Crystal structure
of a protein from
a bacterium that
causes tuberculosis.
News stories with great regularity come along on both the world and national scene which cause a great stir. Take for instance the great December 2004 earthquake and tsunami in the Indian Ocean which killed more than 180,000 people. Hurricane Katrina and that whole freaking 2005 season in which they ran out of names for the storms might be considered such a huge story to a certain degree.
Then stories come along which touch a more national nerve because of their odd or bizarre qualities. A good example would be the Runaway Bride. Also, anytime someone — especially a cheated wife — cuts off someone’s penis — especially their husband’s — such as the John and Lorena Bobbitt story is a surefire media spectacle.
These day’s hot item du jour is the story is that of Andrew Speaker, the young Atlanta lawyer, who flew to Europe on his honeymoon and back while knowingly carrying a deadly form of tuberculosis.
Why is this such a hot news story that it eats up time on the cable news shows like Tommy Chong with the munchies? One reason is, unquestionably, that the guy may have exposed scores of people on his airline flights with the deadly disease. Can you just imagine how today’s media would have treated Typhoid Mary?
This is not to say the Speaker story is illegitimate when it comes to news. People’s lives may have been put in danger. Speaker was ordered quarantined by the government. And just the fact that it is tuberculosis being talked about, something that has barely raised eyebrows in the U.S. for years, should interest anyone who even thinks about health.
But is this story, like the Bobbitt story, like the New Orleans-Katrina aftermath obsession, overblown to the point of being underwhelming? Sure it is. But that is just how it is these days. People need not feed themselves a steady diet of this or any ongoing news story or issue so long that obsesses. This is from one who has sat in front of the tube watching CNN nonstop on stories such as the O.J. Simpson low-speed chase or the John-John Kennedy plane crash.
After awhile, though, stories just stay too long. That is how I already feel about the Speaker saga. It has come to that point in time in news-watching this all that I must turn off the TV and read a book. That is really the most redeeming point of this whole topic, not just talking about TB. It’s the fact that you can turn off the tube or quit reading your newspaper or news magazine for awhile when it overpowers or really begins to irritate.
It is so simple. Yet for some, it’s so elusive.