Frustated by stories of outrage with no resolution

[prisonchaplain]

Is anyone else frustrated by the numerous stories that come out with outrageous circumstances, but no conclusions?

1. The mulitple stories of kids with toy guns, pizza guns, gun shirts, etc. who are treated like little terrorists. We get the initial details, the outraged parents, the questioning reporters, and the school districts that circle the wagons, and can't comment, because of privacy laws. THEN...the story just dies. A week later I google, and I find all the same story sources, now 7 days old. No follow up.

2. There is one now about parents who had their baby taken from the arms by CPS because they left one hospital to try another that was more competent.

3. I remember the gal that was supposedly arrested for disorderly conduct when she held up a sign saying "Speed Trap Ahead"--or some such.

On and on it goes. The sad part is that we really get interested in the stories, waiting to see if justice comes, never to find out. After awhile, we learn to ignore such stories. Maybe there really is a conspiracy--just to wear down the citizenry, so government can do what it wants, because we've learned that bureaucracy can always obfuscate. If so, we're done...we're cowed...we've lost.

Somebody tell me I'm wrong...please

[Dravin]

Maybe there really is a conspiracy--just to wear down the citizenry, so government can do what it wants, because we've learned that bureaucracy can always obfuscate. If so, we're done...we're cowed...we've lost.

I don't think one has to go any further for an explanation than the fact that stories of outrage make more sensational news than calm conclusions a week, or more, later. One gets more eyes and thus is what gets published. News is a business after all.

[applepansy]

PC, I've wondered the same thing.

[prisonchaplain]

I don't think one has to go any further for an explanation than the fact that stories of outrage make more sensational news than calm conclusions a week, or more, later. One gets more eyes and thus is what gets published. News is a business after all.

I agree with all of this. But, after awhile, we get fed up. It's like watching a hodge podge of cliffhangers, but never even getting to see a 2nd episode. Eventually, you begin to think the whole genre is fruitless.

[pam]

I'm with you PC. There are many I'd like to know what happened to those in the story. I'd really like to know what happens or happened to the couple who had their baby taken away from them just because they took the baby to another hospital for a second opinion.

[applepansy]

I'm with you PC. There are many I'd like to know what happened to those in the story. I'd really like to know what happens or happened to the couple who had their baby taken away from them just because they took the baby to another hospital for a second opinion.

The reason it is important to know is this sort of thing has happened before. It will happen again unless people stand up and stay NO!

[Guest LiterateParakeet]

I have lost interest in the "genre". I avoid the news. When something really important happens...the Boston Marathon Bombing, for example, happens -- you hear about it -- whether you want to or not.

About the baby story, there is likely more to the story. I remember a similar type story a couple years back...everyone was up in arms, but it turns out the police had had multiple calls about domestic abuse...that part of the story was buried though. It wasn't as sensational, so not good news apparently.

[LittleWyvern]

On and on it goes. The sad part is that we really get interested in the stories, waiting to see if justice comes, never to find out. After awhile, we learn to ignore such stories. Maybe there really is a conspiracy--just to wear down the citizenry, so government can do what it wants, because we've learned that bureaucracy can always obfuscate. If so, we're done...we're cowed...we've lost.

I've found that most of these sensationalized stories die out because they turn out to be far less crazy than the breathless media reports them to be. The initial details seem like crazy conspiracy theory fuel, but once the rest of the story comes out (as there's always more to a sensational story posted on internet news sites), the story becomes far less interesting for the purposes of those who report it, so they move on to more interesting things.

For example, that school kid who got in trouble for wearing an NRA shirt? It turned out that there was just one school officer that applied the school's standards for dress wrong. He came back to school the next day wearing the same shirt. Since that hardly supports a kind of government conspiracy against guns or the 2nd amendment (which is why it was posted by the people who posted it), this benign conclusion hardly gets a mention anywhere.

[prisonchaplain]

Actually, that NRA t-shirt incident is the story I had in mind when I started this. Funny thing is that you and I have the same details, but draw different conclusions. It was not just one school officer, because the school, the district, and the local police remain mum. The charges against the boy are still pending.

Most of us never expected a grand government conspiracy. We right-winger nutjobs thought a single teacher overstepped his/her bounds, and all the "adults" involved decided to circle the wagons and protect the leftwing tyrant, even if it meant giving an adolescent an undeserved record.

Sadly, the silence only provokes more extreme nutjob theorizing...on both sides...on so many of these stories.

[Praetorian_Brow]

I stay away from Faux News and CNN for that very reason. Sensation nabs viewers and viewers bring more advertising revenue. What is even more alarming is that most stations, for obvious and ethically questionable reasons, tailor their news to the viewing area.

If I want reporting, which I don't really look for anymore, I read Reuters or get a physical newspaper and sit down and read through it. As the "news" tends to be older than a day, its somewhat filtered.