If you watch the TV news anchors for any length of time you'll notice how their favorite topics are bad weather, frightening warnings about diseases, and British royalty. Pretty safe topics, right?
Who is going to argue with reports about horrible tornadoes, death and destruction? Most people like hearing about that, as long as they're not in the pathway of mother nature. These reports provide an oppoutunity to have a momentary collective sympathy for others. The reporters know that viewers like the feeling of having compassion for those in dire distress. Mark Twain once said that Americans were obsessed by the weather. Modern day reporting has taken to whole new level. The good thing is that the weather is always there and so all the reporters have to do is sit around waiting for the next catastrophe, which will not be long in coming, thanks to climate change. Weather reporting, is also so non controversial. Who's going to argue about it?
Nothing excites these reporters more than the latest dreadful disease around the corner. Scaring the viewer is something they revel in because the topic takes up a lot of air time. Who will argue with those dire warnings about watching what you eat, or what medicine you take, or what vaccine you should get. What about warnings about diseases you cannot do anything about? You have to sit and wait and hope to heaven they don't come your way. Of course the public has the right to know about certain illnesses, and the right to know what medical progress has been made to combat them. But it doesn't have to be bombarded with messages intended to induce dread and anxiety. The onslaught of these dire warnings is also a distraction tactic, a distraction from thinking about. oh let's say, how a tiny percentage of Americans owns most of the wealth in this country, and their wealth keeps on increasing. Or, how not one of the bailed out bankers went to jail.
Brian Williams, of ABC, loves reporting on every minute detail of the British royals. Scott Pelley of CBS doesn't do a bad job himself. One would think they were American royalty, or is this perhaps just wishful thinking on the part of those guys. Actually the entirety of the media in this country falls over itself in adulation of Queen Elizabeth's clan. The funny part is that they are a rather dull lot, with little excitement going on. The one exception was Princess Diana, who struck me as being a real person, but look how she was treated. In any case the reporters' obsession with these bluebloods connotes a certain type of homage to Anglo Saxon culture. You don't see them tripping over themselves to cover stories about the Dutch royalty.
The real heart of the matter is that weather, disease and royalty are safe topics. They are a distraction from urgent matters such as the illegal and inhumane drone killings that have resulted in the deaths of approximately 275 children. They are a distraction from any questioning of a government policy of endless war. For the most part, they merely fill up time.
weather is comfort food
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