Goodyear, AZ
10:18 AM
It’s been a great week here in AZ. When you’re on a holiday you’re mind doesn’t comprehend all of the things that go on in the real world. Last week showed us the power of the press and what it can do to a traumatic event. We flipped back and forth between the coverage of the miners in West Virginia and the Orange Bowl. After hours of waiting for the 12 “rescued” miners to come and meet their families, I had to go to bed. Imagine if you were one of the 12 families at the church. You couldn’t just turn of the TV and go to sleep. You waited and waited. When are they coming? Then you are told, Never. Sickening.
Coming from journalism grad school, I know the journalist’s credo is to report fairly and accurately. That credo seems to get tossed out the window by people, maybe more so by the high up’s, because of ratings and truly because of money. I can picture the scene when the first reporter heard they were safe. “Do you know for sure?” “Well, not really.” “How reliable is it?” “It was a rescuer in the mine.” And then a back and forth. The reporter wants to be the first to report it. The producer wants to be the first to report it. And it was good news, so they wanted to report it. They run the story, others jump on it and everyone feels great.
I guess you can’t fault people for running the story. They thought it was accurate. I wonder if there was only one rescuer who said they were alive. If so, why wasn’t there more?
And then there is the question of the mining company. From what I understand they were told 30 minutes after the rescued report that it was false. They waited 3 hours to tell the press and the families. How can that be? My mind flashes to a PR machine trying to figure out what to say and how to respond. What stance do we take on this? What softens the blow for US the most? My imagination might be running wild, but how can you wait that long and let the families have their hopes continuing to build.
Anyway, it was strange to see the US Today the next morning with the headline of 12 Miners Rescued. Newspapers had already been printed. A harsh reality. I am not sure what the remedy of it would’ve been, other than to wait going with the story and checking with more resources, but it was a positive outcome that would’ve generated ratings. It’s all perspective.
Also during the week on a totally different meaning level were some amazing college football games. I was at the Fiesta Bowl and it was too bad that it was the worst of the 4 BCS games. I still wouldn’t trade the experience for anything. In the Should they Retire Bowl, Penn State saved their freshman kicker from a lifetime of bad thoughts by winning in 3 OT’s. And you can’t say enough about the performance of Vince Young in the Rose Bowl. On a field made for HDTV, he gave the best one person performance ever in a title game. It is rare when you can sense and even feel the presence of one person on a team of 11. When that person wills a team to win. That’s why sports is the best reality TV there is.
It’s time to pack my bags and get ready for my flight. Enjoy the day.