the Media giveth, and the Media taketh away...

Tabloid Journalism -- coming soon to a television near you...

Don't know about you, but I find it challenging to recall the last time a major news network, CNN, devoted not one, but two hours of programming to the prospect of a "miracle" in finding all remaining 12 coal miners alive after a horrific, and wrenching mine disaster in West Virginia. My heart goes out, and rightfully, to the families of those 12 men who were lost, but we also need to see a huge RED FLAG when a news organization allows the word miracle to be repeated endlessly, by governors and commentators alike. Does the religious right have even the major media in its grip, or was the word "miracle" employed numerously because of its sex appeal?

More importantly, can reporting there are proven survivors without evidence be seen as ethical, and responsible, journalism, or equivalent to reporting election results before the polls close? What news outfit worth its salt would imbue its audience with false hope without substantial proof, in an obvious attempt to boost their ratings, and why aren't we, the American people, demanding more from our media?

While they may be pretty to look at, how can we allow anchors like Anderson Cooper to spend hours covering Katrina, earthquakes, coal mining disasters, and not even mention James Risen's book about the CIA having evidence there were no WMDs in Iraq before we went into Iraq, as well as that the NSA has been collecting evidence secretly since 2002? How can any purported news show not cover the fact that one major newspaper sat on the NSA electronic surveillance story for more than a year before reporting it, or that JackAbramoff pled guilty to 3 counts, and that a prominent member of the Senate, Tom DeLay, may well be taken down with him?

Clearly, the president isn't the only one getting a regular work-out in this administration, so is the Freedom of Information Act, and news programs that report on natural disasters while ignoring the man-made ones have been co-opted.

Yes, the Media giveth, and the Media taketh away, but it's up to us, the viewers, to make it clear that we're mad as hell; we want the news, and we want it now!