Good News Is No News
When I was at Princeton I was a newscaster on WPRB-FM, the college station. Our studios were a warren of rooms in the basement of a dormitory building, and I was always struck by the odd sensation of disconnect between our bunker and the rest of the world. It was as if events happened out there for no other reason than for us to have things to report on the air. Even a presidential campaign had no national or international import, it was just grist for our mill. I remember a bad blizzard one night. Snowed in, we relied on the UPS ticker for information, and things were happening so fast I was grabbing copy and going on the air without so much as looking at it first. "Philadelphia," I reported breathlessly at one point around midnight," is buried under 50 feet of snow." The late-night DJ cornered me after I'd finished my newscast. "Good job," he said, "but how'd they know it was Philadephia?" I thought of it last night when my wife called me from Italy, frantic with worry. "Los Angeles in flames," the Itaian news was reporting.
posted by John M Crowther @ 7:16 AM
5 Comments:
I'm sorry, but I don't understand! LA IS in flames. What am I missing?
thanks.
No, actually (grazie a dio) L.A. is not in flames. At my house I can't even see or smell smoke, and I'm about as central as you can get. Malibu is flames. Also parts of the Newhall Pass, a large part of Lake Arrowhead (up in the San Bernadino mountains), and San Diego, a different county and a terrible tragedy, without doubt, but not L.A. This makes my point, alas. If you're not there, don't trust what the news is telling you.
Having said that, I must report that I've heard from our friend Lee, a loyal contributor to the comments here and a San Diego resident. She and her family were evacuated from their ranch yesterday (and were able to get all their horses to safety as well). Last evening she was hopeful their place would be safe, but today's reports give no reassurance. I will try to make contact with her tomorrow. Our prayers are with them, and with everyone caught in this horror.
My niece and her husband are in a direct line of the fires. They've not had to evacuate yet, but may be forced to do so if the fire can't be contained
The media does so love to generalise (and sensationalise if at all possible) Sad though... when a situation as serious as this one gets misrepresented. Sometimes (the simple) truth is even more compelling than fiction.
Thoughts and prayers go out to Lee... and Ellie... and their families... that they will remain safe.
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