Ranty
Warning: The following is a liberal rant intended to vent about, well I guess society. If you don't like it, piss off.
Sometimes, I watch the news. I'd like to do it nightly, but obviously I can't always, but this is not the point.
I am sorry that that reporter and his cameraman were injured in Iraq, and I'm glad they're going to be OK. That said, granted, you are a civilian. However, like many of the soldiers who are stuck there, you volunteered to go. Everyone knows the dangers of going to a war-torn country. Therefore, I do not see why I need to hear about your injuries on the news all the time. There have been war correspondents since there's been war, and I'm sure you're not the first to get hurt. We don't hear detailed reports about every American soldier hurt or killed in Iraq, because that's what war does; it sucks, but its expected. God forbid, however, that you're famous so you are obviously waaaaay more important than the people who are there actually fighting for whatever it is we're fighting for. Oh my God, the TV community has a friend that got hurt! Well, now the other half gets a chance to know how every person who has a relative or friend over there feels every fucking day. How much do we want to bet that if only the cameraman were injured, we wouldnt hear much about it at all?
Back to the civilian aspect of all this, if we intend to play "hurt civilian = newsworthy", than I insist on news reports on every civilian hurt or killed over there, and yes, this includes the Iraqis. You know, the people that never asked us to come over there and make a ginormous mess of their country anyway, but are continually threatened by roadside bombs and whatever other hazards the "insurgents" present. Yes them. I want news reports on every Iraqi civilian, and there are thousands; every parent trying to buy food for their family, every elderly person just going for a walk, every child playing in the street, every person just trying to live their life who gets blown up, on the news, with little biographies and photographs, like nightly news obituaries. Maybe, we should just start a whole new channel, because to actually do such a thing would require the news to be on for way longer than it already is.
If you come on the news every night and say "4 American soldiers and 46 Iraqi civilians were killed in Iraq today by a roadside bomb" and leave it at that, you can also come on and say "A news reporter and his camera man were injured in Iraq today. They are expected to make full recoveries", and leave it at that. I do not require an update on their conditions at 5 AM, 6 AM, noon, 5 PM, 5:30 PM, 6 PM, 9PM and 10 PM, not to mention the little teasers the news plays during commercials all day long (not that I watch them all, but some people do).
/End Rant
Sometimes, I watch the news. I'd like to do it nightly, but obviously I can't always, but this is not the point.
I am sorry that that reporter and his cameraman were injured in Iraq, and I'm glad they're going to be OK. That said, granted, you are a civilian. However, like many of the soldiers who are stuck there, you volunteered to go. Everyone knows the dangers of going to a war-torn country. Therefore, I do not see why I need to hear about your injuries on the news all the time. There have been war correspondents since there's been war, and I'm sure you're not the first to get hurt. We don't hear detailed reports about every American soldier hurt or killed in Iraq, because that's what war does; it sucks, but its expected. God forbid, however, that you're famous so you are obviously waaaaay more important than the people who are there actually fighting for whatever it is we're fighting for. Oh my God, the TV community has a friend that got hurt! Well, now the other half gets a chance to know how every person who has a relative or friend over there feels every fucking day. How much do we want to bet that if only the cameraman were injured, we wouldnt hear much about it at all?
Back to the civilian aspect of all this, if we intend to play "hurt civilian = newsworthy", than I insist on news reports on every civilian hurt or killed over there, and yes, this includes the Iraqis. You know, the people that never asked us to come over there and make a ginormous mess of their country anyway, but are continually threatened by roadside bombs and whatever other hazards the "insurgents" present. Yes them. I want news reports on every Iraqi civilian, and there are thousands; every parent trying to buy food for their family, every elderly person just going for a walk, every child playing in the street, every person just trying to live their life who gets blown up, on the news, with little biographies and photographs, like nightly news obituaries. Maybe, we should just start a whole new channel, because to actually do such a thing would require the news to be on for way longer than it already is.
If you come on the news every night and say "4 American soldiers and 46 Iraqi civilians were killed in Iraq today by a roadside bomb" and leave it at that, you can also come on and say "A news reporter and his camera man were injured in Iraq today. They are expected to make full recoveries", and leave it at that. I do not require an update on their conditions at 5 AM, 6 AM, noon, 5 PM, 5:30 PM, 6 PM, 9PM and 10 PM, not to mention the little teasers the news plays during commercials all day long (not that I watch them all, but some people do).
/End Rant