Wednesday, January 04, 2006

I'm Just Curious...

I picked up this morning's paper and rejoiced at the saved lives, only to find out that it was but one life, the raido in the car told me. I'm curious: Will the reporters of the print and electronic media possibly begin to figure out they have some responsibility to their fellow humans? This past 14 months (or there abouts) have been one unfounded story after another. Start with Dan Rather's faked memo on the President's National Guard Service and, discounting the horrific pain caused today by people more concerned with ratings, marketshare and readership than the doing something professional, let alone morally correct, consider the completely false reporting that came out of New Orleans regarding maruading bands of criminals taking over the streets and dead bodies piled up. I once heard someone define courage as being able to hang on 10 seconds longer than everyone else. Maybe it would be good for reporters to hang on those few extra minutes before releasing such significant (but in actuality, in the name of making sure all reporting it correct) stories, lest they send waves of emotional reactions that have damagin effects. Look at the result of false stories of the flushing of Koran's by US troops. That story resulted in riots and actual deaths. I heard that there has already been one incident of a mine company official being jumped by one of the family members. It's more than preventing emotional issues here, it's about not tempting people in highly charged emotional states to make decisions they will regret for the rest of their lives, let alone the physical consequences someone else in their path may have to live with as a result. It's all about choices, and I vote for everyone to be responsible in their personal choices.

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