Media's perspective & fear

["Bill O'Neill" <billo@shoreham.net>]

Just a thought in light of the weekend's persistent barrage of warnings for
vigilance as we fly in airplanes, go to ballgames and stroll in malls.  It
seems as though the national media, based in NY & DC, find them selves in
the awkward position of being a big part of the story.  To see Brokaw become
(understandably) teary-eyed as interviewed by Stone Philips on MSNBC, that
leaves Peter Jennings as the last of the three anchors to not have emoted in
such a way on national television since 11 Sept.  As I query friends and and
family across the country as to how they "feel" in an attempt to capture
their level of concern or their "fear factor" no one seems as concerned as
the people who are paid to stage the scene for us.

Risk: Time-travel an American from 1901 forward to today.  Invite that
neighbor into your car.  Strap on the seat belt, kick over the engine and
proceed to roll 2 tons of metal, plastic and rubber down a flat surface at
normal speeds.  Point out that at even 25 miles per hour, striking a tree
could yield unrecognizable hash (just checking to see if you've been paying
attention).  This everyday risk is invisible to us today.  Media needs to
paint this picture in some way - that we humans have done a remarkable job
of redefining what is acceptable risk - and thankfully so.

Bill O'Neill

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"Be well, do good work, and keep in touch."
Garrison Keillor