Last night while semi-watching the news I heard this, “Coming up … what’s causing millions of animals to flee the mountains.” What? Millions of animals are fleeing the mountains? I live in the foothills so I think perhaps I’d better see this story. I wait … and wait … and wait through stories about Mary Kay, the newest weightloss strategy, where to find the best hotdogs, etc. I REALLY need to know why wildlife are apparently making a mass exodus to my backyard. Finally, the very last story … all of one or two sentences. Turns out that because of the drought (which has been going on for most of my life) animals are venturing out of their normal habitats in search of water. WHAT? That’s not news. That happens all the time! “Millions of animals fleeing the mountains” … puhleeeze!
Irate that I’ve been suckered into watching a full hour of inane “news”, I turn off the TV and leave with my boyfriend for our evening walk. And turning the corner on Wildrose Lane we almost run headlong into a coyote making his way down the hill. Had he been watching the news too? Yikes! 
Now I’m thinking, “We’d better hurry because his millions of buddies might not be far behind.”
And that, my friends, is how the news media (with a little help from the wildlife community) creates a culture of fear in America. 
Poisoned by Fairy Tales 
Snicker I used to be sucked in like that too – I would be hooked by some scintillating piece of info and then watch the entire show for 4 minutes of WTF was that I refuse to buy into it anymore LOL
that is so true..one carefully worded sentence has us afraid..but only until we listed to the next sentence or two and we start laughing..
LOL…that is SO true!!! I hate it when the media does that…the losers!
And so it goes with corporate media. As long as the news is a business, we’ll do our best to hook you in to watch ten minutes of messages from our sponsors before we tell you the “breaking story.”
Thanks so much for your comment. Please, feel free to be longwinded on my site… I all but salivate on the rare occasion I get a multi-paragraph comment that actually exhibits intellectual depth.
I agree with you, it’s not just about the same page, it’s being on the right page; but by “same page” I’m not talking about the abomdination of standardization; I mean teamwork, i.e. all the members of the staff in a school working together for mutual progress and achievement– everyone having the same high goals for their school. I got it from a Harry Wong video. He was explaining how the #1 problem in schools was not the students but the employees– lack of support, lack of motivation, lack of cohesion. Everyone gossiping and protecting themselves. The saddest manifestation is when experienced teachers belittle newbies for actually showing enthusiasm and wanting to make positive changes. Some will actively work to hinder them. I saw it a lot in my last field experience; it was clear that many of the teachers were burnt-out, but instead of leaving, had grown complacent and simply showed up, gave the lecture, handed out the worksheets, went home and collected their paychecks.
I never thought about it as the semantic difference between “training” and “educating,” but you’re absolutely right. Thanks for giving me a new insight on the situation.