"Fatal Distraction"

I read “Fatal Distraction”, by Gene Weingarten. It is the story of women and men who forgot their children in their cars, and as a result the children all passed away. They died of hyperthermia. When I first heard that term I thought “hypothermia”, which is an abnormally low body temperature, however HYPERthermia is the opposite, it is an abnormally high body temperature. When a child is left in a hot car, for an extended period of time, it causes their body temperature to go up, which ensues in death. The subject itself made the article a perfect “feature article”. Parents are becoming busier, in many homes both parents work, and this contributes to the stress level. In high stress situations, our brains go into autopilot, and that is when the baby gets forgotten. We think we dropped them off at day care, when in reality; they are sitting in the back seat the whole time. This is becoming something that happens more and more often, so it is a hot topic. It’s something of interest, and it’s something people need to read so they are aware of the dangers! I read the entire article from start to finish, the author kept me interested with the way he told the story of each person. I even got choked up as I read, heartbroken by the way the children died, and the misery and guilt their parents must be feeling! I feel as though the author posed a question without out right saying it, should parents that forget their children be prosecuted to the extent of the law, or is the death of their child and the grief and guilt that goes with that, punishment enough? That is another reason it is such a great feature! It leaves you asking yourself questions, and searching for your own answers! By the end of the article I came to this conclusion: Gene Weingarten is an amazing writer, and completely worthy of his Pulitzer Prize!

Hyper localism and it's affects

What is hyper localism? Before these video clips, I had never heard this term. Hyper localism is news coverage of very local events, but to the exclusion of more important world events. According to one of the reporters, "News is what matters to people." I don't necessarily agree with this statement. Should whether or not a story matters to people be how we measure a stories newsworthiness? Or is there some kind of higher standard for the news? I would say yes, there is a higher standard, a news story should influence more than just a group of people, or one person; it should influence the world! The trend has been shows that are consumer friendly, such as to catch a predator. They are shows that draw crowds in by speaking to their fear or curiosity. Instead of focusing on a war, or a civil war in another country, or even a national oil crisis, the news concentrates on "catching predators", or some other form of reality t.v. It is localized, and doesn't take into account the big picture!

For journalism students, this means learning a whole new way of doing things. They are learning how to look at news from a global or national perspective, not a local perspective. Now they have to adjust their way of thinking, writing, and working. They will have to come at a story in a much different way than what they are used to. Students are going to want to seek out jobs and internships at local papers, to get an idea of what is going on in the community. It will show them what individuals want to hear about, and give them a less globalized perspective.

Through this hyper localism, the way news shows are done is changing. They are being given a smaller budget, and still expected to give the same amount of news. This presents a problem for the reporters. Also due to new technology they have to change the way they do their news stories, and learn all the new forms of media. Technology is constantly changing, forcing the news community to change with it. Is this good or bad? I don't think there is one answer to that question, it is based on your personal preference. I personally believe that as the news changes, something is lost. We lose knowledge and appreciation of the world around us as we become consumed with our own local agenda.