Journalism Takes A Day Off

I don’t know exactly what time it started.  I had a longer than expected nap and having gotten my first Covid shot yesterday the tiredness that happens with some is probably the culprit.   In any case,  I turned on the TV and immediately went to finishing a recorded movie I’d started.   When it was done I saw an image of a wrecked SUV sitting on its side off the side of a road.

And THAT has been about the only image on the news (I mostly watch MSNBC but will check out CNN briefly for their take on something) or anything being talked about.

All.   Afternoon.    Long!

There was no real news being spoken of other than pro-golfer Tiger Woods (admittedly a huge presence in that sport and though I’ve mostly sucked at it I used to love playing) had been involved in a single vehicle accident around 7am PST out in California.   They noted he’d been extricated from what was a pretty severely torn up vehicle and taken to the hospital and later that he was having surgery – likely for leg injuries suffered in the crash.   At NO point was it suggested that his injuries were critical or even life threatening.

Mostly, it was an ad nauseum repetition of a few basic facts.  Tiger Woods had been in an accident, was injured and getting treatment at a hospital and having surgery, apparently on his legs which seems understandable given the damage to the front of his vehicle.  As for all the other blather?

Nothing but pure speculation.

Speculation on his injuries.   On whether at 45 he will be able to continue his comeback from pretty serious back surgery.   The impact on golf overall.   Ok, so eventually they got into some discussion of his relationship with his kids, as those who follow golf and even many in the general public know was an issue in the aftermath of the scandal with his first wife who took a six iron to his vehicle after a fight where it seems she learned the extent of his cheating on her with a boatload of mistresses.    One of whom, like his pal Trump happened to be a porn star.   More than one now that I think back on it.

Look.  I always respected Tiger’s incredible talent and even his work ethic.   As with many elite athletes, artists/performers and even in more staid careers that kind of work ethic isn’t always conducive to giving off warm fuzzies to other people or being good family people.   But even if he got some special breaks due to his position as the number one draw on the PGA from his debut there that helped him to a few extra wins including one of his major championships he was always going to wind up being one of the most accomplished golfers in the game’s history.   Even if he was a jerk a lot of the time and even a downright asshole (who even got away with cheating during a Masters and successfully dared the famed Augusta National Board of Directors to disqualify him.   This is a club by the way that famously defied a President – Eisenhower) he was a huge name both in golf and popular culture.

Still, he was a (sports) entertainer.   He didn’t get killed.   He didn’t even get critically injured.   Yes, his competitive career might have ended today but he was already 45 with multiple surgeries due to the nature of the stress his swing put on his body.   His remarkable win at the Masters a couple of years ago notwithstanding he was just about done anyway.

So what else has been going on while cable news is FIXATED on Tiger Wood’s getting banged up in a single car accident enough that he needed some surgery for his injuries?

Well, for starters President Biden has Cabinet nominees undergoing confirmation hearings and as we all knew would happen some of it has been testy with Republicans trying to score cheap political points.   And just screw with our new President’s ability to run the country (after enabling Trump’s fighting having any sort of transition I might add) on (assholeness) principle.   We have turncoat Democrats aiding them and I saw a blurb that Joe Manchin is waffling on the nominee for Interior.   We have the mess in Texas of course which is far from over.   We have hearings going on into the Jan. 6 insurrection.   We have President Biden working out details to punish Russia for its latest cyber attack, and his attempting to get some sort of deal with Iran back on to prevent or at least long delay them developing nuclear weapons.   And then overshadowing it all is Covid.

That’s just off the top of my head.

But journalists, poor “overworked” journalists need a day or two off!   They just love it when something like this comes along and they can check out for the day.   Play hooky from school.   Leave the office for the day because the boss is out of town and out of touch, and leaving one or two people behind to answer the phones with promises that next time that person(s) will get to be the one to take off and enjoy a free day doing whatever..   They got themselves a “bright shiny object” to hold up and say “Lookie here!”

If any of them wonder why so many in the general public don’t respect them or their profession today they are again putting on a clinic as to why.    It’s a day of incessant, rambling droning on about a freaking car wreck that involved a celebrity who got injured enough to require a trip to the hospital.   To be fair, injuries serious enough to require surgery and may shorten a career than was already much, much closer to its end but still not life threating.

Meanwhile countless of millions of Americans are suffering.   Americans are still dying at a rate of a couple thousand a day in a pandemic that shouldn’t have been nearly as bad in this country as it should be.   Republicans are working (hard!) to obstruct the administration’s ability to address these things.   Also to impair our ability to deal with national security matters and international relations.   Domestic terrorism is out there and about to get a major boost this weekend at CPAC.

And what is the news about?   Tiger Woods suffered significant injuries to his legs in a car wreck.   It’s well past six pm where I live and still it’s wall-to-wall “Tiger had an accident and might have his comeback delayed.  Or maybe never play competitively again.”   THIS is the most important story right now?   The one that is DOMINATING cable news?

Disgusted doesn’t begin to describe my feelings right now.