Editorial Notes

Sometime back in August, I arrived home from work to see our television tuned to the local news. Within a few minutes, the national evening news began with the usual soundtrack of blaring trumpets and pounding drums, as if something of the utmost importance to everyone in the nation was about to be announced.

The “top story” of the evening had something to do with the price of prescription medication, and the people who thought that the prices for their medication were too high. I thought to myself, “Is this the most important thing going on in the world today?”Is there anything “new” about this “news”?Now, I’m not making light of the suffering of people who have to take prescription medication, but is this really a “top story” in a nation the size of the United States?Has the situation changed today in such a profound way that I need to be informed to the sound of drums and trumpets?

I wished that the people who brought me the “news” would bring me something really “new”. I wanted to see something that made a difference to me. I even had an idea for a comic strip showing Lionel sitting in front of the TV watching one “non-news” story after another. I was having fun thinking of all the useless, non-informative news stories I had seen lately, and how I would incorporate them into the strip.

I remember one story of a man who was complaining about the rising price of gas. He said that instead of going to the gas station once a week, he had to go every day. I didn’t understand how this saved gas.

Well, back in September I got my wish.The news got “new”.It’s interesting now in a horrifying way. I feel like I have to continually monitor the TV, radio, and the Internet just in case some horrific event begins to unfold in the city where I live. I hope this will end some day, and that my son will know the boredom of sitting through an evening news program that contains nothing but people complaining about the price of gas and pills.

Web Shepherd