Where the current media styles fail

Important morning routines!

People my age are avid consumers of news and information. I love visiting other bloggers to know what they are thinking and feeling.

We like our morning newspaper and coffee.
We don't have kids at home and can bury our heads in our newspaper.

We have time. We have disposable income. We care about politics, healthcare, and where our tax dollars are spent.

What has changed is the amount and type of information 'newspapers' (I use the term loosely) broadcast. Not only that, but news media likes to broadcast YouTube videos, and what is trending on Twitter. Is this news?!

I finally watched a good CTV news story lauding the life of a Lanark County senior:

Mr. Norman Gillies at Lanark Lodge

Where the current media performances fail:

1. I don't normally watch on-line newspaper videos. I read fairly well, and I don't want to sit and wait for the 30 second ad, dedicated to the 18 to 40-somethings, then watch a video about something I can read in a minute. I've checked with the kids. They don't normally watch newspaper videos on-line either!
2. Too many newspaper articles have veered from presenting information (who, what, where, when, why & so what) to waxing eloquently and telling me what I should think about said story.
3. Journalistic standards have deteriorated. Journalists lie, steal information from other media stories, fail to provide any new information, or do 'rip and read'. They don't actually interview the people involved in a story. They read a story to us. Which may be a good thing, that ignorant question, "How do you feel?" Better, what did you think?
4. I don't trust the media any more. Rumours, not information; opinions, not facts. 
5. Journalists with an IQ below the norm. Ignorance is no excuse.
6. Journalists who happily demonstrate their personal biases, by putting down other's choices. Our local CBO radio host, Robyn Bresnahan is the worst. She mocked Dan Hill's music awhile back, then proceeded, last week, to sing onstage with a professional musician in Perth. Shudder.
7. Social Media comments: not 'news'. Nor is guilt by association, unproven facts.
8. Twitter comments, in 140 characters or less, are not news. Why do I care what some smart-arse man-in-the-street managed to tweet succinctly, rudely, or tongue in cheek? I don't follow people whose identity I cannot establish. I want to trust what they write.
9. Why do I pay to 'read' the Globe on-line (we don't have delivery around here) and then I have to sit through the ubiquitous video ads?
10. Advertorials, or ads juxtaposed with a 'story' about a particular housing development, or new business.
11. Why do they allow anonymous comments in on-line articles? They wouldn't publish a letter to the editor without establishing who wrote it.
12. Shouldn't someone doing a book review have read the book? Just sayin'.

ARTS

And the reading is easy: Globe Books' top 5 summer books. 

Sure, click on the video and an ad pops up. But, then, hubby tells me, some dude speaks about a book we should read that he hasn't read.

Here is a good editorial on my topic:

Rob Ford, Charbonneau and the dark side of social media

Once upon a time – this was in another century, if not on another planet – serious news organizations did their best to prevent the spread of unsubstantiated rumours. This was also a time when judges and prosecutors strongly believed that the presumption of innocence should never be tampered with.

The 1% is getting a TV show on Zoomer's Vision TV!

I cannot believe it! Obviously, Moses Znaimer, one of the 1%, isn't in touch with the rest of us in the 99%, who become angry with people like Conrad Black, who look down on the rest of us.

Conrad Black to co-host weekly talk show

Black (68 years old), who returned to Toronto last year after serving time in a U.S. prison for fraud and obstruction of justice, will co-host a weekly talk show with former MuchMusic personality Denise Donlon.

The show, produced by Zoomer Media – a company owned by former CHUM president Moses Znaimer – is being pitched to buyers from around the world attending the National Association of Television Program Executives (NATPE) conference in Miami Beach this week.

Read it on Global News: Global News | Conrad Black to co-host weekly talk show 

Not only did we witness videos of him removing evidence of his crimes, but his crimes were committed in his role as the owner, the 1%, of media company Hollinger International. This company owned daily newspapers like The Daily Telegraph, Chicago Sun Times and Canada’s National Post.

