Bail out too soon

"The concern that the press focuses too much on what is wrong, violent, and bizzare and that it never prints "good news" may be the longest running complaint of the public."

pg. 38 America's Best Newspaper Writing

I too have complained about this. Last February, Anna Nicole died. There was also a war going on. However,tv stations had round the clock coverages, "Anna-watches" of this event. Okay yes, it is sad that she died. But people die every day. Another celebrity dying of a drug overdose: how seemingly mundane to me. But, I did not consider that maybe because of all the frenzy, reporters were not able to find the "good news", for it would take longer to discover. Reporters work on a deadline and do not have time to wait.

The quote "scandal has a thousand strings" definately applies to this story. Not days after Anna Nicole died, there were a multitude of side stories.

-who is the baby's father?

-where will she be buried?

-can her mother obtain custody?

-wil her estate be able to go after her late husband's million?

-how do larry and Howard feel about each other....etc

William Raspberry is correct in thinking that this type of journalism distances and dishearteneds people from the news. After a while, I stopped watching the news for weeks because I was sick of 24 Anna talk. It is a shame, as there were many other news stories out there worth hearing, if I had waited around enough. I mean, I didn't even hear about Virginia Tech until someone told me way after it happened.And that kind of scares me.