God forbid I should sound like Bill O’Reilly, since frankly he irritates the hell out of me, but recently his vitriol about the media coverage of the missing Malaysian Airline Boeing 777 was pretty much on point. Of course, the humor of this tirade was that he was covering the media that was covering the missing airliner, and complaining about everyone’s overcoverage of the one story. In other words, by complaining, he was doing the same thing they were doing, which was devoting a large portion of air time to only one story. While the loss of the many souls onboard is tragic and horrible, it was NOT the only news story over the last few weeks. Simply put, if that airplane had crashed in front of everyone, the coverage would have lasted maybe two or three days.
So, what made this such a focus for the press? It was simply the “missing” or “without a trace” element that captivated the media’s attention. In the absence of facts, they were able to spin their own web of ideas. These countless theories and speculations were fascinating, but honestly they were an insult to my intelligence. For example, the question of the “color” of the black box was asked at least a dozen times, all by one reporter over a several day period. Every time she was on, she would ask yet another expert, “what color is the black box?” “Is it black or some more vivid color?” Seriously? A more vivid color? What the hell is a more vivid color than international orange? I guess the real question is: How many times do you ask the same question, over the course of several consecutive days, to the same or similar experts? Did she think someone was going to run out and repaint the damn things since yesterday? If this is real journalism, then I posit to you that we’re in a small draft water conveyance, without propulsion, traveling upstream in a river made from very deep excrement.
Face it, I write science fiction, which means I’m under no illusions or constraints in my writing about events. Yet, looking back over my blog posts of the past few weeks, at least you’ll find real news, as opposed to theories of the bizarre. You’ll read about events in Egypt, Korea, Ukraine, and even about the antics of Vladimir Putin and his cronies, toadies, and minions. You might even get a little back ground and history related to these current events. So the real irony is that the science fiction writer is reporting the news, while the media is reporting fiction, and in one case, science fiction, (e.g., a black hole may have taken down the airliner). Makes you wonder what have we become? Oh, and for the record, I’m not blaming the Gomers, but I did hear a rumor about Godzilla. ~ Michael S. Pauley
So, what made this such a focus for the press? It was simply the “missing” or “without a trace” element that captivated the media’s attention. In the absence of facts, they were able to spin their own web of ideas. These countless theories and speculations were fascinating, but honestly they were an insult to my intelligence. For example, the question of the “color” of the black box was asked at least a dozen times, all by one reporter over a several day period. Every time she was on, she would ask yet another expert, “what color is the black box?” “Is it black or some more vivid color?” Seriously? A more vivid color? What the hell is a more vivid color than international orange? I guess the real question is: How many times do you ask the same question, over the course of several consecutive days, to the same or similar experts? Did she think someone was going to run out and repaint the damn things since yesterday? If this is real journalism, then I posit to you that we’re in a small draft water conveyance, without propulsion, traveling upstream in a river made from very deep excrement.
Face it, I write science fiction, which means I’m under no illusions or constraints in my writing about events. Yet, looking back over my blog posts of the past few weeks, at least you’ll find real news, as opposed to theories of the bizarre. You’ll read about events in Egypt, Korea, Ukraine, and even about the antics of Vladimir Putin and his cronies, toadies, and minions. You might even get a little back ground and history related to these current events. So the real irony is that the science fiction writer is reporting the news, while the media is reporting fiction, and in one case, science fiction, (e.g., a black hole may have taken down the airliner). Makes you wonder what have we become? Oh, and for the record, I’m not blaming the Gomers, but I did hear a rumor about Godzilla. ~ Michael S. Pauley
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