Sometimes, it can be a bit much

If any of you know me, you know that I am a true journalist. A media junky of sorts. I knew at the age of 17 that I wanted to be in the media. After obtaining two degrees and working in the field in various capacities for a combined total of 14 years, I have come to notice an alarming trend that effects everyone. The media, in its quest to get the highest ratings, will show, post, report on the biggest stories of the day. For instance, today is 9-11. Of course, it is a very solum day and one that will be engrained in our minds forever. I totally get that. However, documentaries are being shown on every channel, its on the cover of newspapers and magazines, and broadcast live during every newscast. Which it should, because rules 1 and 2 of ensuring that a story is newsworthy are timeliness (10 year anniversary) and impact (effects everyone). Now don't get me wrong: the 10th anniversary of anything this massive should definitely be reported on. However, when it gets to the point where that's all the media is covering leading up to that event, then it becomes a problem. Sensationalism is a real thing. Think about all of the "natural" disasters going on in the world around us. Haiti, wildfires in Texas, flooding and earthquakes in the east coast, etc. It's too much!!! We don't need to see everything. Some people can't handle it. A 911-responder spoke on TJMS Friday and said that she didn't plan to watch any of the documentaries or shows on the event because it has truly taken a tole on her. She has PTSD since the event and everyday is a struggle, not just 9-11. People are haunted by this event every day of their lives. Things Think about the Hurricane Katrina footage. I'm sorry, but I could not stand to see another dead body floating in the water, or the scores of people that were left for dead at the Superdome or the true disregard for human life in a city that many of us have come to love and enjoy. I remember thinking, as I did at 8:46 a.m. Eastern time on 9-11-01, "This can't be real. God, please tell me, this can't be real!" And then as I watched CNN, MSNBC, CBS, FOX, the Weather channel and surfed the web and listened to the radio and talked to my friends that evacuated, I realized, yes Kristyn, this is very real. Much realer than you could ever imagine. It does something to you to be there to see that happen, but I also feel that it does something to you mentally to see it played it in front of you, over and over and over again. It has to take a really evil person to not feel some sort of way after seeing something like that. It does something to you. And just when you thought that was over, Hurricane Rita happend. And though not as catastrophic in the sense of Katrina, it was damaging enough, as many of us came home to what was once a house and now was a shell of its former self. When we had to evacuate, we had nothing but the internet, the radio and an account of the events courtesy of a screaming Geraldo from the P.A. seawall. After I heard him say that the city was engulfed with water, I had to turn off the radio. I had to power down the computer and shut off my phone (which was only able to receive text messages at that time) because I was getting so involved in what the media was reporting that it was effecting me mentally. We were miles from home, we had been traveling for over 19 hours to get to a place that was less then 5 hours away, and we were just not prepared to hear anything like that. Then there were the earthquakes in Haiti, where we saw people living in squalor, children crying in the streets, women and men covered in blood and dust. Again, it does something to you. It's played over and over again. When we watch the news, you see nothing but negativity. Negativity about our POTUS and the government? Check. Dead bodies in your local neighborhoods, complete with the chalk white-out around the body, bloodied sheet covering the body or the coroner carrying the body out? Check. Parents killing kids or kids killing parents? Check. Screwed up economy that may never rebound? Check. Oh and to sum it all up, here's where you can adopt a pup that was being abused by his owner!!! Check check check! While at a 9-11 ceremony today, where my sorority gave a plaque to the city, I watched and listed as a survivor of the vicious attacks spoke about his life then and today. He said that we should honor those who lost their lives and grieve today, but tomorrow is a new day. A day in which we have been given another chance to do better and be better. We can't sit in sadness and grief forever. We have a world out there to protect. And he's right. The pain still lingers and it hurts. The world is a scary place. You don't know what can happen when you back out of your driveway, head to your job or drop your child to the airport for a class trip to Washington,D.C. But at the end of the day, what we know is that we will never know what could happen. Only God knows that. And that in itself can be a scary thing; to trust in someone other than yourself. Those people who went to work that day had no idea that that would be the last time they would kiss their loved ones. Those children on that plane had no idea that day would be the end of their short lives on earth. Those people in New Orleans had no idea that what was a routine evacuation to the Superdome would turn into hell on earth for 4 days, with no food or water. Those people in Haiti had no idea that simply walking to the neighborhood market, that they would not see fresh food nor water for weeks. WE DON'T KNOW. Again, I want you to understand that I do think this type of information should be reported. However, as technology improves, the public has more access to the news in an instant. Instead of waiting for the 5 p.m. news, you can see the info on Twitter or Facebook or live on the media's website or blog. Though that's good for many reasons (such as what NJ Mayor, Corey Booker, displayed during the recent floods) it can also get to the point where people see so much despair and destruction that they either become desensitized (many of our children are-think about all of the killings we've seen by children as young as 11) or they become engulfed by it and thus become over anxious and afraid of the world at every corner. As a member of the media (so to speak) I do believe that there is a way to tell the story without beating it half to death. Before there were ratings and awards, there was the reporter whose only job was to tell the story and tell it well. I want the media to get back to that place. Stop worrying about who is going to one-up you on the coverage of 9-11, Beyonce's baby, Kim Kardashian's hen-pecked husband, or the 2012 election. Just tell the damn story. We can't be so stuck in the past that we can't move forward and many times, that is what happens. Be fair and balanced and do what you were called to do.