Shame on the Media

I love the media. A free press is essential to a free society. Reporters and editors carry an enormous responsibility on their shoulders. It is they that have the important job of asking hard and pointed questions of our leaders, digging out truths regarding complex, life and death issues, and providing society with insight into events that ultimately become our history. Lately, however, members of the national media have displayed a pettiness and fascination with triviality that is a great disservice to our society and is unbecoming of the media as a profession. Following are several recent examples:

The first involves 89-year-old journalist Helen Thomas. I hope she is able to come out of her forced retirement. I hope she returns to continue doing what she and - sadly - only she seems to be doing with any kind of regular consistency: asking tough and pointed questions of of our president and other elected leaders. I concede the comments Ms. Thomas made recently regarding Jewish people may not have been well-advised, but she is as entitled to her perspectives as any of us. I am disappointed that many of her so-called colleagues seem to be distancing themselves from her now. Shame on them. And shame on those members of The White House press corps that are now arguing over which one of them will get to occupy Ms. Thomas' seat in the press room. Our nation deserves a better caliber of media than we have been getting

A second example pertains to the BP oil spill in the Gulf Coast and coverage of President Obama's reaction to it. Rather than focusing on the actual actions being taken by the federal government to deal with this environmental disaster, a number of national reporters and commentators have been blasting the President for not appearing to be angry enough over the whole incident. I wonder: what exactly is angry enough for you? What kind of behavior do you need to see before you are convinced someone is angry enough? Meanwhile, the ecology of one of the most beautiful parts of our nation and the world is close to being destroyed and a giant oil company needs to be held accountable for this terrible event. Let's focus on that as opposed to whether the President is showing sufficient anger.

Finally, a few days ago, Carly Fiorina, the Republican nominee in the race in California for United States Senate, was caught on tape making a catty comment about the hair of Barbara Boxer, her democratic opponent. This, of course, has generated a number of national stories. The state of California has never been in worse shape than it is today. The results of the Boxer-Fiorina race in all likelihood will have significant impact on whether California will be able to regain economic stability, yet true to form the media is choosing to hone in on a casual aside about a person's hair. Really? Is this the kind of matter you - the media - wish to bring to residents of California and have them wrestle with? It seems so. It is not surprising that more and more polls indicate people hold media in low-regard.

What the media does is serious. Even when it comes to human interest and light-hearted stories, the media needs to meet its responsibilities with an unblinking focus on what is best for its readers and listeners. Nothing less than the essence of our nation is in the balance. Electronic and print reporters and editors need to begin acting that way again.