Is Bad News Good News?

Much has been discussed in the last few days about whether the media is becoming too negative. Sometimes they are. The old, " If it bleeds, it leads, " is still a part of our news heritage.On the other hand, would you rather not hear things that might seriously effect your life?

Sure, it would be nice if everything were "hunky dory," but is that reality? No it's not. when things are going great, perhaps the media would be well advise to emphasize that more than they do. Is that slanted journalism? Probably. no, obviously so. Once a news or feature gets out into the public, it tends to take on a life of it's own. Thence, without any professional or technical guidance, it somehow becomes fact.

If I had my druthers, we would scrub the tainted reporters from the earth. Unfortunately we can't. The reason? Because the money behind the news comes from tainted political sources. Not the political parties, but from the publishers themselves, that finally, can't resist the opportunity to further their political agenda. Hey, why spend all that money on a newspaper or television network when you can't turn the world around.

The Spokesman-Review, the paper that I write for, probably cares more about this issue than any other that I have found. I have been prohibited from writing some stories here in Bayview, because of my editor's concern about objectivity. I love that part. That gives me credibility. I also delight in having friends point out such terms as the Socialist-Review, and others, equally intelligent, (I think) believe that this paper is heading down the slippery slope of right wing conservatism. Actually, they are both right. Steve Smith, Editor of this rag, is a dedicated, some feel, dictator, but what he represents is the thirst for truth, the inevitable cutting of costs, and of course gets blamed for everything the publisher's throw at him.

May he survive, as we would also like to see the Spokesman-Review do.