Meet the new media, same as the old media

      I don't have to tell you there's been a big news event this week. Since the Boston Marathon bombing on Monday, it's been impossible to miss the wall to wall coverage on CNN, MSNBC, Fox News, ABC, NBC, CBS, etc. And that's fine, I guess, as far as it goes. If people weren't tuning in, they would start broadcasting something else eventually.
      First, a word about tragedies like this. When something tragic first happens, it feels like a punch to my gut. I am naturally an empathetic person, and when I think of the toll that an event like this has on real people who were living their very real lives, it impacts me greatly. I think of the families torn asunder, the innocent bystanders who will never walk again, the family in China that sent their daughter to be educated in America and will now never see her again... and then it gets too much for me. I max out my empathy-meter and hide in my brain.
     I am a writer. That means I am always writing stories in my head. I wish I could tell you that I didn't use the scenarios that were playing out on my television and computer screen to create scenes for future stories, but I can't. It's my nature to convert information into conflict, resolution, happiness and sadness. As I watch how the FBI scolds the media when they get something horribly wrong, I am thinking "That is so authentic. I can use that in a story someday." And, that is my own shame. 
     More to the point of today's blog, though, I want to talk about the news media and their complete inability to get things right. I somewhat understand what the media goes through on these occasions. It wasn't on the scale of a CNN reporter, certainly, but I worked in radio and had to cover a number of breaking issues with virtually no preparation. I was on the air at the moment the Challenger crashed and had to remain calm as I broadcast that story with my heart in my throat. I was on the air at KCMT FM in Lake Almanor California when the earthquake hit that rocked the Bay Area World Series in 1989. I have at least a little perspective on what it is like to broadcast on-the-run.
     Watching today's media broadcast, I honestly want to throw up. Instead, I turn my television off. I wish more of us would have the same reaction, then we might see some changes. There are actually quite a few things that bug me about major media news, but I'll talk about just a couple of them: giving more coverage to an issue than is normal, sane and healthy, and getting things wrong.
     When the tragedy du jour strikes, whether it is a rocket exploding in space or some type of freakish weather or a rogue cop going on a killing spree in Southern California, the media shifts into overdrive. First comes the catchy nickname for the event, then the nearly 24 hour coverage of every minute aspect of said tragedy. On NBC's Today Show this morning, I heard them extensively interview a semi-distant high school friend of one of the accused bombers. Her take on the national conversation? (Paraphrasing) "He seemed like a nice normal kid." Holy heck, stop the presses! "Ah, but you are contributing to this by listening to that drivel" you might say. "I turned my TV off at that moment," I would respond.
     Then, there is the rush to be first. First with anything. "Thank you Bob, I'd like to report now that we have confirmation that the unnamed suspect was definitely wearing blue socks and had Cheerios for breakfast. Now back to you." If any of the cameras shooting the reporters would move back far enough that we could see the area they are reporting from, I think we would get a whole new perspective on the media onslaught. This week's coverage has been marked by mistakes large and small, all announced by one front-runner in stupidity and soon repeated by the media lemmings jumping off the cliff behind them. A huge part of the problem is that the emphasis in almost completely on getting it first and not at all on getting it right.
     I'd like to say that this is all new, but honestly it's been like this for as long as I can remember. The day John Hinckley Jr. attempted to assassinate Ronald Reagan, I was glued to the TV, waiting to see if there was going to be another name added to the JFK/MLK/RFK roll call. Things were tense for some hours after the shooting and then it was announced that Reagan's Press Secretary, James Brady was dead. That announcement hit me hard. I had talked to Mr. Brady on several occasions over the previous year and was very impressed by him. The feeling of loss was settling over me like a dark cloud of dread when the same anchor came on and said, in effect, "ooops. Sorry, he's not dead after all." Usually, those kind of resurrections make big news, but in this case, it was just antsy, ineffective reporting, rushing to be first. In 1981.
     I know that criticizing the news media these days is like complaining about reality television: It's an easy target. Most of the time, I can ignore it. It's at times like this week, when it's so prevalent in all our lives that I just can't take it anymore. And so, I turn it all off. You know what? That might mean that I find out who the bombers are several hours after everyone else, maybe even a full day later. I can live with that.