I was reading an article in The Times, my favorite local magazine, this week. In each edition they have a section called, “The Good, The Bad, and The Ugly” These are little snippets of good things going on and not-so-good things going on in the news.

In “The Bad” section this week was a little rant about the national news media. They were angry that ten seconds after Gustav and Ike blew over, the media proved they had the attention span of a gnat and moved on to other matters. Now, I know we have this farce of a presidential election going on right now, but could they not have provided some additional coverage? How will these hurricanes impact our oil prices? I have friends just now going back offshore. What about our lower parishes here, the ones that got pummeled by Ike’s surges? You think all is fine and dandy? You would if you didn’t live here.

And here’s my addition to this rant. For days before Gustav hit, it was nothing but gloom, doom, and major catastrophe predictions. My friends and family who have not experienced a hurricane, have only seen the news coverage were terrified for me. They thought I was insane to stay. I have to admit after hours of continuous foreboding predictions, I began to get a little concerned. Finally, Ian told me, “Turn off the damn tv!”

He was right. After I turned off the tv, and only checked in periodically, I wasn’t so nervous. And the locals here were right. There was no real need to be afraid. Some of my friends have lived through Andrew, and others. It was only the media that was making the situation seem worse than it was.

After the hurricane, I talked to my dad about this next point. Why did the media seem upset that it wasn’t worse than it was? One of the headlines even read, “Gustav was no Katrina”. It was like they built it up, then were disappointed they didn’t get more news out of it.

I don’t get it. I really don’t.

It’s all about the ratings, I guess.

For now, I’ll continue to watch my local channels, and get my news snippets from the ‘net. One can only take such gloom and doom in small doses. 🙂

Maybe I’ll add a “Good News” section to my blog.

Sounds like a good idea to me!

Here’s to a little good news every now and then!

Cheers!

I’m out!

http://www.timesofacadiana.com/apps/pbcs.dll/frontpage