all sniper all the time

our hearts, of course, go out to the many families of the victims of the dc sniper. and, we can't imagine what it would be like to be living in that area, knowing that any time you go out for a quick errand or to gas up your car, you may never come home (for a better idea of what that would be like, visit the blogs of tim dunlop or max sawicky, both dc residents).

any murder is a terrible, horrible thing. any crime spree which takes human lives is a senseless, pointless horror. but, having said that, we'd like to say something that some would consider tasteless sacrilege:

shut up with 24 hour sniper coverage already. but we doubt that will happen. and why?

"on tuesday, fox news channel averaged 1.12 million viewers, cnn had 1.06 million and cnn headline news had 294,000," says usa today. "for each network, it was the most-watched single day of the year, according to nielsen media research. that was the day after the sniper claimed its latest victim, 47-year-old fbi analyst linda franklin, outside a home depot in falls church, va. the story dominated the news networks."

ratings. big, cheap, fast, ratings. no wonder they're playing it all the time. saddam who? what election? recession? never heard of it! this story has legs!!

we heard a cnn reporter yesterday say that the nation is obsessed with the sniper story. au contraire, mon ami, it is you, the cable news networks, who are obsessed with this story. and why not? like the gary condit story, it's right there in your own backyard. you networks don't even have to uplink to a satellite, just drive across town (and hope the sniper isn't waiting for you at the press conference).

and that brings us to our second point. it's a news story that directly affects the people who run the news media. they pump gas into their cars. they go to home depot. they eat at the ponderosa. we bet wolf blitzer is a closet arts and crafter, and makes weekend runs to michael's. this sniper guy is killing people in their own neighborhoods. they are aghast and amazed, and incensed that the police haven't done a better job. why, both hannity and colmes might be next on the hit list! no wonder all the news networks have non-stop monday morning quarterbacking second-guessing the police.

and, like every other political story, it's so cheap to produce. just round up two or three ex-cops or private investigators (for gods sake, we saw mark fuhrman on tv this weekend!) and maybe throw in a gun-control freak to appear "fair and balanced," and you have a whole segment. and hey, maybe get a constitutional lawyer to talk, anne coulter's not busy.

and the websites for the news networks are no better. here's a real piece found on foxnews.com: son of sam tells sniper to stop. we're not making this up. and here's an interactive map of the shootings from cnn, or you can go to cbs, where you can "hunt for clues" or "avoid becoming a target." god, it's become a video game on the net!!

(we like this tip: "shop or buy gas in dark, out of the way places." oh, that's good! we bet all the muggers who read cbs.com will be especially grateful for that bit of advice being given to everyone!)

and not to make light of this terrible tragedy, but, with chief moose and spotsylvania county, we wonder if sometimes if we haven't fallen into an old rocky and bullwinkle cartoon.

our point is, if this crime spree was happening anywhere else but right in the hometown of the cable news media, it wouldn't be getting the 24 hour coverage. this detroit news piece from 2001 speaks of 1,100 unsolved murders in that city in the past five years. why isn't connie chung in motown every night, decrying that police force?

because, like with any other story, political or not, the electronic media make the mistake in thinking that if it's important to them, it's important to everyone. they only repeat the stuff they hear in their own hall ways. that's why, up to this sniper story, all we heard was "count down to iraq" and "showdown: iraq." because the planned iraq invasion was topic of choice all through washington.

actual reporting, as we have lamented in this space before, has long gone up to the clouds with huntley to watch brinkley down below hawk for archer daniels midland. if its cheap, fast, sexy and important to their bosses, the electronic news media will spout it 24/7. if it takes real reporting, real investigating, actual talking to actual americans, and especially if it costs money, you can forget it.