Take this current situation with the hurricanes in Flordia. They had this nonstop coverage when Ivan hit, which, like I said, I think is cute. There's no logical reason to have 'round the clock coverage of a hurricane, everyone pretty much knows what is going to happen. There is a story there, and amazingly enough, Geraldo touched on it earlier tonight when he asked "Why don't they run power lines underground in Florida they way they do in NYC?" Whomever he was asking danced around the question, never explaining why that had not yet been enacted. And, of course, Gerlado moved on.

My point is, there's a greater story out there, but no news station, especially Fox, will cover it. People don't want to face higher taxes or their own stupidity, or think above an 8th grade level. It's just cooler to see some nobody newscaster standing in the howling wind and pouring rain dodging shingles and yelling at the top of their lungs. To me, that's a publicity stunt. While it was fun during Ivan, Fox now must put forth the same painstaking efforts in these subsequent storms.

It reminds me of the phase the media went through with missing persons. Fox put all of it's efforts into the kidnapping of a young, white girl and then realized that they put themselves into a corner where they needed to cover every missing white girl. As someone who lives in reality, I realise that children are kidnapped every day, most often by a family member, and most often, not white. I think that was talked about, um, NEVER during that particular fad.

The media has a role during tragic, catostrophic events. That role is not to suck in the most viewers or get a promotion. It's to protect, educate, and inform the public. Instead I see scare tactics and meaninless charts. Don't even get my started on 'The Summer of the Shark.'

This is my affirmation of why I did not go into journalism. It's the logic that would have gotten in the way.