Ladies and Gentleman....

I have returned.

Following, as many of you many have noticed, quite a lengthy hiatus, I've decided to come back and talk about some things that bother me.

Thing #1: When was the last time you saw Tim Russert anywhere outside of a newsroom? This is a mere example. Think broad. More and more, the news seems to be broadcast by people in newsrooms, in front of green screens, in a hotel room 20 miles from the bombing where unclean pimento is the closest thing to horror.

Where is the journalism? Where are the stories of atrocities revealed? Have all the atrocities simply vanished over night? Is there no longer a reason to worry and hope and pray for this world? Of course not. So why don't we seem to hear about it?

Where are the attack dogs? Why do we keep flinging ourselves against faux stories, looking for the smoke in a wet grass fire? Is it because a lot of smoke on tv looks better then a towering inferno? Why is Jackson receiving more coverage than haliburton? Why Condi's nonexistent bid for the presidency receiving more press than SE Asian? Why is not a single American camera not present in Africa at the moment?

Why are we focusing on insurance agencies, rather than young, black women, who represent one of the most startling and horrifying aids epidemic in american history? When did news start being a business?

Here's an even more painful question. Why do bloggers like myself represent a threat to the news industry? The answer is simple. We do what they've been doing over the past few years FOR FREE! That's it! That's the problem! That's why radio talk show people are threatened. That's why some people keep denouncing us. That's why other people think we should get the same rights as journalists (hint: it's because, if they don't do anything more than we do, they need a justification for their benefits).

Ok. You wanna know why the BBC and NPR are the best news servicing in the business at the moment? It's not because they are particularly liberal or conservative. it's not because they're more philosophical and elitist. It's because they don't give a crap about making money. Their only goal is the tell the news. Commercial news orgs. goal is to make money telling the news. How do you make money? By cutting costs, such as FINDING OUT WHAT THE FREAKING NEWS IS!!!

That's all. G'night.