So, the middle-of-the-month earthquake which I so deftly predicted yesterday is now big news on the cable networks — well, it’s not that they are giving us news, they’re just giving us chatter and conjecture. Frankly, I can’t fathom why anyone would turn to, say, CNN or MSNBC after a disaster because they spend all their airtime digging around for some horror or pessimistic story. People call in to report that things are okay, and the anchor does her best to get them to relay something scary — and when they can’t come up with something, the anchor asks them to describe things such as how the pets behaved or how many of their dishes are broken in the kitchen. They lead experts with such provocative questions as “how do you tell residents that more earthquakes will follow?” Despite the fact that the USGS has said that there is no tsunami threat, the news anchors are asking everyone if they are afraid of a tsunami and if they can see the ocean from where they are; then they ask if they are going to higher ground… and then they start talking about how the higher ground is a volcano and they might erupt.
An anchor on MSNBC right now is reading part of a report that came out this week stating that the Hawaiian islands are sinking — at a rate of 1 inch per year, and asks if people living there are putting themselves into harms’ way… she doesn’t mention that it will take a million years for Hawaii to finally sink.
She talks to experts on the phone, asks leading questions designed to elicit some kind of doomsday scenario, and the experts always try to burst her bubble; she doesn’t pay attention and keeps going, trying desperately to make everything seem disastrous. Now another guy is asking if the 6.5 earthquake is the biggest that they can expect or — and he asks this with a hopeful glint in his eye — is it possible that a bigger earthquake is yet to come? The seismologist admits that there is a 10% possibility of a larger earthquake striking within the next day but points out that 10% is a low probability.
The seismologist explains why a tsunami is not an issue, saying that the movement of the earth was only centimeters and any wave increases would be in fractions of centimeters. Not a minute later, the guy asks again about tsunami possibilities.
Now the anchor is literally dismissing the scientists and saying that what’s important is how “real people” feel about it. In other words, panicked people are far more interesting television than scientists presenting facts. She asks a guy on the phone “what was your biggest fear?” then fishes for a description of damage at a local Costco, clearly hoping for a story about smashed inventory on the floor, anything that would give her some scary images to relay.
A sample of her interview style: “What do you think, are you concerned to hear about aftershocks, any worry about a localized tsunami?” “What do you have for animals at home? You said they were running around, can you describe a little more of their behavior?”
In the absence of real information, the edict seems to be that hype, fearmongering, and speculation are the order of the day, to keep eyeballs on the screen.
Come to think of it, that’s also the status quo when solid information IS available, as well.
