Media Callousness

There are some images that are inherently private. Everyone knows that, right? Apparently the media do not. Lately there have been so many examples on Australian tv that I am starting to think we need a movement. The public need to rise up and shout No, we do not need to know everything! Do not invade our privacy in the name of ‘news’.

The pictures I’ve seen have mostly been of grief.
China: relatives on their knees having just been informed that their family members, though alive, were trapped in buildings too dangerous to enter, so the search was being called off. The picture cut from the women before they were told, already showing signs of distaste at being filmed, to the same women after the news, in total shock and attempting to hide their grief from the camera.
Australia: victim of a horrific boat accident grieving the loss of his friends while being carried off to an ambulance.
These people did not ask to be on tv. It was obvious (by their hands covering their faces) that they did not want to be on tv at a moment like that. Exactly how does it aid the public’s understanding of disaster scenes to witness such invasions of privacy?

The latest episode was not as graphic, there were no pictures, but it was equally heartless and unnecessary. This morning on Sunrise, a current affairs breakfast show, there was a discussion about reports that Angelina Jolie has had her twins. So-and-so entertainment news in the US is reporting she has, this-n-that other entertainment news reporting she hasn’t, you get the picture. Toward the end of the segment the presenter mentions Jolie’s due date was announced as August, then laughingly says ‘I guess we’ll have to wait for the million dollar photos to be sure’.

August. That’s right, they were having a light-hearted discussion about whether a Mother had just given birth to twins 2 months prematurely. Without even a mention that this may be a complete disaster for the twins and their family. No consideration that if those ‘reports’, that apparently provided for such an entertaining debate, were true then there is no guarantee the twins will live, let alone live healthy non-hospitalised lives.

I complained. By email and by phone. I hope more people disgusted by such callousness will complain. Maybe then the media will get the idea that the public doesn’t have a right, or a desire, to know everything.

New Year Resolutions

Hmm. I think there are too many things in my life. I am a collector. A collector of things and of things to do. The things make for clutter (and many many full shoeboxes) and the things to do, I'm coming to the realisation, make for nothing done that well. A Jack of all trades, master of none, that's me. I realise this every time I read bon's blog. Not only does she write prolifically, but it's always interesting, thought provoking and often heart wrenching. Writing is what Bonnies do betht you might say (but you might be wrong, 'cause I'm betting she's also pretty good at Mummying, Wifeying and I know she's great at Teaching). Anyway, I digress. Back to me. I do many things, none of which I ever seem to have time for. What I've been trying to figure out is why I never have time for them. Is it because there are lots of them or is it because I'm useless at time management? Do I waste time? I think, truthfully, the tv wastes a lot of it for me. I don't turn it on, but once it's on I seem to have a real problem not watching it. Even if it is something as stupid as Next Top Model.

So because I never seem to have enough time I feel I don't do anything well enough. I don't write enough posts. The posts I do write are usually just a couple of tidbits of Eulish or a whole heap of photos. I do okay at the keeping-track-of-the-kids side of things, but the producing-thought-provoking-pieces-of-writing bit lets me down. I must say, I think more reading would help on this side of things, but again, more reading is something I don't seem to have enough time for. Mostly I read the Bulletin on the toilet, but seeing as that Australian Institution has shut up shop I may be doomed to complete ignorance of the world outside Bundoora. Which leads me to another thing I don't do so well, keep up with current affairs. This one I can not blame entirely on not enough time. It has always been something I forced myself to pay attention to rather than was actively interested in.

There are numerous other 'things to do': scrap booking the family photos (Euey's album, Aoife's album and the family album, plus keeping all the digital photos in some sort of organised manner); creating and updating family trees for both my sides of the family and Will's side and putting them on the family website I created (currently missing large branches); correspondence with numerous friends in far away lands (also not so up-to-date); keeping baby books for both kids; researching potential jobs for when I finally finish this damn law degree; researching potential areas of interest for a potential honours thesis; sewing; facebook; and lots of little organising things that will hopefully give me more time to do the other things but often just end up eating away at the time I have got.

So. What to do? I don't want to stop doing any of these things. And besides, I have done this all my life, this doing of too many things. So I need to figure out where I'm wasting time and stop doing it. Tv is the obvious answer. If anyone has any ideas on how not to watch a tv when it's on (that don't involve turning it off or defenestrating it) they would be greatly appreciated.

So, does not wasting time end up on my list of New Year Resolutions? Nope. You see, I have never made resolutions before. I always thought they are just promises you make to yourself and then end up breaking, so I didn't bother making them in the first place. This year I decided I would make two small, simple, doable resolutions. Not wasting time, when you don't know where you're wasting it, or even if you are, is not a small or simple resolution, so this is what I resolved:

1. Do the dishes before I go to bed.

2. Write more snail mail (it's fun to receive, much more personal and the kids can help)

So far I'm doing well on both counts. I've done the dishes every night (and WOW does it make a difference to my mornings) and I've sent 4 letters. Although I'm not sure either will help with my lack of time problem.