When the frightening and dreadful news of the Sandy Hook slayings broke on Friday, I knew alas what was to come. I knew that it would be useless to watch cable news this weekend, or it seems for the foreseeable future. All the news channels would descend on this stricken community like wolves picking at the open wounds and walking the streets in an orgy of "news". This has become sadly standard when tragedies of this type strike as they inevitably will.
Clearly the ratings must spike as people quite justifiably seek the latest update on the story. But not content to merely offer intermittent updates, the modern news media descend like a dark cloud and all else of note in the world is obscured while non-stop coverage commences. Anchors arrive to bleat and bellow and tell us all how to feel, news teams prowl the streets searching for angles and digging up motes of detail which they hope will stay fresh long enough to air, and distant commentators seek to draw divergent meaning from events which still unfold before their myopic eyes. It's pretty ugly stuff, but we watch this vulgar dance each and every time.
I refuse to participate. I want the news. I can get that in a few minutes at the top of the hour a few times a day at most. The rest is just salacious and predatory claptrap dressed up as journalism. The news media feast on these events seeking a jot of ratings increase, they harvest dollars on the graves which have yet to be filled. The modern news media are ghouls, eaters of the dead. They won't make me one too.
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Crime stories are a little bit of a hobby of mine. Especially unsolved cases. I love a good mystery novel so why not a real life mystery. But I could not look at a single detail of this case. It made me want to cry just seeing the headlines. Maybe it's because I can't help but imagine how absolutely devastated I would be if my own child was one of those children. Just the worst thing imaginable.
ReplyDeleteI don't mind them telling a story. That's the job. I abhor the crush of coverage which strangles out all judgment it seems. I also hate them telling me how I ought to feel all the time. I don't consult the news for the info. I can take care of that.
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What's even worse than the commentators are the pundits who try to blame this on gays, non-Christians, and others who may not share their skin color and/or beliefs. (I'm looking at YOU, Mike Huckabee!)
ReplyDeleteTheir ilk comes out of the woodwork every time a tragedy strikes, and they do NOTHING to help, but merely gloat obscenely. :(
That's another scavenger who shows up during these crisis points. I'm not so much commenting on that, though it deserves comment, but to the regular "news" guys who crowd onto the story. It's just too much for any perspective to be developed. I'm sure once upon a time news reporters still hounded out stories, but now sadly we get to watch them do it in real time with little editorial control exerted.
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