NNIGN

After 9/11, I came up with a concept that I called NNIGN, or no news is good news. What that meant was that for awhile, I wasn't going to read the newspaper, I wasn't going to listen to the television, and I wasn't going to listen to the radio -- at least not to the news on the radio. The reason was that it wasn't making my life any better. What it was doing was scaring the hell out of me. This shouldn't have come as too much of a surprise of course, because that's what newspapers do. They don't publish things that make you feel better (the occasional feel-good article notwithstanding); they publish things that startle and dismay you.

Gradually over time, I started reading again. Depending on how I feel, I may skip some of the articles on the first page, but usually I'll read the first section. However this morning, I decided that the no news is good news policy is still valid. Because this morning, the lead article in the Washington Post -- the one in the center, above the fold -- was about the secret war on bioterrorism.

Here's the deal. I don't want to know. I'm that there are evil, hateful, vicious people in the world. I don't want to know what they're doing. Knowing what they're doing does me no good at all. It scares me, it alarms me, and it does not help me. What I want from my paper -- in this case, the Washington Post -- is intelligent, thoughtful, and insightful commentary that will help me deal with my world. What I'm getting, in this case, is fear journalism. I suppose as an adult, I have to know that there is a serious and scary problem. Fine. I know. Just tell me that intelligent, capable people are handling it. And let's stop right there. What I almost want is a headline that says that bad things are happening, but it's okay: we're taking care of it.

Comics, anyone?