EVERYTHINGZOOMER.COM IS PART OF THE ZOOMERMEDIA INTERACTIVE NETWORK: CARP | CLASSICAL 96.3 | GOLDHAWK | IDEACITY | JOYTV10 | JOYTV11 | MOSES ZNAIMER | MZTV | ONE< | VISIONTV | ZOOMERS.CA | ZOOMER MAGAZINE | AM740/ZOOMERRADIO | ZOOMER SHOW | ZOOMER SINGLES | ZOOMERLIFE CONFERENCE

I have written about the conglomeration, this lobby group that includes Znaimer's media groups.

 
They purport to be speaking for those of us over age 45, but rarely do they feature those who make up the 99%!

Now, I subscribe to Zoomer magazine. I liked it because they feature real people, my age, with unretouched photos of people who don't hide their signs of age. But they do focus on those with money, power and influence, Znaimer's peers and peerage. Moses Znaimer head this group. He is another of the 1% who doesn't seem to understand the rest of us. A large number of this 1% live in Rosedale, in inner city Toronto, including Conrad Black. We used to drive through this amazing community, with huge mansions, trees, several ravines, and average house prices of $1 million, average income of over $200,000 per year.

Unfortunately, CARP is connected to AARP, American Association of Retired Persons. Both being lobby groups. CARP is featured in Zoomer Magazine. I will be phoning Zoomer Magazine to cancel my subscription. They ride the bandwagon, capturing headlines, claiming to speak for us retirees. They gain headlines by featuring extreme issues, such as Elder Abuse, without making real change, nor including real information and data. Most seniors, especially the ones they feature, live in luxury, and live good lives. They do nothing for those who live and die in ill-health and poverty.

What has happened to our great journalists?

Bang, blood and bucks dominate the news. No more do they consider who hears such news. It's all about profits. Media and social media jumps into the fray. It doesn't matter if the facts are not straight. I was teaching the day of 9/11, and the principal got on the PA system and told the entire school what had happened. It scared the pants off all of the children. They were frightened to walk home from school.

• What the media got wrong in the early stages of the Newtown shooting
• Messy media coverage of Connecticut shooting leaves trail of misinformation

News outlets and social media sites scrambled to deliver details, causing confusion around key details as events unfolded Read more

It matters that another news agency has news, and they jump in with rumours. Twitter is a terrible thing in such circumstances. Parents do not hear news directly. They get bits of misinformation. Man-in-the-street interviews drive me nuts! People spout off, spewing weird ideas, and the journos cover it all. Nothing is withheld. EMS crews spoke off the record, speaking well before the facts were clear. Lies are spread, like the telephone game.

Family members who live at a distance, get false information. Just as when a soldier falls in battle, we learned from Vietnam that there is a proper protocol for communicating soldier's deaths. It is kept silent, until family hears in a kind and safe manner. Then the press jump on grieving family members at the scene.
We need for the investigators to do their jobs. We need to review what people, especially the teachers, did right. Parents complained when we began doing lockdowns in schools. But there is a reason for them. It is just the same as the airlines who go to their checklists for proper and safe responses to disasters. Captain Sully had it right!

Dr. Maggie Mamen, an Ottawa psychologist.

How to talk to kids about violent crime

• Shield your kids
• Don't give them details
• Talk to older kids to ask they protect the younger ones whose imaginations will run

We need for children to be kept far from media reports. Shut off the TV. I have avoided Facebook. I don't need to hear this report yet again.

Kids need to be told that this man had mental health issues. That such situations are few and far between.

They need to know that it won't happen in their school. 

A few winter photos for fun & CBC rant

I must admit to being somewhat discouraged with the media these days. Trying not to burden my gentle readers with my reflections, I used to separate rants with my Muskoka photos. Now, living in Lanark County, I find media coverage an interesting one. I feature some nature photos with my rant, for those disinclined for a read!

Can you count them?

