Whose Story Is It?

Garth Beyer

Okay, I will finally pay attention to the story behind the driver who Youtubed his confession of killing a man while driving drunk.

Certain media content is blocked on this computer, but I believe the link to the Youtube video (if it hasn’t been taken down yet!) is here.

In a NBC News story written by Simon Moya-Smith, Simon writes, “The victim’s daughter, Angela Canzani, told NBC News that she believes Cordle is attempting to mitigate punishment with the video.”

Ater reading that, I had my WOW moment. Instead of curating the point of his confession (to take drunk driving more seriously), Canzani makes the story more about Matthew Cordle.

“When I get charged I’ll plead guilty and take full responsibility for everything I’ve done to Vincent and his family,” Cordle says in his video confession.

Before jumping into all the details of prosecution and degree of detainment, can we take a moment to focus on the point of his confession. Can we hear his plea for us to all make the promise not to drink and drive?

Figuring out the number of years Cordel will be imprisoned will not save lives, making the promise not to drink and drive will.

Come on, Media. This is your moment to do good and you’re ruining it.

This One Is On Me (what do you suggest?)

Garth Beyer

I’m currently coughing up a storm scarier than a real life sharknado. And I need your help.

This post is about me being human. I don’t always follow my own advice. I make mistakes, sometimes the same one multiple times (more on that in a moment). If I did do everything I preached, well, I wouldn’t be writing, I would be too busy doing it all. Actually, there’s not even enough time to do everything that I preach. That’s my problem. That’s why I have run myself down sick. I think there is.

I am calling on you to make this post into something remarkable. You’re going to become the leader, the sharer, the writer; not me. I will even set you up with the context and offer a few questions to get your mind working. Note: I don’t care about how well you write. If you have an idea, share it. Remember, the point here is that we are all only human.

Seven months ago I wrote a post about Biting Off More Than You Can Chew.

Now, this post that you’re reading, I have to say that I’ve crashed and need your input. Am I wrong for biting off more than I can chew? Is it okay to feel insignificant when taking on a lighter load? Will biting off more than I can chew get me to my goals any quicker than pacing myself at the dinner table so-to-speak?

I’ve battled this for some time. In the past, I have believed that by biting off more than I can chew, then crashing, then repeating those that again, that I build up my endurance. I’m not so sure anymore.

So, yes, this might not work, but I am asking for your help? What do you think?

 

Stay Positive & Comment Below or email thegarthbox@gmail.com

Garth E. Beyer –if you don’t see the comment box. You need to open the actual story page by clicking the title of this post. Then you can scroll down and comment.

Let It Bend

Garth Beyer

How lenient are you when it comes to customer service? How much leeway do you give the person on the other side of the line? (Customer, family member, friend, anyone.) What guidelines do you have set? How much do you bend?

The reason I ask these questions is to add emphasis to my following statement.

If it bends then it can break.

I don’t necessarily make this statement to express the need for solid structure and tight rules. The opposite is actually true.

When you allow flexibility, yes, it can break, but my mom has always said, “some rules were meant to be broken.”

And damn do I see some amazing things when some rules are broken.

Simple. Straightforward. That’s why I always let things bend.

 

Stay Positive & Share Some Thoughts?

Garth E. Beyer

Refusing Challenges (Accepting The Routine Fix)

Garth Beyer

A lot of businesses have a routine fix method and not much else.

I recently purchased a Kawasaki ninja 250r. It’s cardinal red and when the sunlight bounces off the chrome, it will definitely catch your eye. Appealing from afar, yes, but the motorcycle wouldn’t go faster than 60 mph. This meant I couldn’t take it on the expressway to visit my family.

The dealership I bought it from said it wouldn’t be good to ride it on the expressway. Everything I read online said otherwise. After viewing four different forums, the consensus was that it should go 80-95 mph. I’m wise not to believe everything on the internet, so I brought it into another dealership which had a service department.

I spoke to six different employees there. Each one of them said that the bike should be able to do 80 without a problem; that “it might even do 100.” The head of the service department said he had no clue. I asked if he could have someone ride it and tell me if they felt anything was wrong with it. An employee did and told me that’s as fast as it would go.

I still had doubts. I brought it to one more shop.

“Wow, that’s as fast as it goes?! Let’s run some tests and see what we can find out.” Worth mentioning after the quote is that this shop owner had no clue how fast the bike was supposed to go to begin with. Guess what he did?

He looked at all the same forums I went on and realized there had to be a problem. He was ready to find out what that problem was.

It’s disappointing when I go to businesses that are there to fix things but don’t. They have a specific number of routine fixes that they make. If I tell them about a problem and it doesn’t connect with any problem they have dealt with already, they think “that’s just the way it is” instead of looking into it.

Turned out a box of fuses fell into one of the carburetors. The shop owner gave them to me with a look of complete satisfaction and accomplishment on his face. I keep them as a reminder to challenge myself and if someone comes to me with a problem, I either figure it out or show them (not tell them) that that is just how it is.

 

Stay Positive & What Happened To Customer Satisfaction?

Garth E. Beyer

Where’s The Off Button, News?

Garth Beyer

What do you wish the news did?

Perhaps this question would be better shaped to “What do you wish the news did not do?” The reason being is that whatever suggestion you come up with has likely already been done – maybe not by CNN or The Washington Post, but by a blogger or freelance investigator. In the scenario that it hasn’t been done, well… who is stopping you from implementing your idea?

Apropos to my previous post, I mentioned that we should understand why the news sources choose the news to share. Why is every cover page telling a story about death, disease, adultery, murder, theft and loss. I believe that, in understanding, it is very simple – it’s all about the eye balls. While we can go into the psychology of it, it doesn’t take a psychologist professor for a layperson to understand the concept of yellow journalism.

With this into consideration, I wish the news would first try to implement a average citizen focus group to decide what goes on the cover, what is more advertised than other articles, and what they (the average citizens) want  to read. If this is in some way improbable, then at least cut the vulgarity and introduce more good-news. (Thanks Huff!)

 

Stay Positive & Good News Is…. Good

Hyperlocal Is The Way To Go

Garth Beyer

What would you do if you ran your own news organization?

I’ve thought this over many times. I would take Seth Godin’s advice and create a local newspaper. I would want it to be community oriented and focus more on making people feel important by listening to their stories. I’ve come to find that everyone (and I mean everyone) has a remarkable story to tell. It would be our job to tell it.

Remarkable stories get read. Remarkable often comes from that which is close to theheart. Simple as that.

 

Stay Positive & Home Is Where The Heart Is

Select, Don’t Compress

Garth Beyer

I was previously notorious for interviews that lasted an hour and a half or longer. Then add the time for a tour (if applicable) on top of that. After I was satisfied I would find someone who my interviewee mentioned and interview them as well. I covered a lot of ground and it allowed me to write a lot.

Similarly, when I wrote articles that I used online sources for, my article typically contained a plethora of sources, quotes, and information related to the topic. My efforts were to try to pull information from as many sources as possible then connect all the dots.

Both of these methods have led to some of my worst work. In fact, a recorded hour and a half interview I did, I lost when my phone crashed. Thinking back on the interview, I had what I needed within 10 minutes of the interview. Not that the other one hundred and twenty minutes were not valuable, they simply were not necessary for the article I was writing.

“News stories work best when they are narrow and deep, not wide and thin.” – Al Tompkins

It’s still a battle to cut and not cram every detail into an article. I no longer do interviews over an hour. (Multiple interviews are acceptable.) If there is a tour, I schedule it for 30 min on another day. As for all the online sources, a HT to editors.

 

Stay Positive & I’ll Skip Dinner, I Just Want The Dessert