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The Relative Importance of News...
Jul. 21st, 2006 06:08 pmSo I just got done watching about three hours of coverage of a lunatic car chase followed by a stand-off. The suspect purportedly robbed a dry-cleaners' for $200, then jumped in his car and led Houston, Pasadena, Pearland, and other cops on a two hour chase through southeastern Houston and suburbs. Eventually the Texas DPS got stop-strips in front of him as he blew through a toll booth, he lost both front tires, and he ended up splashing down in a shallow bayou. He then threatened suicide for an hour before he finally gave up to about forty officers.
This chase not only got beginning-to-end coverage on most Houston stations, it got coverage across the country- cable, local stations in Kansas City and other places, etc. I expect it to appear on Countdown with Keith Olbermann tonight or sometime soon. It pre-empted coverage, among other things, of the new Israel-Lebanon war.
Why? The war affects a lot more people, and has higher stakes; shouldn't it be more important?
Here's why.
1. The Levant is most of a world away from the United States (and especially Houston). Events there do not have much of a -direct- impact. On the other hand, a chase that shuts down freeways and causes wrecks has a direct impact on a lot of Houstonians.
2. There is no temptation to root for Hezbollah, and little reason to root for Israel's bombing of non-Hezbollah targets. On the other hand, one can admire the daring and skill of a fleeing crook- while at the same time rooting for the cops to cut the dumb bastard off.
3. We can understand the motivation of crooks better than terrorists. Terrorists are fanatical, possibly insane warriors determined to murder the innocent to coerce others to bend to their will- despite the fact that the tactic almost NEVER works. On the other hand, the crook isn't insane- he's just very, very STUPID. We can understand stupidity.
4. Choppers flying overhead around rocket emplacements in the Levant will get shot down. This makes it difficult to get gripping and exciting footage.
5. If the terrorists went in for car chases instead of car bombs, you wouldn't be able to tear American eyes from the screens. We just have a thing for car chases.
(And on a tangental note: how in the hell did the Dukes of Hazzard stay out of jail? Even a corrupt cop like Roscoe knows that evading arrest is itself a crime, even when the initial arrest would have been wrongful... yet the Dukes could ditch the Hazzard cops in a creek or pond or whatever, then drive right into Hazzard as if nothing had happened. One wonders if that show had an influence on people like l'idiot du jour.)
This chase not only got beginning-to-end coverage on most Houston stations, it got coverage across the country- cable, local stations in Kansas City and other places, etc. I expect it to appear on Countdown with Keith Olbermann tonight or sometime soon. It pre-empted coverage, among other things, of the new Israel-Lebanon war.
Why? The war affects a lot more people, and has higher stakes; shouldn't it be more important?
Here's why.
1. The Levant is most of a world away from the United States (and especially Houston). Events there do not have much of a -direct- impact. On the other hand, a chase that shuts down freeways and causes wrecks has a direct impact on a lot of Houstonians.
2. There is no temptation to root for Hezbollah, and little reason to root for Israel's bombing of non-Hezbollah targets. On the other hand, one can admire the daring and skill of a fleeing crook- while at the same time rooting for the cops to cut the dumb bastard off.
3. We can understand the motivation of crooks better than terrorists. Terrorists are fanatical, possibly insane warriors determined to murder the innocent to coerce others to bend to their will- despite the fact that the tactic almost NEVER works. On the other hand, the crook isn't insane- he's just very, very STUPID. We can understand stupidity.
4. Choppers flying overhead around rocket emplacements in the Levant will get shot down. This makes it difficult to get gripping and exciting footage.
5. If the terrorists went in for car chases instead of car bombs, you wouldn't be able to tear American eyes from the screens. We just have a thing for car chases.
(And on a tangental note: how in the hell did the Dukes of Hazzard stay out of jail? Even a corrupt cop like Roscoe knows that evading arrest is itself a crime, even when the initial arrest would have been wrongful... yet the Dukes could ditch the Hazzard cops in a creek or pond or whatever, then drive right into Hazzard as if nothing had happened. One wonders if that show had an influence on people like l'idiot du jour.)
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