You see, in Muskoka Lakes (NEVER call it THE Muskokas!), population 53,000 or so, we had some local coverage of issues. But most originated from Toronto, the apparent centre of Canada. There are several local Muskoka radio stations, for example. Even Lanark County has Lake 88.1! 

Traffic

The Canadian Broadcasting Corporation (CBC) radio coverage originated from London, Ontario, with a population over 100,000. They spared us Toronto traffic reports, eschewed regional information. The early morning traffic watches were bizarre. I drove 62 km to work and didn't hit one traffic light, yet I heard about a downtown London, ON, incident. I gave up on that station!

Morning Talk Radio

What do you look for? I loathe the contests. I swear, another Valentine's Day horror-story contest and I will scream. For those not in a relationship it it ridiculous and a burden to bear. For those in a relationship, who wants to hear on respected CBC Ottawa radio about flatulence, tampons, and dates gone wrong? It is simply coarse and crude. If I wanted that I would turn to an a.m. channel. For the $1.1 billion taxpayers put into CBC I believe the Conservatives have it right. Let's save some money, put it into other coffers.

I beg an on-air personality to stop bullying a middle-aged sports announcer to get on Twitter, along with another listener, and I am blocked from her account. Ageism rears its ugly head. Disrespect for a well-respected John Hancock. Conflict exists in the news, we don't need it in the trite, friendly, chummy morning talk.

I want to hear the pros talking about news, weather, sports, not what they had for dinner, let alone tweeting about it!! She asks for listener feedback, but doesn't like what she hears.

Then, Canada Reads, the infamous Jian Ghomeshi on Q notable for his taunting of Billy Bob, who took his show to the US for a week (?), allows an offensive attack: Canada Reads controversy comes alive in Ottawa

By Peter Simpson, Ottawa Citizen February 9, 2012 6:56 AM One of the authors at the centre of a nasty fight over CBC's Canada Reads contest is now in Ottawa 

Heaven forbid, too, that we celebrate Canadian authors, we have to fight over them! Some are questioning CBC funding over this one. If we can't have the 'C' in CBC, let's let Canadian broadcasters take it over. I think that media is going the way of the small town businesses, Big Box Stores. Bang for the buck, and low-cost. The impact on rural Canada is extreme.

long-term care crafts!

Weather

The CBC TV coverage in Central Ontario didn't bother covering Muskoka weather, let alone big news. We relied on local Moose radio and the weather network. For those with dial-up in Muskoka, a tedious task. The same is true here in Lanark County, with many unable to afford high-test internet.

Ottawa CBC weather does feature us in Eastern Ontario, bless them, but often they are wrong! I think we have to be our own weather watchers!

Municipal, Provincial & Federal Politics

This area of news is hard to grasp. Local papers have a huge bias, and often reporters do not have the background. We know how badly journalists create horrible graphs that misrepresent information. The latest census data frightens me. Aside from the fact that the long-form Canadian census was deregulated (thanks Harper/Clement!), I'm going to go to the source for information, not media interpretations.

We have diluted local info, and sparse coverage. Clement says Old Age Security is unsustainable
PARRY SOUND-MUSOKA - MP Tony Clement has been getting calls from his constituents.

Specialist Journalists

The big media outlets have journos that specialise in health; education; local, regional, provincial, federal politics; the environment; and so on.

On my wetland walk: fisher, or weasel: 5 toes!

This is important. It's only in my 50s that I have a grasp of many of these issues, the history, the politics and the realities of life.

From 25 years writing about education, and being a teacher, I would often read educational news with a laugh. I know that the same is true for the other topics in the news. Accuracy isn't always a priority, take Andrew Coyne's article about Caterpillar, he was correcting myths perpetuated by press.

Websavvy Media

Metroland newspapers, across this province on Ontario, features local stories. There  are the National newspapers, IMHO, who lost out by going digital. No longer relying on subscriptions and delivery, they depend upon digital revenues. I subscribed digitally to the Globe, as I preferred their national coverage. When print media went to free digital access I was sad. You wend your way through obnoxious pop-ups, flashy long to download information that sends me to another website.

