That's the way it is...

For the most part, I look to the news (either on TV or on the internet) as a way to gain answers to questions. Questions like: "what will the weather be," "who will win the election," "how bad is the economy today," and "what is happening in Iraq." This past holiday weekend, the news seemed to generate many more questions than answers. The questions were numerous. Here are just a few of mine:

• Who were the terrorists in Mumbai, India and why did they feel justified to perform such terrible acts of cruelty and violence? Can terrorism be fought the way we have become used to fighting it - with more violence?
• Was the "new media" that jumped into action after the terrorism in India started, a help or a hindrance? Sites such as Twitter provided real time information as events unfolded. Did it's usefulness in providing firsthand information outweigh any risk in actually relaying sensitive information to the terrorist groups?
• Why did I choose to follow this new media? Was it my concern for others, or - like some implied - was it the same reflex that causes me to slow down to see a car wreck?
• What caused me to focus so strongly on the hostages at the Chabad House in Mumbai? Was it that I care more about Jews because I am Jewish, or was it because those victims had names and faces?
• What caused shoppers at that Walmart in Long Island, NY to become an angry mob who pushed down a glass door and trampled and killed a store worker? Was it out of desperation over tough economic times, or was it pure human greed? Was the store at fault for setting up such emotionally charged conditions and for not providing proper security? It can't be just the idea of wanting to get a "good deal" on a plasma television.

Well, I don't really expect to get the answers to these questions - at least not yet. Part of me was glad to have it be Monday news again with Obama announcing his National Security Team. Maybe part of the reason that Obama was elected is that he has an innate sense to understand what people need in order to gain some stability and support in dealing with these questions.

Although the news media's being able to provide more questions than answers was felt overwhelmingly by me this past weekend, I have a sense that this change has been gradually taking place over the past few years. Things have changed. There is so much information out there on the internet, that we don't have to go home to see what happened during the day while we were busy at work or home. Perhaps it is also that we as a people are less naive than we used to be.

I wanted to close with a piece of nostalgia. To recall the days when Americans would go home and find out what happened via Walter Cronkite. Walter would never mislead us. What Walter said was fact. Heck, he even closed his broadcasts with that famous line, "and that's the way it is." That is a far cry from Hannity or Olberman. Nowadays, interpretation is presented as fact. Interestingly, Walter Cronkite only said his typical closing on evenings when he didn't provide watchers with his "take" or interpretation of events. One of those more unique kinds of nights can be seen on the video below: