Be A Witness
Andrew recently added a link to the sidebar of this blog and it struck a real chord with me. When I was in High School I was the editor of our paper, I was ready to become a journalist and that link shows the exact reason that I did not pursue a career in journalism. The OJ Simpson trial was the last straw for me. Before that, when we landed on the beaches of Somalia and the press was there illuminating our SEALs who came ashore in complete darkness and face paint to avoid snipers, that was so irresonsible. It was all about getting the scoop, about sensationalism. The fact that if you watch FOX news they include the latest round of American Idol in the first 5 minutes or CBS includes the latest castaway to get booted off survivor just details how in the US, News outlets treat News as a form of ENTERTAINMENT.
What is happening in Sudan is horrible, but there is another issue there. It is obviously genocide, but since the US has no vital interests there the government looks at it as internal strife. Meanwhile any other place we want to go to we just say the words genocide or ethnic cleansing and thats our ticket in.
Remember when journalism was balanced, informative and thorough? Once a story loses the buzz it drops off the map and you never even know how it was resolved. Everyone knows that some idiot bruned themself with a cup of HOT McDonald's coffee sued and won a large settlement, but no one knows if that case was appealled and thrown out. Because thats not as entertaining.
The worst example to me was after the gulf war, we sent a strike against Iraq because they were violating the no-fly zone. There was a CNN journalist standing at the foot of the runway, F-15 Strike Eagles soaring over his head theorizing that an attack was about to begin. Last I checked it takes 2 hours to get to target and Sadaam could possibly have CNN. Thanks for telling them we are en route.
What is happening in Sudan is horrible, but there is another issue there. It is obviously genocide, but since the US has no vital interests there the government looks at it as internal strife. Meanwhile any other place we want to go to we just say the words genocide or ethnic cleansing and thats our ticket in.
Remember when journalism was balanced, informative and thorough? Once a story loses the buzz it drops off the map and you never even know how it was resolved. Everyone knows that some idiot bruned themself with a cup of HOT McDonald's coffee sued and won a large settlement, but no one knows if that case was appealled and thrown out. Because thats not as entertaining.
The worst example to me was after the gulf war, we sent a strike against Iraq because they were violating the no-fly zone. There was a CNN journalist standing at the foot of the runway, F-15 Strike Eagles soaring over his head theorizing that an attack was about to begin. Last I checked it takes 2 hours to get to target and Sadaam could possibly have CNN. Thanks for telling them we are en route.
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