The Evening News August 24, 2001     OJ, Bill and Monica, Jesse Jackson, and now Condit: How much smut can one nation take? If you're like me, you passed on the "Condit Speaks" teleplay last night on ABC. I'm certain that it was a ratings coup, but I've had my fill of the shenanigans of our public figures and the wall-to-wall coverage that their numerous missteps evoke. Wouldn't it be great if we could turn on the evening news and learn something important about our world instead of being exposed to an extension of the Ricky, Geraldo, and Oprah talk show genre that passes as news?     As a child, I recall several of my teachers urging their students to read the daily newspaper to learn about politics, social science, and our local communities. As the father of an eight-year old, I shudder at the thought of advocating this once sage advice because today's newspapers mimic The Enquirer in their approach to reporting thereby rendering the exercise meaningless and possibly detrimental to a child's development.     Did Condit do it? Who cares? What about Levy? Nobody knows, and that's unfortunate for her family, however we should not lose sight of the fact that there are countless other young women and children who have gone missing who receive no media coverage. Rather, these nondescript victims appear to be allotted cursory investigative resources, leaving their families with barely a semblance of marginal hope of ever seeing their loved ones again. Determining whether Condit is involved in this particular disappearance will not help these other families.     So what can we do? There are many ways in which a civic-minded individual can express his or her dissatisfaction with the trash that is beamed into our living rooms on a nightly basis. We can get busy. The National Center for Missing And Exploited Children offers a host of volunteer opportunities. If overt activism is not your style, there are other options. The simplest is to simply not watch. Ratings translate to dollars in the network news business and there is no more effective way of getting the attention of a network executive than to place earnings in jeopardy. Of course, this strategy would require the cooperation of millions of like-minded people, yet the odds against success should not dissuade us from doing our part. At the very least, we will be reducing the level of pollution in our individual homes. raycolon.com © 2000-2010 / Ramón E. Colón Comments?  Send an Email and let me know your were here.  Made with Xara Web Designer