Ah, wetland sleeps

That or the obnoxious twitter accounts, tweets retweeted by 40-something twits who fancy themselves meeting the needs of readers, viewers, listeners, who surely must spend their lives on for-profit Twitter, like all journalists. I use it to find good stories to read. But I am retired and can afford to do it.

Any print media now features ubiquitous videos on-line that take time to download, feature an ad first, and simply do not get to the point of the story.

I fear the direction media is headed. They now aspire to being advocating for causes. Bleeding heart, left-wing CBC is the worst. A grieving mother who sits vigil annually, has a shrine to her murdered child, has given up. Does no one advise her to get counseling? There are many places to go. Bereaved Families of Ontario and hospice groups all offer it. Instead, we sob with a woman. No solution apparent. Focus on the day of death, not a life that was lived.
The sob stories that get press are amazing.

This osprey nest seems a bit tipsy!

The backstory
The horror stories that get coverage do not always get to the backstory.
For example, the horrific traffic incident in Hamstead, ON,
Van driver ran stop sign and was not properly licensed

where an unlicenced driver of a 15-person van, runs a red light and is T-boned by a truck. There were 11 deaths. It spread like wildfire on the 'net. Speculation, and twitter messages.

How horrible.
The press cannot agree if it is the lack of standards of 15-passenger vans, the lack of maintenance of said vehicles by owners, the lack or training of drivers, or the susceptibility of the vehicles to disaster.

I found loathsome the citizens that fancy themselves citizen journalists, and take out their cell phones to cover these deaths, rather than helping the dead and injured.

Bystanders took pictures of Ontario crash instead of helping victims

Is this where society is headed? The sexy cell phone photos trump their humanity? Wannabe YouTube viral video makers.

Maybe Occupy was a desperate way to get in the press, not really a statement demanding fairness for the poor and disadvantaged.

The Gen Y folks do not vote, but they do Occupy. Then complain about everything.

Sigh. Time for a walk.

1 -2 - 3, step!

The tragedy of public lives and private grief

Perhaps, if journalists went back to the good old days of reporting news, not judging it and weighing it, we would not be so titillated by those in the public eye.
Then there are those who create the news:

Sun News Citizenship Ceremony: Federal Bureaucrats Pose As 'New Canadians' On Broadcast

http://www.huffingtonpost.ca/2012/02/02/...

By Jennifer Ditchburn, The Canadian Press — OTTAWA - Six federal bureaucrats were drafted to pose as new Canadians for a citizenship reaffirmation ceremony broadcast on the Sun News network, an event requested by Immigration Minister Jason Kenney's office.The bureaucrats smiled and held Canadian fla…

Perhaps journalists need to refrain from speculating on causes of death.
Perhaps journalists need to present facts, not opinions.
Don't tell me what to think, give me the information and let me know what to think about in the public eye.
Perhaps they need to refrain from public gossip, best left for private conversations.
Hand-in-hand with the false intimacy of television, is the media focus on how they cover news, not just the news.
Best meant for boardrooms, is the discussion on how journalists covered news items.
I depend upon family and friends, to discuss and debate politics, news, current events, tragedies, not journalists. So much harm can be done by speculation, rather than fold hard facts.
It is true in research that once you measure and assess that which you weigh, you change it.
I would rather have a lively discussion with friends, not read the opinions of journalists.
From reporting the news, they are making the news. No one can be objective, yet you can present a story less imbued with gems of flowery adjectives, more with data and information.

CBC.ca

1. The tragedy of public lives and private grief
   

   
   

   Ottawa Citizen‎ - 1 hour ago

   But it possibly makes life that much more excruciating for Carol Anne Meehan, the television news co-anchor who just lost her husband, Greg Etue. (All of these questions, by the way, came up at a family gathering on the weekend. It is not to gossip; but to make sense of the world.)
   
