Open Letter to the American Media

Well now you're covering a horrific massacre at a college. It's catastrophic, shocking and sad. But there's an upside: I won't have to hear about Anna Nicole Smith any more. (After far too long, you were still rife with commentary and 'updates'. “Yep, you guessed it. Still dead.”) Unfortunately with that substitution, all news is tainted. Now ANS and 33 dead college students have both been granted the maximum you can offer. This is far from the first time, but it so face-smackingly obvious this time that I can't just let it go.

Your loss of credibility is pretty much total. It's going to take you a long time for you to recover it, assuming the goal is even on your radar screen. You've proven that honour and dignity are merely words in forgotten dictionaries, and now you feel equal to the task of handling this much bigger, more significant story? One with real impact on families, politics and a whole culture? Your sensational bungling is my skepticism feast – how can I bring myself to care about anything you tell me is important? I can't: I don't trust you. You've shored up a nation's apathy and a generation's cynicism because you went all histrionic over something vapid. And you've got no reserves left for a story with real significance.

But hey, I know it's not your fault. What can ya say? It's just been a slow news year...