That’s The Way It Should Be

Like many of you, I have grown increasingly impatient with American news organizations over the past few years. Of course, there has been a tendency to sensationalize the news for some time, but since I work in entertainment, I guess I understand why that has happened. I don’t like it, but I get it. No, what I’m really talking about… what really has frustrated me… has taken place since 9/11, since we bought into the whole “axis of evil” and “war on terror” ad campaigns that the White House served up. What followed was the assertion that a “War President” was not to be questioned. The press was scolded and beaten into submission by an administration who told them that to oppose or criticize our government is to betray the country. And guess what? They bought it! Maybe they were intimidated or maybe they really believed the rhetoric that the vigilant pursuit of the truth was tantamount to treason. Maybe they really believed that to show the flag draped coffins coming home from Iraq would weaken our resolve when we needed only blind faith. However, I continued to believe that the reverse is true. That to question the officials we empowered was to keep them honest. That information keeps the country strong. But nevertheless we all watched as leading news organizations rolled over with a “thank you sir, may I have another” kind of compliance. This caused me and many others to seek our information from alternative news sources. I looked to international news, both on satellite TV and in print. Sometimes I even found myself turning to blog sites on the internet, if you can believe that! (Don’t laugh, fellow Huffingtonians.) An oft-quoted recent poll even revealed that many younger Americans were turning to The Daily Show… a fine and entertaining comedy show on Comedy Central… as a primary source of news. And why not? The stunning fact that long time CBS anchor Dan Rather ended his career under a cloud of controversy suddenly made comedic personalities like Jon Stewart, Bill Maher, Dennis Miller, Jay Leno and Michael Moore likelier and more credible sources of information for a fractured and disenchanted nation. But at 36, I am just old enough to yearn for the days of my childhood when Walter Cronkite told us “that’s the way it is” and we could take him at his word.

However as my wife and I were taking a cue from our president and enjoying a lengthy late summer vacation when Hurricane Katrina devastated our Gulf Coast, we could only turn to broadcast and basic cable news channels for information. So imagine my incredulity when I saw the “embedded” journalists going after the real, raw human stories. MSNBC was the first channel that we saw sending out images of the third world conditions being suffered by the refugees in New Orleans. CNN quickly followed suit, questioning where was the aid for these people and why FEMA, among others, wasn’t responding more quickly. In the end, there will certainly be enough blame to go around on the local, state and federal level for the lack of preparedness and response. (By the way, if anyone can explain to me why FEMA belongs folded into the department of Homeland Security I’d sure appreciate it. Seriously.) But if I had to credit anyone with stepping up and surprising me in the wake of this horrible catastrophe, it would be our television news organizations. They may have just earned back my occasional viewership. This time I actually believe that they served as a force for good as well as information. True to the old saying about a tree falling alone in a forest, I feel certain that had the people trapped in New Orleans not been able to get on television, the death toll would have been much higher and the response being sent by the government, charitable relief organizations and even the private sector would not have been mobilized nearly to the extent that it is now. Once again, poor black people would be swept under the rug even at a time of historic destruction simply because we would not have seen them. But somehow, just this once, American reporters were not satisfied just to hear about the “armies of compassion”. They had to go and find out for themselves. And, as painful as it was to see, they had to show us what they discovered. Thank God they did.

So while we all watch and are hopefully even inspired to action by seeing what our own people are enduring, I want to acknowledge the role of our media. A media on which I’d given up. Keep up the good work. Keep seeking the truth. Keep telling us everything. Keep on top of this story and don't turn away. Don’t worry, we can take it.