Gator Bait-ed
I meant to write this blog on Monday, but, alas, I forgot.Nevertheless, I feel like the now infamous "gator bites man's arm off story" bears examining. Eric Walters could be posting a blog about this any minute, as he is now the "official outdoors blogger" of WBTW.
But, I digress.
There's nothing like a story like the gator story to detract our attention away from weightier, more "above the fold" stories. This is in no means a show of disrespect or disregard for what is both an awful injury, and an amazing story of survival.
My point is: this story, like so many shark attacks and bears-on-the-loose, makes for good TV (especially since we have video of the now-dead and not-so-full beast in the back of a pick-up truck) and it lets us, as news consumers, forget for a second or two about Iraq, about Chinese recalls, and, thank goodness, about former Heisman trophy winners who seem to think they are above the law--even in Las Vegas. Hey, if not for O.J., this story would have gotten MORE play everywhere.
That didn't stop other local news organizations from "going there." By this, I mean, doing stories about "how to protect yourself from gators."
As my wife said, "if you go into their natural habitat, something is more likely to happen."
It's not always that simple, but she does have a point.
I am glad the victim in this case will survive, even if he has to live the rest of his days with only one arm.
The story is now over, and all of us--newspeople and readers, viewers, and clickers--will wait for the next "unbelievable story" to take our minds off the far-away presidential election, the war in Iraq, and, thankfully, Britney Spears.
Posted by
on 09/18 at 01:42 PM
