When we think "terrorist" we tend to think of the people who blow up buildings or walk into a group of people wearing explosives. Their goal is to scare you. The truth, however, is that these types are rather rare here in America. So it's difficult to get too agitated about "terrorists" in our daily lives.
Then I sit down and watch the news. Let's see. In the past few weeks of news broadcasts, they've fed me a bunch of stories. More than 3/4 of the big trucks on the road have safety violations and could potentially blow up at any time. Travel by air isn't as safe as you thought; there are constant, blatant security violations that could kill you. There are potential chemicals in the standard city water supply that can give you cancer even if you don't drink the water. We can anticipate disastrous wildfires this summer. Children are carrying bombs to school. We have another unknown serial killer; be careful walking the streets. Your mattress contains chemicals that can kill you. Crime is rising.
Oh, you know how it goes. And you get the same news as I do ... generally. Somehow, the news isn't particularly concerned with "And what should we do about it?" usually. Neither are they very keen on those stories of nice things being done -- random acts of kindness that just warm the heart. No, the good stories are the nasty things that people are doing to one another. The best ones are the ones that suggest you, the viewer, are in mortal danger right now as you sit in front of your TV. "The world to end at midnight ... film at 11."
If I pay attention to the nightly news, I end up afraid to fly, afraid to walk the streets at night, afraid of the water in my house, afraid to be near trucks on the highway, afraid to be around children, afraid of my bed ... so I begin to wonder ... tell me again who the real terrorists are?
5 comments:
Interesting points. Terrorism is a big seller by the looks of it. The plot behind the news sounds the opposite of what John Lennon wrote, "No solutions, only problems". Unfortunately with the need for profit comes a need to prolong the story. If you rushed to a solution or denouement of some kind, you're forcing yourself to come up with another story that may not be easy to track down.
Here's a funny story. In the 80s I went to visit my cousin in Houston. He warned us not to go downtown. The second day we were bored so we went downtown anyway. There was literally no one there at 5:30 pm on a Friday afternoon. It felt like one of those movies where everyone disappeared. We took pictures of our car sitting idyll in the middle of the street with zero traffic. Which leads to another possibility, the news terrorists really don't know what they're talking about.
Wait, wait, wait, Jim ... you're suggesting the possibility that the news media -- our primary source of information on which most people base all of their perceptions -- might not know what they're talking about???
Mmmmm, could be.
That's why we don't watch TV news.
'Cause you're a coward? (Kidding, just kidding.)
Is there a more reliable, useful source of news available?
More reliable? Meh. Don't know. I'm kind of a post-news sort - it's a bit of a generational thing ;) I know enough to know I don't really trust them. Like your newscast last week that reported that Ralph Hardy story.
More useful? Pretty much anything I read on the Internet is more useful.
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