"I'm sorry, Mrs. Smith. Nobody gives a shit about how your daughter was tragically beat 7 years ago in Rhode Island."

I can see how that might not go over well.

I have a friend whose father was killed at work in an explosion. Big local news because I lived in such a small town. Even more so because the company was aerospace and involved in space shuttle development and booster fuel systems. I spent the first 3 days at her mom's house, literally... I slept on the couch, and you should have seen the media circus outside their house.

Some of them had the balls to camp out on the doorstep the first day and any time you opened the door to go anywhere, it was like cockroaches scurrying when the lights come on. Cameras & mics shoved in your face until they realize you're not a member of the family and then they back off with looks on their faces like they just lost the story of their life. The one that would get them into the prime-time slot because they showed how well they could massage an emotional response from their subject.

I really detest telejournalism. It's the worst side of humanity. Not all of it mind you. Anchors, mostly good. Reporters, mostly bad. I choked back tears watching Dan Rather break down on Letterman after 9/11, but I'd gladly step on Barbara Walter's fallen corpse to reach the Mac & Cheese on the top shelf of my pantry. Of course, what's worst is the sick bastards that tune in to watch all this emotional carnage, drawn in by the lure of "News at 11" to see how a woman sacrificed her life to save her baby (San Diego news this past Monday) or how a family is dealing with the loss of their son or daughter in Iraq.

Broad, I don't envy you getting this assignment, but I know that you're going to be as empathetic as possible while you're working it. Not only because I know that you're a good soul, but because in your line of work, tears only smear the ink and don't win ratings. Written news shines because it paints a story with words, not graphic abuse of emotion.

Compositional journalism is an art, Telejournalism is pornography. And you can quote me on that.

Dix

yeah, I have a friend who is a moderator of a newsgroup, she knows one of the members was a kiddy diddler, and he was preying on another member; she blew the whistle, and SHE got punished and ostracised. The road to hell is indeed paved with good intentions.

Sometimes, Broad, you just need to smack people around.

So: Where are the pictures from the weekend? Sheesh.

I'm getting 'em. But if you saw Kaffy's and Amy's, you pretty much saw all of them.

Sheeeat, I figured SOMONE would have gotten naked. And No, Wad's navel does NOT count.

As to wad's navel:

Eeeeeeewwww!!!