Sensational News

This is my feeling exactly. And, yet, I feel conflicted.

Now, I may have less room to talk than some, having, in fact, been part of the making of a made-for-t.v. movie, but I believe that sensationalizing the acts of a violent person and giving them a platform for their deranged agenda is destructive, rather than informative.

On the other hand, perhaps if we gave these people's angst-ridden ramblings an ear to begin with, we could avoid the violence, the national attention and the pain that ensues.

I think of Eric Houston and it occurs to me that "there, but for the grace of God, goes almost every one of my students." I want to spend the time with them that they need - the time too many of their parents don't - and to avoid letting them feel like they've been painted into a corner.

The problem is not that the media covers these stories, but that they take the perspective that they do and that they wait until after the violence to address these people's needs.

Then again, maybe the problem is that we let the media command so much of our attention.

I don't stay tuned to the news like my sisters do. This is not out of laziness, but out of a very real sense that the news is all reruns and ratings grabs. I don't learn anything watching the news except that I don't like watching the news. I get word somehow that various ballot initiatives might affect me and I do research online to determine how I want to vote. I forecast the weather by looking at the calendar and whether or not the newspaper comes in a plastic bag. I read the editorials occasionally and John Stossel and Thomas Sowell whenever I remember to, but I don't go for the sensational news that seems to sell.