OK, a quickie - In an age where the immediacy of information can be overwhelming I am horribly struck by the lack of balance it provides. What has prompted this current rant is of course Britney Spears. None of us can avoid what has gone from a spectacle to unbelievably sad downward spiral of a young woman. It's heartbreaking. But in that same breath it is infuriating because here in Washington, DC there is a news story that broke over the weekend where four children under the age of 10 were found dead in an apartment at the hands of their mother. All were school age and all were abused. Where was the school district, social services, et. al.? I have avoided the coverage for the most part because it sickens me to think those babies are dead. However, yesterday on my drive home from daycare I had the local radio news on and they played a recording of a school social worker's repeated calls LAST APRIL to social services, child protective services and everyone else she could think of to intervene in what she was convinced was neglect and went so far as to call a hostage situation. She had gone to the house when the oldest (her student) had been truant for over over a month without word. The mother barred her from coming in the house but at the door she could see and smell the neglect, when she could not do anything on her own, she sought help, she did so for months and now four children are dead - at the hands of the system created to protect them.
But today's "Hot Topics" on The View and the first half hour of the Today Show won't be covering this, they will continue to discuss the fact that Britney went to church yesterday instead of court to get her children back.
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
2 comments:
I posted an article about the arrest of this horrible, wreck of a woman on the site. How many people looked at it? 4. My last article on Britney's fiasco of a life got about 24,000. True, the media could do a better job of covering the news. BUT, viewers, listeners and readers need to step up and demand honesty, balance and import. Support alternative media outlets, write letters to the editor/producer and send a message that you want more! (Sorry I tend to get on my soapbox when I'm home sick.)
True, true. I think at the end of the day I am more saddened by our society as a whole - illustrated by your 24,000 to 4. We've chatted about it numerous times, be it the hatefulness of people's commentary on stories on the internet to the sick voyueristic pleasure people get from seeing celebrities collapse. It's a lot like the lack of balance when women go missing, a la the coverage of Natalie Holloway's disappearance. I think the thing about this case in DC is that someone DID try to get these kids help and the system so horribly failed them.
And you jump on that soapbox whenever you like.
Post a Comment