CBS correspondent Janet Shamlian interviewed me, asking me if Big Sandy has changed because Montana is getting so many out-of-staters moving into our state.
Shamlian said, "I am a correspondent for CBS News, the network out of New York, but I'm actually based out of Houston. I travel the country doing stories. She worked for NBC at one point in time. "I used to be with NBC for about 12 years before I made the move to the Tiffany Network, also known as CBS, and I worked in local news for many, many years.
"I love it because I get a chance to do what I did with you today: travel around the country, talking to people. It's something different every day. I don't love the hurricane stories, don't love the Uvalde school shootings, but today, coming to Big Sandy, talking to you, talking to other people, that's pure joy."
Whenever I get a chance to visit with big-time journalists, I ask, "What does it feel like for you from the city to come into big Sandy Montana?"
"I spend a lot of time in small towns, so it's not that foreign to me, but I love the feel of it. You know, it's very different. As I said, I live in Houston, the nation's fourth-largest city, massive. And I'm from Chicago, another big city. It's just people know each other here. Everybody I've encountered today rolled down their window. Hey, what are you doing here? And I told them, and they're like, great. You know, they were so welcoming here. If that happened in Houston, I would hide my wallet.
I asked, "What do you think about a small town having a paper?"
"As a journalist, it's encouraging because we see big cities losing their paper. So, I was actually surprised that Big Sandy had a functioning and printable newspaper. Yes, I love it. I was shocked, but I'm happily surprised."
We discussed the freedom of the press, and I mentioned that although I believe in the freedom of the media, the press is not held accountable for its stories. She said, "So here's what I'll say: the press is under attack in our country right now. I definitely see it, and absolutely in a way that it wasn't at the beginning of my career. I've seen where it used to be just three networks, and now you can watch a television station that reinforces your opinion. And so there should be scrutiny, and there is, but it's disheartening to me to see how journalists are treated in some venues and formats, but I agree with you 100% that the press has to be held accountable, just like everyone."
"In some cases, they're not, but you can't take it out on people in the field. I see a lot of that now, and it's frightening to me to see younger journalists and myself subjected to that. She has occasionally been attacked verbally."
Shamlian went on to say, "I'm just really happy to be here. You know. we're spending a short amount of time here. We are going to Bozeman next." They expected to get a different answer about the impact of out-of-state people moving in.
I took a picture of three of the four of them. They are from New Jersey, New York, Houston, and Dallas, Texas.
She asked me if I felt Montana was still the "Last Best Place ." I said, "Yes, there will always be places like Big Sandy where we care about each other."
