WHITBY FREEe' ,, .<EDNESDAY, SEPTEMBER 13, 1989, PAGE 5 The other day I was talking to a person whom I won't name for reasons you don't want to know, about a few of the problems of the world. "Why is it," this person asked, "that journalists feel they have a corner on The Truth?" I could have replied that Truth belongs to everybody, that your view and my view need not agree, as long as we respect each other's right to hold views. Or I could have told him to stick it in his left ear and blow smoke rings. Instead I said: "Somebody's got to know what's going on." "But why should we believe journalists as opposed to lawyers or politicians or teachers or used car salespersons?" . Why indeed, I thought. But feeling a need to defend journalists I said: 'Would you believe a newspaper written by used car dealers?" He mumbled. "Or lawyers?" He mumbled some more. "Politicians?" A third time he mumbled, then brightened. "But teachers! Teachers would. . . " "Teachers," I said, "would put you to sleep. How would you feel if you slept through eternal truths every morning over coffee?" Thinking about this exchange made me wonder. How many readers out there have no clear idea how journalists find The Truth. To help fil in this part of your education, dear reader, I shall take you through a couple of exercises. For example, suppose someone comes up to you and asks, 'Why is Whitby the home of the marigold?' Right away you likely shrug your shoulders and say, 'Who cares?' But the problem can't be wished away by the feint of heart. Those who have ever smelled a marigold know this to be a serious problem, one not to be sneezed at. Now our friend of the discussion at the top of this column iÊs a point. Many unseasoned and uncouth journalists would be prompted to answer off the top of WITH OUR FEET UP by Bill Swan Finding the truth the head: "Whitby is the home of the marigold because some gardener bought too many and convinced politicians to help him out of the pickle." Good journalists don't work that way. A good journalist would consult experts, request interviews, sleuth through library documents. She or he would find out things like: "Whitby is home of the marigold because nobody else would be." or: "Because asters bloom too late in the year." "Would you want a town to adopt the petunia?" "Beats geraniums." Perhaps the journalist even asks a secret source close to the whole issue. Says the secret source: "Look, don't quote me on this, but some gardener overstocked on marigolds one spring and then did one super marketing job." Personally, what with the influx of new residents intu yuppie castles throughout the town, the town might have adopted some other flower. Look at the yuppies (Youth Urban Professionals) and dinkS (Double Income, No Kids). All that hustle and nervous energy now fairly humming. The motto should be 'Whitby: home of impatiens. But to get back to the original problem: Why do journalists always know The Truth. Well, we intuit it. Not that all of us are perfect, heavens no! If you scan news columns carefully, you will find reporters and editors, like real estate salespeople, sometimes spell the word 'accommodate' wrong. This, of course, is the hallmark of an educated, sophisticated person, one who can spell'accommodate. (See: I got it right twice in row.) (Author's note: In the previqus paragraph I should have said that some people nisspell 'accommodate', but im not sure I know how to spell 'misspell'. So I reworded the whole thing. That's the mark of a creative mind -- to reword text to avoid words you can't spell.) But on the topic of creativity, I read a phrase the other day in the Toronto Star whicl. indicates a reporter's creativity. In a page one story the Star quoted Stephen Lewis, former leader of the Ontario N.D.P and also former ambassador to the United Nations. "The general consensus of scientific opinion . . ." Lewis said in The Star. Tautlogical nonsense. Right away, I knew the reporter had scribbled notes as journalists are wont to do and then re-creAted the context back at the office. Wrong. All wrong. See, Stephen Lewis never said that. Stephen Lewis bas too much respect for the English language. Consensus (here's the teacher's lesson, just in time to put us all tosleep) means 'general opinion'. Stephen Lewis would have said: "The scientific consensus is . . ." Class dismissed. Store uses in old cinema On condition that a certain architectural design be used, renovations to the former Whitby Cinema at 129 Brock St. N. have been approved by council. Joe Mizzi, owner of the build- ing, has planned retail uses for the building. He proposes to remove the second story, only at the front of the existing building, and keep the two-story semi- circle roof at the rear. However, a plan to use vertical aluminum siding as the face of the front second story was rejec- ted by Town planning staff. Planning department instead recommended that the front ele- vation design maintain the Geor- gian architecture of the building to the south. "The elevation would be con- structed of all brick with detail 'ven to the roof parapet, soldier rick) coursing, brick window inlays with either a wall sign or vinyl canopy for sign display," states the planning report. Represeùting the applicant at last week's planning committee session was architect Eldon Hung. Committee approved the plan- ning department recommenda- tion to have the architect pre- pare the revised front elevation as proposed by planning staff.