By Pete Lucas, a contributing author:

I have a love-hate relationship with the media, both local and national.

On the one hand, I rely on news outlets to get information to me. Despite my most fervent efforts, I have not yet managed omnipresence, so the only way I can really know the events of the day is to listen to organizations that span the globe.

Being the skeptical soul that I am, I rarely believe anything I hear only from one source. I like to compare stories from multiple news outlets to try and get a flavor for the truth. It’s also very common for a news organization to simply skip any stories that don’t fit their particular story line.

The latest media-created fiasco is this nonsense about the Swine Flu. Literally the first thought I had when I read the initial reports from Mexico was “they are going to make everyone panic over nothing, per usual.” It went from a few dozen people in Mexico with flu symptoms to the Earth-ending pandemic that was going to kill us all. Just like AIDS, SARS, Avian Flu, Monkey Pox… Today they are reporting it’s actually not any worse than the normal flu.

Remember after hurricane Katrina? There was such a massive influx of media attention down there, I predicted that all future storms that year would be blown up as Katrina Part Duex. I’ll refrain from commenting on the folly of building your city in a ditch between an ocean and a lake. Of course, mere weeks later, another hurricane came along (who knew there were hurricanes in the gulf?) and we got to have several days of in-depth hurricane coverage. Never mind they have a dozen or two hurricanes down there every year.

Locally we get the same nonsense. How many Kansas City residents have had programming interrupted by fatalistic reports by local media about severe storms and tornados. There is a siren literally a block from my house. If there’s actually a tornado on the ground, chances are that thing is going to be wailing away. I don’t need to hear for four hours that it’s raining and we MIGHT have a tornado or some wind.

I realize that dramatic reporting generates revenue for the stations, and for that reason alone I tolerate the media’s sensationalism. As a capitalist, I can appreciate the need to generate revenue even if it means I have to be annoyed on a daily basis. Although I don’t respect the integrity of a news organization that slants or reports selectively, I do respect their right to free speech and as and American I value the freedom of the press.

So when you watch the news tonight, make note of the facts, and remember to laugh at the manufactured drama.

Related Posts:

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• The Power Of The Tornado And Its Place In Pop Culture Featured At The ‘Blown Away’ Open House June 27 At K-State’s Beach Museum Of Art
• Debra J. Saunders on recent Holocaust musem, Tiller, military murders: “I reject the idea that James W. von Brunn” is right-wing; “The KKK is not welcome at any conservative event I’ve ever attended”
• Meadowlark on the government-labeled “controversial” Lawrence teacher Tim Latham
• 54% Say Media Hype Global Warming Dangers

Tags: national media, Pete Lucas, sensationalist reporting, Swine Flu

This entry was posted on Tuesday, May 5th, 2009 at 9:07 am and is filed under Opinion, Editorial, and Analysis. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.