Mainstream Media On Life Support

Is it just us or does anyone else sense multiple levels of irony in this past week's ONLY news items...?

Terri Schiavo becomes 'severely brain damaged' due to complications arising from her bulimia, so a feeding tube is inserted to keep her alive. Her feeding tube is removed and she dies - essentially being 'starved' to death.

The day the tube is removed, Pope John Paul II states that doing so is "truly euthanasia by omission" and tantamount to murder. The following day the ailing Pope has a feeding tube inserted by his doctors to keep him alive. The world's cardinals have been called to conclave, signifying the first step in papal succession.

The Mainstream Media (MM - remember them?), reported on almost nothing else. CNN, FOX, MSNBC, BBC... all the acronyms, even local 'newslets' rotated so-called 'experts' through Q&A sessions with the ever-present 'live' shot hovering in the background. First it's the hospice in Florida, then the Vatican in Rome.

These are important stories, yes. But did nothing else happen in the world this week...?! Where have all the reporters gone - print included? Surely they're not all basking in the pathos of a small Florida town, or the Klieg lights of Vatican Square.

Others have gone off on rants on this topic, how reporters no longer report and news is no longer news, but this piece from Tina Brown hits the nail on the head for us.

In a world where pop culture is replacing history and press releases supplant news, it's somewhat refreshing to see the media take a look at itself, albeit through a rose-tinted monocle!

Randy