Fire in the hole

Anyone living in Southern California will empathize when I say that this last week was simply bizarre. For any personally affected by the fires, the adjective they would use would probably be "horrific" - for some, "tragic." All in all, and to put it very lightly, this last week was unfortunate.

Also unfortunate, though to a different extent, was much of the major media coverage. The first few days, the reporting sufficed - journalists on the front lines, nonstop action - but after the "major" threat passed, so too did the attention. The latter half of the week saw news coverage of President Bush's whirlwind, publicity-driven tour of San Diego, and human interest stories focused on distraught residents moving back into their homes. Very little air-time was devoted to the actual fires, which were still raging - some, in fact, are not entirely contained even today.

Furthermore, where was the interest in the police shooting? Why did no reporter investigate into the death of the suspected arsonist? Does anyone know the now-deceased suspect's name? Gender? Whether (s)he even committed the crime? Or what motivated the police to shoot and kill the suspect?

I don't.

This quarter, I'm taking a class dedicated to studying how the news media covers items of political controversy - or sometimes, even, how no coverage is given to such items at all. Oftentimes what the viewer sees or reads is a regurgitation of government-propigated information; government officials are oftentimes a journalist's first and most important source.

How do you think that colors the news?

In the coverage of the Californian wildfires, I saw almost every single myth of newstelling that I've studied - the Hero, the Victim, the Natural Disaster, and the Scapegoat, among others that I cannot recall off the top of my head (perhaps I should re-read that chapter). But I didn't see serious investigation. I didn't see the struggle residents are going through to get their lives back in order. I heard a lot of pretty speeches; I'm waiting to see the action.

It's a little disheartening, when I consider that this is the career I plan on pursuing. And there's no "but," no "maybe," no "however" that I can create to defend the media that isn't capitalist, that isn't consumerist. There are exceptions, but those are few (and extremely competitive). There are dreams, but they're still a little murky.

I guess I'll have to wait and see.