Sensationalism at its finest.....

Ever notice those little "add-ons" that the current mainstream media shares in their stories?  You know, like mentioning that they found the missing person, but adding the comment "if you have seen this person, please call the police department to let them know of their whereabouts".  Obviously, the person was found, so there is no need of mentioning if you have seen that person to the police.

The news this morning was no different.  As I sat and watched the morning report about a police officer accidentally shooting himself in the leg while on a routine traffic stop for speeding, I heard very clearly that they were "questioning suspects on this matter".  REALLY?  A cop has his gun accidentally discharge into his leg and there were suspects to question?  Well, just slap me silly and call me Shirley!  I never knew that there were suspects between a cop and his gun.  It is either they felt the need to make the story more than what it really was or they are so accustomed to stating every event is "under investigation" with suspects nonetheless, just to make a mundane story more interesting.

As I chuckled over the comment made in the news report, DD asked me directly if I had some whack-a-doodle sense of humor over someone getting shot.  I actually had to explain to DD that when I listen to anyone or anything (like the news), I listen to every word spoken.  That is a characteristic of a good listener.  I am not one for skipping the opportunity for details.  Probably because I learned rather quickly that if you only hear half of what is said, creating your own conclusion will result in being wrong.

Just loving the DVR player we have, you can rewind live TV to replay something if you felt you missed something or for the sheer level of entertainment...  replay something that you like.  The only catch is that you cannot rewind something that you missed because you were on a different channel... it has to be something you were currently watching.  So, as I pressed rewind to go back to the reported story, I had DD pay close attention to what was said in the report.  Once she realized the error in stating that "suspects were being questioned on the matter", she started to laugh, too.  Really, who are they going to question other than the cop that shot himself in the leg?  His gun?  Pretty ridiculous, if you ask me.

I can only gather that the news reporter hoped that their listeners did not catch that mistake, but with people, like myself, it is quite obvious that it was heard.  With that brought to light, I do wonder if their proof reader will not let that slip happen again in the later reports.  I can only guess that time will tell.

What about those that refuse to proof-read what they write?  While I do tend to check my writing before pressing "publish", I have no doubt that there are plenty of people that just feel too darn confident to check before letting it be seen.  I have even managed to see writing errors in books.  Not all that many over the years of my avid reading have I seen errors, but it does happen.  While the brain can process what a word is even if the letters are mixed up, as long as the first and last letter are in the proper place... it does make me wonder why in an electronic age that we live in that mistakes can still happen.  I guess that fluidity no longer exists when bolstering confidence comes to center stage.  Computers cannot do it all, you know.  It takes a person to be detail-orientated to catch the mistakes.  In the hustle and bustle of life, more mistakes are made and nobody actually has the time, attention span, or patience to correct before it is shared.

I guess the reason for today's blog is for people to actually think about what they are to share before actually sharing.  Even think before acting would be nice.  It makes understanding the who, what, where, why and how in life....  and to realize that not everything needs to be sensationalized to get a person's attention.

Thanks for reading....