Ghoulish Reporters

Good afternoon to all,

I've been watching the news coverage on many cable news networks, and have noticed something a bit troubling, ghoulish reporters who don't seem to care about much more than getting a picture and a story. I saw an interview with an elderly gentleman, apparently seriously traumatized by all he has witnessed these past few days, 80 years old as he said, wading his way to the Superdome, when asked "why are you going to the Superdome?", the man answered "they have water over there". In a true Geraldo-esque manner (I regard Geraldo as a true reptillian sort of individual, who should be considered genuinely repellant to anyone with even a marginal amount of human compassion and tact in what they say to people), no words of encouragement, not a word of compassion, no offer to give the poor man a water bottle or a ride, the reporter simply said "good luck with that, goodbye." to the man's reason for a long walk to simply quench his thirst, and let him go on about his way. On another channel, one reporter apparently didn't even know that the Superdome is in New Orleans, the Astrodome is in Houston. I even saw one reporter on a street corner blabbing the typical reporter time-filling drivel, keep talking when there was clearly an elderly woman in some sort of distress. Some might say that it is a reporter's job to report the news, not to become the news by joining into the scene unfolding before them, but in a situation that is so people related, how could someone simply restrain themselves from helping even just a little. I still can't believe that reporter didn't offer that 80 year old man a drink of water, the reporter surely didn't look dehydrated with the chapstick going, and that well maintained hurricane-proof aquanet hairdo he was sporting. While I'm glued to my television in my attempt to make sense of the whole situation, I can't help but feel a bit queasy when I hear the manner by which the news is reported these days, Walter Cronkite would have helped the man, I'm certain of it.