   
   
   

Back to the good old days

My spring bulbs grow, coffee at hand

I loved sitting in the morning and reading the newspaper. At least, that was the theory. Usually I was at school at 7 a.m., and home by 3, perhaps out having a workout to relieve stress. Maybe, in my clouded, out of focus rear mirror, it was in the evening I read it!

When we moved from Ottawa (Nepean) to Bala, Muskoka, we were out of luck. I mean no newspaper delivery. Not the Globe & Mail, not the National Post, not the Toronto Star, Toronto being a mere 2 hour drive south. None of them.

The local Metroland paper came in the mail, with many inserts, but not the closest major paper, The Toronto Star. We would buy it on Saturdays. But with an entire section devoted to the Greater Toronto Area (GTA), it really didn't apply or interest us.

In Perth, just to the north of us, one of my clients gets the Globe delivered. I was excited. No luck. I decided to go for broke and have the Ottawa Citizen delivered. I cannot abide reading a newspaper online. Is it just me?

Snowy morning, traffic speeds to work

I like sitting there, discussing issues with my beloved, cutting out interesting pieces, researching it later. For example, the day before we had ordered the paper, an article was printed about the wild turkeys introduced to build up the extirpated species. I was shocked. I might not have spotted it, being labelled a 'science' issue, and buried in the subpages of the online edition. Now, I don't know about you, but I failed science. My daughter has her M.Sc., and so I don't feel too badly. She is my resources for things scientific. She mentioned this article as she knew we had had 28 turkeys on Christmas day.

Surprise - who was under the spruce tree

This morning, since hubby goes out to feed the deer, who are usually standing staring in at us, heads hung, with an empty feeder, I figured he might as well go down to the end of our drive and fetch the paper. Mind you, this was my gift to him. And it was a good gift. We can go back to the good old days when we discussed issues in the paper, debated politics, and drank that first cup of coffee in the day.

Oliver was not amused. He sat, slowly turning from black fur, to white snow waiting for that dastardly red squirrel, then went after the birds. All he caught was snow.

Disparities between have and have nots

I regularly like to read NEWS from other parts of the world. I am blessed. This man is working hard to spread the news in his part of Africa. We take for granted our technology and our benefits of living in a developed country. What a fabulous man! Click on the link for more photos.

What a fabulous way to teach others. This is a snippet from a Deutsche-Welle item.

Liberian blogger uses blackboard to inform

Großansicht des Bildes mit der Bildunterschrift: Sirleaf is driven by a passion to inform

Without a computer or a printing press, Alfred Sirleaf publishes daily news in Liberia's capital Monrovia. Motivated by the poverty that surrounds him, his mission is to provide people with free access to information.
Sirleaf is the creator of Daily Talk - a newspaper measuring two by three meters. It consists of three huge slate boards, which hang from a hinge outside his shack. Just before rush hour, he writes the news of the day up on these boards.
The project has been running for 10 years now, and Sirleaf calls himself the Blackboard Blogger. He is without doubt the first of his kind in Africa, and perhaps the world.

Journalism vs. responsible communication

I think it is time that CBC got back into the business of reporting news, not gossip. On this web post,

Trenton colonel's charges spur cold case review

they have closed comments, and rightly so. This is now a justice system issue. Best left to the professionals.
The CBC has, however, requested those who knew the accused to send in an email. This is disgusting.
Shameful spending our tax dollars on this crap. What happened to innocent until proven guilty?

If it bleeds, it leads.
And, apparently, if there is no more blood the media look for it, or look for tears and fears.

Let the professionals do their job.
They are convicting this man, and destroying my faith in CBC.
My apologies to the military, who are apparently being targeted my THE MEDIA, not the public.
The media have gone out of their way to find the one person that took revenge on the military.
Most of us can understand that we are not our bosses.
Most of us understand that there are sick people in this world. They are clever, or they would not get away with criminal activity.

Move on, CBC. You owe it to the family of the victims to stand back, not to create news. You continue to victimize family members and those who know the accused, by exploiting them in the media.

