20:00 - When trying to keep up with local, regional, provincial and federal news then getting bombarded with world news, it all can be quite maddening. I can see why some might think "the end of world" is upon all of us. With the Christmas season here, I do find there are more feel good stories out there. Just wish the media could continue with them after the holidays
Posted by Anonymous to Our Town and Its Business at 2 December 2015 at 08:02
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The cold hard reality is .......warm and fuzzy is not news.
Calamitous events, lewd and lascivious and the melodramatic are what grab public attention.
It's the way we are bent.
Like ghost stories, things that go bump In the night and deliciously terrifying tales send thrills up the spines of children, the elders are equally enthralled by grief,scandal and outrageously offensive to public sentiment.
Every reporter is a writer and every writer is a story-teller. Every yarn spun must have a hero, a villain, a wretched victim and ....romance to lift the spirits.
The news business is an adjunct to retail commercial. Product is advertising.
The hook is whatever generates interest. Nothing sells like scandal and mayhem. Headlines are not created by happy tidings.
Given the human condition, save for degree, there's seldom a shortage of what it takes.
Nothing excites more than juicy scandal. Nor does anything else increase sales or viewer ratings.
Even the blog spikes when the topic is hot and someone's hide is being roasted.
A picture on Facebook this morning shows a soldier weeping uncontrollably over the death of a comrade.
His face reveals the unendurable pain.
The caption called for compassion and prayer.
A recent comment to blog notes increases in soldier suicides may be finally capturing official attention and more help may be forthcoming.
What kind of therapy allows one to deal with the reality that military business is death. iT always has been.
It's what training is about and the purpose of weaponry.
Surveys indicate what sustains a soldier in battle is loyalty to comrades sharing the horrendous experience .
What remedy can erase the terrible memories....or ease the pain of a survivor?
Words like valour, courage and heroic sacrifice in defending our values are easily bandied about.
Lord knows ,we've heard enough of them.
As therapy, they will no doubt be as helpful as they have ever been.
Maybe it's the concept that peace and security equate with death and destruction that needs to be re-evaluated.
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2 comments:
We seem to be doing a fair job in Canada of balancing the stomach- cruncher stories with materials that do not
generate revenue. But, good grief, the Americans in an election year are quite over the top. It is like a soap opera
that just gets worse & worse. And all of it on live sources so that kids can see it while waiting at the dentist for their
appointments.
I think the US has one of those shootings just about every week. The only variation appears to be the motivations which just
lead to more of the Blaming. An ugly circle.
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