How much does the average person need to know about a faraway situation that doesn't impact them directly? And should chasing down the details of dire events that are happening somewhere, to some people, in order to inform the public require life-threatening behavior by reporters? Honestly, are they being altruistic or are they just auditioning for a raise, a book deal or their own news show?
These questions came to mind while watching last night's desperate TV coverage of Hurricane Milton as it chugged onto the Florida coast, doing far less damage than was hoped for by the reporters, sound engineers and cameramen on the scene. The disappointment was palpable in the voices of the interviewers and interviewees, who said things like,
"Milton is sparing us the worst," "This is not the worst-case scenario we had expected," "It's still very wet and windy out here but the storm surge will not be what we feared," and more like that. The Mayor of Tampa, who earlier in the day told residents of her city to
"evacuate or you will die," seemed downright depressed as she admitted that the storm of the century gobsmacking her city was not to be, diminishing her 15 minutes of fame to about five.
Poor Anderson Cooper of CNN flew down to Florida to stand in the rain and the wind, and for what purpose? Had he heard that FOX News anchor Bill Hemmer was going down there to do just that? Seriously guys, everyone knows what a hurricane looks like, you don't have to stand outside getting pummelled just to show off your station's logo glowing in the night. At least Anderson was rewarded by getting hit in the chest by some "flying debris" on camera, which made him say,
"This is not good." No worries -- just a few minutes later it was reported that he was fine, and today there are news stories commending Anderson for "braving the storm," a.k.a. he was too dumb to come in from out in the rain.
On another front is Trey Yingst, the FOX News reporter stationed in Israel since the trouble began a year ago. Near my own son's age, I watch him with a loving mother's eye, frightened that he will be killed in action by a wayward missile or terrorist. But never fear: Yingst has already got a book out about his experiences, although one wonders when he had time to write it what with running around tunnels in Gaza and hiding in bomb shelters, all on camera. You can bet that if he makes it back here alive he'll pop up somewhere as a news anchor making big bucks. Or who knows, maybe he'll be appointed as a cabinet member or run for Senator, since all it takes these days to be a star is a name and a photogenic face. Heck, I might vote for him.
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