"Two sources, including Williams's neighbour, Larry Jones, told CBC News that police investigated Williams after his tire treads matched the tracks at Lloyd's home. However, Rae would not confirm that Tuesday."

Read more...

The 'man in the street' interviews are not news. Let the justice system do their work. Unlike the cop shows on TV, police work is time consuming and must be thorough. The world is not a CSI lab in which murder is solved in 52 minutes.

Canadian TV Content

I participated in a Radio Survey last month. I was happy to participate and have some influence in media. But the CRTC hearings continue on the future of Canadian content on our satellite and cable.

There are a few good ones for old f@rts my age, and many have been syndicated, like Little Mosque and The Border, but many more geared towards younger people.

CBC
CBC's The National continues to be my favourite news. We have given up getting any regional TV news. Just isn't worth it to the broadcasters, apparently. Most news is derived from Toronto sources, which really doesn't grab me. We read local papers, and hope for the best.
The Fifth Estate - hard hitting news for consumers. Great job.
The Border -great show about Canada and international relations. It is less about human relations and more about politics and illegal border activities.
Battle of the Blades - huge hit! Hockey players do pairs dancing with the pros.
The Rick Mercer Report (CBC)- Fabulous! I love this show. The humour around politics is witty and intense. He is on Facebook, and YouTube.
Some teachers are using Little Mosque on the Prairie (CBC) to teach Islamic studies in classrooms (really!). A bit flaky, and little actual curriculum content. It is losing momentum, and to my mind, the plot more like weak tea, and the jokes peurile.

Global
All US shows: House, 90210, Saturday Night Live, The Simpsons, Melrose Place.

Entertainment Tonight (ET), has a Canadian segment. (A bit fluffly for me!)
Project Runway - well, models competing? Dunno. But it is the Canadain alternative to America's Next Top Model.

CTV
So You Think You Can Dance Canada - this was fun, and garnered a lot of attention.
Their regular show are bought from the US: CSI, American Idol, Criminal Minds. Access Hollywood (like ET), Law and Order, Dancing With the Stars, Desperate Housewives.

Internet Freedom in Vietnam

Flooding in B.C., on our west coast, Flooding on the west coast of England. And I've been complaining about my TV programs!

I guess I shouldn't complain about lack of local and/or Canadian content! While some are arguing for 'value for signal', and Canadian programming,  regional programming...

The Vietnamese government criminalizes free speech by cracking down on bloggers and citizen journalists, imposing restrictions and policing free speech on the internet. Join Viet Tan's Internet Freedom Campaign; take action to protect the right to freedom of expression. 

Canadian Media

I like keeping up with news media. I trust them to report at a series of levels:

• local: e.g., Muskoka
• regional: Central Ontario
• provincial: Ontario
• national: CRTC hearings
• continental: North American climate change issues
• international news - flooding in England

I keep wondering why I bother to read Canadian 'news', though.  Or to listen to our radio broadcasts. Much of the content is based on American shows, which might be fine, except that the hosts don't ask question to get to a Canadian viewpoint.

I turned to my Globe and Mail and saw this Arts headline: Oprah's on the phone: 'It was like God called me'

Don't get me wrong, I am an avid Oprah fan, and that is my business, but if I wanted to read about her I would. Elsewhere. I trust Canadian media to present a Canadian viewpoint, to ask questions on how this impacts us, as Canadian, or to at least cover Canadian content and Canadian arts. This is a sadly disapppointing 'article'. I don't blame the writer, but the editors who choose content.

In a CBC Freshair interview about a show I like, The Border, the kind, caring Ms. Ito asked why they kept it thoughtfully Canadian, set in Toronto. I do not know if this is a planted question, but I thought it bizarre. We need to be flogging Canadian content, featuring Canadian films, TIFF and other venues for our actors, film directors, and producers.

We need to have a Canadian take on The Arts. Not just a flogging of US shows, books or actors. Freshair seems to feature a number of Canadian literature and actors, not the US content other CBC shows feature. Good on you.

