Yesterday I read a news story online about an actor who survived a suicide attempt. In the middle of the article there was a link to "his graphic 911 call” and readers were warned to “listen at your own discretion”. I want to know two things: #1 Why is this recording available? and #2 Who the hell would want to listen to that? Perhaps it’s some matter of public record but the situation seems so horrifying, not to mention private for this man and his family, that I simply cannot understand why anyone would participate in making this available online, and anyone who did should be ashamed of themselves.
I’m a big fan of modern technology but I think the 24 hour news business, combined with our increased access to the internet, has blurred the lines on what qualifies as news. I understand (to a certain extent) the general public’s interest in celebrity news/gossip but I know I’m not the only American who is fed up with the amount of junk that is reported. It used to be that if a story was on the nightly news, it was important. Nowadays, the news is on all the time and I think we can become over informed to the point where no one is really paying attention. It’s a sad thing because I know there are newsworthy stories happening every day that are worth our time and attention. My heart goes out to this man and his family, and to anyone who has their private tragedy publicized like this.
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