable
If you can’t say something nice don’t say anything at all. That’s the maxim my parents and teachers taught me. Somewhere along the line, that turned into this: If someone says something mean, keep them from saying it. There’s a disturbing new report from the Newseum, the nonprofit museum in Washington, D.C., devoted to the […]
Posted inLetters + Opinion
Sweat the Small Stuff
When I check my phone for news updates, all the stories seem like so much noise. I want to shut it all off. There’s the report of something Congress didn’t do. Then there are the stories on Trump’s Twitter response. Then there are the responses to Trump’s tweets. Everyone seems to be shouting at each […]
Posted inLetters + Opinion
Press Time
For a long time citizen journalists annoyed me. I blamed them for destroying the news profession. If people gave away work for free, why would anyone pay a journalist to collect and report news? And without professional journalists we couldn’t have a reliable and credible stream of information to depend on. But now I think […]
Posted inLetters + Opinion
Unfactoids
I’d be powerless against the force of Kellyann Conway, the Trump spokesperson who turns provable falsehoods into “alternative facts.” I’ll believe anything someone tells me, as long as it is said with enough audacity. I think it is where my effectiveness as a journalist came from. I would go to one person and accept what […]
Posted inLetters + Opinion
Smarten Up
Last week, half the nation elected a man who doesn’t read over the smartest candidate who has ever run for office. That it shocked me shocks me. Why the hell didn’t I see it coming? As four of our last six presidents, we elected a peanut farmer, a B-movie actor, a guy who had his […]
Posted inLetters + Opinion
Sign of Something
There is something weird about this election: the almost total absence of campaign signs and bumper stickers, at least in Arcata, where I live. On my ballot are important races for the presidency, U.S. Senate, Congress, state assembly and city council. There are 17 state propositions that affect important issues such as school funding, the death […]
Posted inLetters + Opinion
Warning: This Column Contains Objectionable Material
I won’t watch violent movies or television shows alone. That’s because when I know that an act of extreme violence is about to happen, I close my eyes and turn away. I’m a weenie. I can’t handle it. I rely on other people to describe the action. Hollywood productions provide amped up music or silence […]