Loss of community is casualty of virus
By Roy Ockert Jr.
One of the many casualties of the COVID-19 pandemic is the loss of community, which makes life interesting and allows us to learn from each other.
To avoid spreading the coronavirus, many people are working from home, feasible thanks to our technology. But that method is generally not as productive, and it robs people of the face-to-face time that defines their work and promotes the creativity so unique in American workplaces.
I’m fortunate to be retired, which has allowed me to engage in worthwhile community activities that I didn’t really have much time for during my career.
However, in the first full week of the current shutdown, we did not have a Kiwanis Club meeting. Later that day I brought a dinner home. My weekly Methodist men’s breakfast was canceled. I did not have coffee with friends. The city government meetings I usually sit in on were called off. My wife Pat and I watched church services on electronic devices, and then we had Sunday dinner at home.
I attended in person one meeting of an alumni group at Arkansas State University, and several joined us by conference call. Our purpose: to discuss postponing or canceling a banquet we have held annually for 60 years without fail. This year we hope to try again later.
The spring events we usually attend on campus have been called off. Students have left for Spring Break; many will not be back until fall at best. The student organization I help advise can meet only “virtually.” The Nashville concert in May that we had tickets for has been postponed to January. I’m beginning to worry about an August train trip we have planned.
Our Jonesboro Kiwanis Club was fortunate to have its 80th annual pancake breakfast a week before the shutdown. The week before that we hosted one of seven Missouri-Arkansas educational conferences; the last four have since been canceled.
One of my young Kiwanis colleagues wrote and distributed an interesting message about how his church is attempting to continue its sense of community, wondering if our club could do the same. No doubt, some organizations are having success by using available technology.
Unfortunately, many older people are not well-versed enough to participate in anything that requires technical savvy. Don’t ask them about Zoom. One of my older friends complained recently about not getting my emails. I examined his phone; he had never deleted an email so he couldn’t tell what he was getting. Other people simply don’t like the nature of social media — i.e., the anonymous taunting and insulting that goes on with Facebook, Twitter and other media platforms.
Often the technology doesn’t work properly. Having used technology throughout my career as a journalist, it doesn’t daunt me. But after testing Facebook Live successfully last week for hosting a virtual meeting, when we actually tried to go live on location, it didn’t work. Too many people were on the server.
These concerns are minor compared to the impact on local businesses. When I brought my takeout home the other evening, I saw many empty parking lots at restaurants and stores along Red Wolf Boulevard. Each one certainly had to lay off many employees. Most will recover when allowed to reopen; some may not.
In each place there is a loss of community — families and friends not getting together, business deals not being discussed, meetings postponed or canceled, plans not being made, celebrations called off.
I especially bemoan the impact of this pandemic on local news organizations, which were already suffering financially for various reasons. As a longtime newspaper editor, I know that business better than other media but realize they are affected adversely, too.
My Sunday newspaper shrunk to 16 news pages — half the normal of just a year ago. What the subscriber pays barely covers the cost of delivery, if it does that. The size of a newspaper, and all its content, depends on paid advertising. When businesses that normally advertise their goods and services have to shut down or cut back, they don’t advertise. The news organizations must cut back, too.
Yet we need them more than ever during times of crisis (and isolation) to tell us what’s going on. Social media cannot cover news, report the facts or deal with complex issues, and they never will unless they figure a way to pay for it.
Business owners who still have something to sell should not forget that advertising pays. Last week, failing to find hand sanitizer in larger stores, I stumbled upon a business here selling a locally made product. Over the weekend I learned that Kroger stores would limit shopping to seniors for one hour each morning. I’ve had numerous emails promoting online shopping and takeout food services. Such things can and should be advertised locally.
By the way, this column is a voluntary effort, but I’ll admit some bias — for local media, local business and the sense of community we need to keep.
Our sense of community will help bring us back when the health threat is over. Let’s not let it get away.
Roy Ockert is a former editor of The Jonesboro Sun, The Courier at Russellville and The Batesville Guard. He can be reached at royo@suddenlink.net.