Mullling It Over

Tongue Out of Cheek Warning!

Flirtatious: Not in the mood!

Real Mood? Twisted

Prediction: New Orleans and Gulf Port and Mobile will not go away.

After the Columbine shootings I was touched by the teenage drive to express grief in verse. Poems were popping up everywhere, and I thought that needed some perspective. I found a former state Poet Laureate and asked her to share her wisdom on that phenomenon. And, "Have you already written a tribute?"

She said, "Call me tommorrow. It's too soon."

(Verse haters, don't run. This will take a different turn.)

Over the years this Poet Laureate formed a personal guideline. Since I didn't write it down I'll have to paraprhase.  "Start reacting, start absorbing, start feeling right away. Take notes, take pictures, take stock of your life, but don't start writing. Let it all sit and gel. It will take it's own honest form on it's own honest schedule.  Your intellectual controls will be useless."

While working in a psuedo managerial roll (assignment editor ) in television, I formed my own version of that guideline. I used it for covering the news of the day. " Be a sponge," I preached. "Take it all in. Absorb it. We'll know sometime during the day when its time to squeeze that sponge." I think it's original. But it's probably something Plato said to Aristotle.

So I think I'm still in that absorbtion stage over Hurricane Katrina. I think that because I really got grumpy with my Broadcast Journalism class this afternoon. I think I made them my punching bag. So if any one from that class checks in, sort of accept my apology. (Not what I said, but how I said it. I reserve the right to be grumpy with cause.)

In a journalism career of any length you get immune to being impressed by irony and coincidence. I've said to way too many people, "Gee I was just in New Orleans a week and a half ago." "You know that hurricane pretty much took the same path our cruise ship did?"

Some actually respond with an air of sincerity saying, "Wow! Really?" And slowly I start feeling guilty. So what?  I think its my form of stalling. I'm not quite ready to organize the awe, the anger, the empathy, the grief, the helplessness, the fear, the compassion. So how then do I connect myself? "I think that's the hotel I was sleeping in just a week ago."  And unfortunately I think that comes from a little subconscious training. Other times I feel it's direct training from consultants. 

I believe its a chicken or egg discussion. Consultant to Reporter:  "People want to see you get connected with the story. Become a part of it. That's what brings you viewers."

Let's call that the chicken.

Or is the reporter more interested in becoming well known (famous) than telling the story?

Lets call that the egg.

Or is it the audience that really wants some 'personality' out there in the rain telling of their personal connection to the story?

Let's call that the omelette.

Okay let's pick a pronoun. Put the chicken, the egg and the omelette together and we can use "they!"

"Why did THEY do that?" "Who do THEY think they are?"

But you know what? It would be just as easy to combine the chicken, the egg and the omelette and use the pronoun WE?

"Why do WE do that?" "Who do WE think WE are?"  Oh, my!

I'm collecting and absorbing some thoughts that may be critical (and self critical in retrospect) of how the media is handling this disaster. I still want to talk about "Chicken Little News."  But not yet.