News You Won't Read In The Newspapers

Sometimes the important news events are not the ones covered by the media. Mainstream journalism outlets often overlook local events that have significance beyond their immediate geographic area.

Here is an example. During the contentious 2000 presidential race, I volunteered to help with the get-out-the-vote (GOTV) effort. Mostly I called voters to remind them to vote and to offer help getting to the polls if they needed it. On a few occasions I went out to people's homes to give them absentee ballots or drove them to the polls.

I went to the home of two elderly people who had recently moved to town. They told me they had registered at city hall several weeks earlier. Because their registrations did not show up in the system, they could not vote by absentee ballot, which is allowed in our state through Election Day. So the only way to vote was to go to the polls.

Both the man and the woman had mobility impairments-it was very difficult for them to move around. The day was rainy and cold. They had never met me before. Nonetheless they were willing to get in my car and go with me to the polls to vote. I admired their determination to stand up for freedom and their right to vote.

A very large intimidating man dressed in a black suit approached us when it became clear we were dealing with a voting problem. I asked who he was and whom he represented; he didn't tell me. I don't remember what he said, but I do remember that his words and demeanor indicated that we had no right to be there and should leave.

Because I'd done GOTV work many times before, I knew we had a right to be there and that the people I was escorting had the right to vote. I also knew that this man was not part of the local voting system, and certainly didn't represent my political party. If I hadn't been there, the man and woman would have left; they could not overcome the roadblock the man presented.

Once we got beyond the big man's bluff, the man and woman were able to have a discussion with the officials about their situation. Because their eligibility to vote could not be confirmed right there, they were only able to submit provisional ballots. (Provisional ballots are counted only in the case of a tie.)

I imagine that this anti-freedom intimidation occurred at polling places around the country. My guess is that many people did not vote because someone blocked their way. There are many ways to interfere with a person's ability to cast a ballot.

As appalling as this story is, it is not a work of fiction. But my story and the story of the valiant voters did not make even local news, In the eyes of journalism this event, so indicative of many political trends of the time, was not important enough to make the news. It is often the true stories of regular people that tell us the most about current events.