Friday, July 13, 2012

Escapism? or Heroism?


As I watched ABC World News make another meaningless choice for person of the week, I decided enough was enough. This week they chose Carly Rae Jepsen, a young woman who was lucky enough to get noticed by Justin Bieber and now has a hit song. The only thing that came to my mind as I watched this piece was, why? Or maybe a better question is: how? How does this young woman get chosen as person of the week when she has made no meaningful contribution to society? My suspicions lead me to believe that this songstress must have some corporate connection to ABC.

So I gave myself a challenge. I bet myself that during the commercials on Jeopardy! I could find a better candidate for person of the week than ABC World News. And the most ironic part of it is that the guy I found was featured on the website of the Las Vegas ABC affiliate.

His name is Ryan Mougenel and he is the head coach of the Las Vegas Wranglers, a pro hockey team that plays in the Western Division of the East Coast Hockey League.

He was on vacation with his wife in Boston when he, along with other people, saw a man who had fallen into Boston Harbor and was having a hard time staying afloat. The group helped the man onto a nearby water taxi, and he was then transported for attention to Mass General.

This is the link that I found in about 8 minutes of searching:

So the clear decision made by ABC News was to highlight a woman for writing a fluff pop song instead of a man who committed a selfless act of heroism, a man they were obviously aware of.

The implications of that kind of choice make me shudder. Did ABC decide that escapism is more important than heroism? Is the world better off knowing that Carly Rae Jepsen has written a hit song or that a man who was on vacation risked his life to save someone else?

All I can say is hang on as the slippery slope gives way beneath us.


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