Monday, November 26, 2007

Damned Media!

Sensationalism!

So I was on my way home from work when I noticed a sea of emergency vehicle lights on the other side of the highway. Since I hate rubberneckers, I didn't partake in the ogling. But then, I thought to myself, "What if it is news relevant?" I've been reminding myself to start thinking that way lately. I've been trying to come up with a more focused blog. In the meantime, it gave me an excuse to be a rubberneck-...uh, I mean a reporter. I had my trusted camera, and I was off to play the media.

Of course, I couldn't ask the straight reporter questions. I had to sensationalize a bit. And, it's fun to be a little off color and non-pc when reporting. But I got a reaction I didn't expect. The following took place between a city employee (E) who was on the scene and me (SM), the "reporter."

SM - Hi, I'm Sean Mitchell with the Daily Mix.
E - Hi
SM - Anybody Die?
E - What?
SM - What Happened?
E - A truck overturned.
SM - Uh huh. Anybody die?
E - No. The guy was hurt and taken to the hospital.
SM - Oh. That's good. What was in the truck?
E - Mail. It's a Post Office rig.
SM - Really? Lotsa of mail lost, eh?
E - No, there wasn't any on the truck.
SM - Really. None?
E - No.
SM - So...A Post Office truck driver runs off the road, doesn't die and doesn't lose any mail? Where's the story?
E - I don't know.
SM - Come on, help me out here. How much is replacing that rail going to cost?
E - I don't know yet.
SM - You gotta have some idea.
E - Damned media. You guys always try and sensationalize everything. You always look for something when there is nothing there.
SM - What?
E - There is no story!
SM - OK......So was there anyone else hurt?
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