COMMENTARY
LOOKING TOWARD
THE FUTURE
February is the month of love with
its Valentine’s Day. Because of what
we have been through for the last
couple of years with COVID-19 and
its variants, now is a good time to glance
backward, but then to lovingly look ahead
toward the future. Personally, my wife
Mary K and I moved away from our home
on Tampa Bay to a smaller home on higher
ground, maintaining treasured memories
of wonderful neighbors, as we began to
form new friendships. Thousands of
people from several states are also making
new homes in Florida. It has been a time
of change for many of us.
We have endured the pressures of
a confusing political climate and a
compelling confrontation with this
coronavirus, but the state of Florida seems
to have adapted better than many states.
However, because of this virus, most of
us have changed the way we do things –
where we go, how we go and with whom
we spend valuable time. Therefore, how
we communicate with each other has never
been more important.
There were vaccine shots for many,
yet others chose to avoid them. Airplane
travel became “mask required” and
passengers who became troublemakers
made fools of themselves. Dealing with
COVID-19 became a nightmare for
those who lost loved ones and relatives.
Thankfully, the years 2020 and 2021 are
now behind us.
It’s time to set new goals and focus
on the future with hope, optimism and
careful planning. I’ve missed nurturing
the personal friendships of relatives who
are separated from us and living in other
states, cities and countries. And for me as
a retired journalist, it is sad to note that
many newspapers in our country have
shut down, while others are struggling
to stay alive. TV viewership has changed
with hundreds of channels available, and
radio talk shows often come from other
cities and states, thus making the local
128 TAMPA BAY MAGAZINE | JANUARY/FEBRUARY 2022
voice hard to recognize.
Confusing times have made it very
hard for us to trust what we see, what
we read and what we hear. It makes me
yearn for my journalism heroes back in the
1960s, such as Cronkite, Huntley-Brinkley
and others, when the news of the day was
just the news, instead of personal opinions
and one-sided points of view that often
obscure the truth.
Truth can be difficult to figure out these
days with so many contrasting points of
view and information. It has taken an
emotional toll on all of us, which has
compelled us to look past the confusion
and sort out what is real. We have to be
looking ahead for a positive path forward
without focusing on those negatives we
have faced. It is time to move on, using
reason and common sense. 9
EDITOR’S NOTE: John Wilson, who retired
from Fox TV in 2014, worked more than 50
years in radio and television news broadcasting.
By John Wilson
John Wilson