Vice President Dick Cheney's hunting accident became national news last week, appearing on the front pages of The Washington Post, The New York Times, USA Today and The Wall Street Journal, and the 24-hour news channels had reporters giving hunting safety tips.
Honestly, who cares?
Although jokes have been made, no one has made credible accusations that the incident was anything other than an accident, and no charges have been filed. I could understand that if the vice president had gone on a shooting spree at the local post office then that story would make front page and national news. But this simply wasn't the case. This incident should have been buried on page 8 of respectable newspapers and just a small anecdote for the late night TV.
Yet, somehow, an unfortunate happening in Cheney's personal life became breaking news and trumped other headlines about the continuing violent protests in response to the Danish cartoons about Muhammad and Iran's pursuit of nuclear weapons.
Members of the national media became infuriated when White House officials did not announce the hunting accident until after the story was reported by a local Texas newspaper. Tempers flared over the delay in media notification. Accusations were made that the cover up is just another example of the secrecy practiced by the Bush administration.
Last time anyone checked, there is no passage in the Constitution requiring the White House to hold daily press briefings or even allow reporters on White House property. If the president wanted to conduct business in a nuclear bunker unseen, there is no law stopping him from doing so.
If there is this much anger and resentment over the vice president's failure to alert the country about an accident that happened in his personal life - and has absolutely nothing to do with his responsibilities to the people - then the national media is no better than the paparazzi who stalk celebrities to learn every detail of their personal lives.
While White House reporters were drilling White House Press Secretary Scott McClellan with questions concerning Cheney's hunting accident, there were thousands of more pertinent stories that they should have been concerned with. Although these stories are being covered to an extent, the space dedicated to quail hunting last week could have been used more effectively.
Katrina evacuees - Last Monday, FEMA stopped paying hotel bills for Hurricane Katrina evacuees, and it has been discovered that the government was over-charged for rooms. According to USA Today, a single hotel room in New York City cost as much as $438 a night, or $399 in Chicago. Also, hundreds of millions of dollars were spent on mobile homes that might never be used. Cheney's hunting accident did not cost taxpayers billions of dollars.
Hamas - The United States asked Palestinians to return $50 million in U.S. aid because the U.S. does not want to support a government led by a terrorist group. Despite what you may have heard around campus, Cheney is not a member of a terrorist organization.
Unemployment rates - Unemployment fell to 4.7 percent last month, which is the lowest rate since July 2001, when the rate was 4.6 percent. Low unemployment is a sign of a strong economy and good news for the American people. A 78-year-old man accidentally shot by the vice president is not a sign of anything.
While these events were occurring across the country, and around the world, the national media turned instead to a town in Texas where a lawyer was sprayed by bird shot, leading to a weeklong stay in the hospital. Not only did the media choose this topic over many more pressing issues, they also used it as an excuse to complain about what they believe to be a shortage of information from the White House.
Although the media should be concerned with the flow of information from high-ranking government offices - after all, that is one of the reasons why they exist - they should have chosen a more important issue to stand so strongly behind.
After all, Cheney is not trying to make Friday classes mandatory.
- Cait Jacob is a freshman journalism major. Send her an e-mail at cj150204@ohiou.edu.
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Cait Jacob
