PressEthic

Well, of course. Richards is a celebrity, and, this is news. Sort of. CNN carried the story ad nauseum, during prime time. Jesse Jackson garnered a few more minutes of the spotlight. Al Sharpton weighed in. The rant was all the rave.

Today, you have to use a search function to look up the stories. The Rave has faded, Richards will be in treatment, on to the next topic. I shouldn't be surprised. Wait, I'm not. There are several streams of ongoing dialogue in this country regarding race, the lack or expense of medical insurance, viable wages, climate change and so on and so forth. The spotlight doesn't shine bright enough or nearly long enough - from the media - to truly engage the need, or even spur (gasp! from the objective media!) genuine change. It can be done. A few dedicated minutes per broadcast, or perhaps a sidebar on the second page of the newspaper, or even a dedicated click-to page in any online major media presense to develop and grow a debate of substance is all that would be required. A claim could even be made that journalistic traditions are at stake and citing a need to reclaim our lost integrity. Ah, but if only that would happen.

I did see on FOX News that Paris Hilton and Britney Spears were on a shopping trip . . .