Why can't there be local shows that feature small films that might only be viewed in venues like TIFF, or that great cinema in Ottawa: The Mayfair? These films do not make it into the big theatres, which feature mainly big-time US films. Perhaps, this is something CBC could do. Why not? I'd rather my tax dollars go there, than any where else. Promote Canada and Canadians.

Media screws consumers again

I wrote previously: There are huge issues with Canadian cable companies. We are losing local channels, and our choices seem to be bug budget US shows, rather than local, regional or national productions.

That said, we make choices with the TV remote, as well as with our satellite package. We do not go out much, and this is our entertainment.

Hockey, for me, is not a sport I like to watch. I know I am not alone, but some days I feel so! The fighting, injuries and body checks I cannot abide.
Concussions in all sports abounds. It is a life threatening, serious problem with players and coaches who do not take this issue seriously. Much discussion ensued after the death of Don Sanderson. Each year, according to a 2004 healthlink post, 40,000 high school football players suffer concussions. The symptoms are debilitating and many over the course of a life time of play must have a profound effect on a person. Even one concussion can have a lasting effect, they say. 

But there are great stories, too. Chris Hogan's Faith Christian School football team vs. the Tornadoes of the Gainesville State School (Juvenile Delinquents) in a maximum security facility.
A story of selflessness and joy, in a nation that takes football VERY seriously, in which they evened out the playing field. Fabulous story.

We do joke about football. Chatting about plays, watching for novel ideas like Belichik's fashion sense. A man who makes a fortune using his knowledge, skills & expertise, cannot, apparently, find a sweat shirt with short sleeves! But it is a great past time. having traveled all over the US, hubby prefers the NFL, and teams he has watched in real time! The spreadsheet is up to date, the ledger all filled in with the stats from both the print media and the Internet. (Both my husbands have been accountants - what can I say?)

The sport is a little less violent than hockey (see NHL hockey injuries) , and I can merrily blog on the couch, in parallel play, while hubby watches his games. Here, in Central Ontario, we are content uphold our family tradition and watch sports. We have filled our days with volunteering, chores, walks, errands, and we deserve our quiet time.

My Town Mondays: football widow I wrote previously, but it was tongue in cheek. We sat down last night, to enjoy our Monday night football. We hunkered down, sans peanuts, pop, and popcorn, both of us watching our weight, hopefully to be engaged in our games on NFL satellite channel, for which we pay big bucks. 

The figures are set up, the spreadsheet, on which hubby keeps track of the teams is handy. He has his shirt on. We are good to go.

What do we see?

A broadcast of the NHL Awards ceremony. Now, we purchase Bell satellite. Big bucks...someone tell me, by what right did Canadian broadcasters  rip out the NFL game and put in an awards ceremony? It seems to me that there is something wrong about this. We are going to phone Bell. 

This is not the service we purchased. And we do not often watch awards ceremonies. It is difficult to get good football coverage of the NFL here in Ontario. It is lost in the hockey shuffle, for the most part, and print media just really...well, to quote my gr. 8's, sucks!

Bill Belichick - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

William Stephen Belichick (born April 16, 1952 in Nashville, Tennessee) is the American football head coach for the New England Patriots of the NFL.

H1N1 - Media Frenzy

I have been watching media reports of this topic, I wrote: H1N1 - fearmongering and false information, I cannot believe the websites out there.

I was searching for the truth on my part. Now, rather than dropping coverage, we have to tolerate more news of the newsmakers, who are accusing each other of covering this issue too much.

They interview reporters, and ask their opinions on media coverage. But, CBC's The National, had another angle. The DID interview a reporter, broadcast it for their panel of two experts, and asked their opinion of the journalist's interview. 

The perspective they demand: 

From CBC:

About 200,000 people die in Canada every year from all causes combined, including about 4,000 from seasonal flu.

