Let me preface this tirade by saying that I work in media. I hold no general ill-will towards media in general, and my criticism of one faction of this large organization does not imply that I feel this way about any other aspects of it. Except for the fucking movie conglomerates. See a different blog.
That being said, I fucking hate those fear-selling alarmists that work for news outlets. For starters, I know it's worse in the U.S. than it is in Canada. I was watching a news broadcast from Seattle the other day, a live local newscast, and it may as well have been called the "Car Crash Hour with Jim Brewster and Katie Miller". Seriously, just reports of car crash after car crash. It nearly filled the entire news program. A fucking hour!
But I don't live in the U.S., and for now my attack will stay within the borders of my own country. Specifically directed at our local news outlets. Recently, we had a bout of cold weather, nothing terribly unusual for a country that's CONNECTED TO THE FUCKING ARCTIC. But no, the MAIN headlines (not the headlines on the weather page) of the website of a major broadcaster contained lines such as:
"It's here – a storm that is more terrifying than the movie poltergeist"
"weapons of mass weather system explodes over Toronto"
"Bullet-sized snow blankets city in terror"
And among my favorites:
"Murderous storm that killed in the U.S. will be here tomorrow to continue its rampage"
Those are actual quotes from various online and supposedly "respectable" news outlets. Even when the weather lifted and some warmth was on the horizon, the news story just changed to – "Don't get used to the warmer weather, the deadly cold will be back by the end of the week". Seriously. And it worked too. At work, people were freaking out to get home early. I was getting calls from friends and loved ones to come home immediately, as they feared for my safety. Thunder rolled in and several people in my office looked up to the ceiling and quivered. So their scare-tactics worked.
Of course, to anybody with any sense, this type of thing isnt a new or unusual idea. It's just sad that more people don't realize whats going on. That they buy into the fear. Fear sells, and they're moving it quicker than a black market Ipod at a Moroccan street vendor's stall. And I say, don't spend any rupees on it, just keep walking.
(Are there rupees in Morocco?)
