When I check out the news every morning on my computer, more and more I am seeing one individual's photo and below it, their complaint. Naturally, I am impacted emotionally by the person's or animal's plight, but on consideration, I wonder if the issue is universal or in the least, "general" enough to be published as of interest to a wide audience. Most of the time, it is not or not really. It is a bit like pictures of disaster whether natural or manmade. Over and over an article shows one particular photo or video in area or at an event without the viewer being able to see the environment of the occasion. What we see is the worst spot in the worst area and are, we suspect, to assume that what we see happens over the entire place. Most of the time, it's the photo that sells the event. And photography is key because it is the one thing that grabs our attention initially. The key to famous journalism is a method of grabbing the public attention and creating a fuss about a specific concern or issue in the best possible way, so to elicit fame or infamy. Crisis sells. It's all about money of course. One must eat, as they say. We readers and viewers who respond to an article or photo or report, hope that a caring human being journalist is at the bottom of it all. The truly great journalists are, indeed, caring human beings as well as being persons of exceptional media talent. All the dire pictures and presentations that are slanted toward capturing out attention must have a general concern for humanity otherwise, what is the point of exposing the situation at all? Surely, we hope, that is the end goal. Or do we think at all about what we are exposed to daily, to our children, to our attitudes, to our futures? What comes from a small screen goes directly into our minds and lives and about it, healthy anaylsis is at best, one hopes, a duty.
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