"By the time all the dust has settled on H1N1, somewhere between 200 and 300 people will have died in this country," Schabas said Thursday during a panel on media coverage of H1N1 on CBC-TV'sThe National. (Dr. Richard Schabas, chief medical officer of health in eastern Ontario)

Accuracy in media -peanut allergies

 I have had a number of students with allergies. Some of my kiddies had anaphylactic allergies, but then so did many have bee and milk, and egg allergies. One year I had two students with a peanut allergy in my classroom.

One mom, a nurse, trained the staff in delivering the Epipen. Like the blue jay, carefully choosing a peanut from the feeder, she chose her reaction and prepared for eventualities.

The other mom was fearful and frantic.

The first child knew how to protect himself; the latter spent his school days in fear with a fanny pack containing his Epipen flapping on his side as he participated in sports.

From then on, the principals, in trying to cover themselves, created peanut-free classrooms. This worked well. The school custodian would endeavour to clean the desks immediately after lunchtime. All was well.

Some schools created a peanut-free lunchroom: either the nurse's room, or a classroom where one child was joined by others from different classrooms. It was my belief, however, having dealt with a number of students with varying issues, that kids need to learn to protect themselves. Whether it be a diabetic gr. 1 with a shunt, a child in a wheelchair from spina bifida, another with neuofibromatosis, and physical concerns.  How many children are not allowed to eat peanut butter for lunch due to one child in the school with an allergy? A great number, I imagine.

There are those who believe that the quantity and the severity of cases are over blown, in an attempt by Family Physicians, to cover themselves. If a child has a mild allergy to peanut butter, there is no reason s/he should live in a hermetically sealed environment, like a bubble boy.

Canadian Food Inspection Agency - Food Allergens 

It was once thought that peanut allergies were lifelong. However, recent studies show some children may outgrow their peanut allergy

Then, there are the horror stories. Did you read this news item?

CTV News | Teenager with peanut allergy dies after a kiss

25 Nov 2005 ." -- A Quebec teenager with a peanut allergy has died after kissing her boyfriend who had a peanut butter sandwich. Fifteen-year-old Christina Desforges died Monday. She went into anaphylactic shock and in spite of being given an adrenalin shot, could not be revived."

Did you read the update? -- is more to the point. It is amazing that the press fails to deal with the misinformation they broadcast!

Lack of oxygen killed teen, not peanut kiss - More health news ...

6 Mar 2006 ... MONTREAL - A lack of oxygen to the brain likely played a role in the death of a teenager once thought to have died of a peanut allergy after...

The young lady had attended a party, where there was smoking. The coroner corrected himself with little fanfare:

Coroner Michel Miron told The Associated Press that it appeared that Christina Desforges, 15, had suffered from "cerebral anoxia," or a lack of oxygen to the brain, which caused serious damage.

Those who fearmonger prevail...

One blogger proclaims:

1.52 percent of Canadian children were found to be allergic to peanuts. A comparable study, performed in 2002 in the U.S. found that .83 children are allergic to peanuts. Tree nut allergy in Canada was also found to be about 120 percent higher for Canadian children, compared to .51 percent in the U.S.

But did you read the original article? I'll bet you over look the facts as they interpret it for us.

"The data are not complete – they reflect about 90 per cent of the 9,000 individuals who took part in the telephone survey – but give a good indication of how many Canadians are affected by peanut, tree nut, fish, shellfish and sesame allergies."

Plus, it was a PHONE SURVEY! How accurate is this? No actual testing. In Canada, we have universal health care and kids get tested for free if referred by a doctor. In the US, this is not the case. In addition, the US stats were from 2002, the Canadian data from 2008. 

More kids, tested more times, with more sensitive tests. It fail to report if these were skin allergies, or more severe allergies in which skin contact or inhaling the peanut allergen provokes a fatal reaction. There is a huge difference. My kids are allergic to cats, but we had a cat. They washed their hands if they touched it and they knew to protect themselves.

It is amazing the knee-jerk reactions to this issue. Parents need to be better informed than this. If you are reading a blog post - ask questions... Rely on someone with experience assessing the validity and reliability of scientific studies.