About trolls, Norse mythology claims that killing one involves stopping its heart and scattering the limbs to the corners of the earth. Traversing miles of seas, ice and forests can never separate far enough the appendages of the beasts, because each piece will actively seek to reconstitute the whole. Slithering, crawling, inching their individual paths back to the point of death, the disparate and severed flesh of the troll will refuse to accept the finality of death, always clinging to itself as absolute despite the vast gulf between reality and perception. So, too, is our esteemed news media. Though its shared brand of fear mongering assumes many stances, varying mostly on the issue presented (food poisoning, political intrigue, product recalls, etc.), one stubborn piece refuses to go peacefully into that good night. "Our children are in danger of . . ." whatever. You may have seen the template illustrated on the evening news. Thing A sold by company X is in your house, unassuming, but slowly turning your children’s babe minds into those of killers, or alternatively, that Thing A is a vile conduit for the gutters of society to rise up in your child’s bedroom through the television or computer.
I get tired of it. This sort of reporting offends my sensibilities on a number of levels, but perhaps not the knee-jerk "they just don’t get it" angle clanging around in your head. Before I hit the switchbox to Computer Science, I was well into a Journalism degree. I know how to create basic reports, how to properly research materials with which I may not be too familiar, and when to pull the plug on a story that simply ain’t happenin’. I can also follow perfect MLA or APA format, but I’m trying to make a point here. I am unsure whether the Denver reporter from last week was either too oblivious or indifferent to check on a well-entrenched concept known as parental controls, or making any apparent effort to educate the mother highlighted in the story about the virtues of self-starting parenting. To my mind, the idea that three multibillion dollar companies creating networks so assailable to the advances of pedophiles, systems without apparent checks to counter the imbalances of human inadequacy, the idea of this buzzes loudly around my brain. These reports are insults to real journalists, and to real journalism. A good journalist is part mouthpiece for the truth, part detective, and part scientist who bears no attachments to his initial hypothesis. A good journalist answers far fewer questions than he asks, and usually leaves the reader or viewer less sure of absolute truth but in possession of greater understanding.
A journalist does not compromise or simplify. Headlines are a necessary evil to sell papers, soundbites to sell commericial time, and neither should ever double as end products in promotion of agendas. Reality is nuanced, ever-shifting, unable to be summarized or contained. Good journalism sparks discussion by shining light into dark corners without disturbing them. It is an information sluice, and that’s what really set me off. I loathe the idea of terrorizing parents unnecessarily. I cannot associate that attitude with anything other than lying, and that is most assuredly not why I attended college.
On a lighter note, the half-marathon happened this past Saturday. Did well, feel great. The knees were a good bit sore Saturday night, but have fully recovered now. Looking foward to next year.
- Irving
