Case in point, yesterday I listened to Sandy Ronaldo state that US officials have captured the mastermind behind a terrorist plot that would have resulted in the worst terrorist act in the US since 9/11. Am I an arse-hole or has there not been a terrorist act in the US since 911? Maybe by "worst" Ms. Ronaldo meant "first," although somehow I think this was a conscious choice of words. Or how about the media clusterfuck that is H1N1. One day we should get the vaccine. The next it is a bad idea. The next day some epidemiologist states that it is nothing to worry about, followed by one who declares it the end of modern civilization. This is not news. This is ratings-grabbing, "scare-you-mentry" shit. How about you hold off on reporting H1N1 "news" until it is, in fact, fact. Or, how about mentioning that the regular old run-of-the-mill flu kills anywhere from 1500-2500 Canadians a year. I suggest concluding that it would appear the bacon flu appears to be a milder strain of flu and call it a wrap on that story until you have something to say about it that has occurred naturally rather than something engineered by writers and producers.
Reality TV has also seeped its way into 24-hour news. Sit down and watch the mindless scroll at the bottom of the screen or the "filler" stories and soon you will realize that most of this "news" is fluff that should be landing on the front page of the DesMoines Register or Cape Breton Post, not international news shows. I don't give a shit that some dude's front yard has sunken into a mine shaft in Glace Bay - and I grew up there. In fact it was my old yard, and I still don't care. I can't imagine what those who didn't grow up in Canada's dirtiest town think of that story. Yes I can: "I don't care." These stories are not newsworthy. At least not outside their town limits.
Check out this freak. Is this news or just an amusing story about a chick who is going to smell really bad 365 days from now?