Page 16 - January 2020 IIssue new year

The Spectrum of Death: Perspective on News Coverage

With an adjusted perspective we can can sponsor development of original
adjust our actions, not to care or do less equipment interlocks (i.e. not one that
but to add to the concerns and actions we waits until a drunken driver is convicted,

take to forestall fatalities. or worse injures or kills someone) to pre-
vent drunken individuals from operating

Thus, we may hold on to that solicitation a car, and then issue recommendations
from a charity doing heart research and and rules stimulating their introduction.
send back a check for several dollars. Such technology now lies increasingly

We may ask an election candidate about within reach, and, behind the scenes,
their proposals for preventing suicides work on this

among our high school and college progresses.
students, or improving first responder But no ground
technology for heart attack victims. We swell exists,

may check off yes at the checkout of no urgency
the grocery store on a request to give a has arisen, no

few dollars to child cancer prevention. Congressional
We may write an email to the local TV hearings have
station asking for broader coverage of made headlines,

drunk driving deaths. We may download essentially no
a report on government cancer research awareness ex-

or search a medical condition on the ists.
internet.
Similarly, while

Similarly, we may develop a more nu- you and I can
anced assessment of government and not individu-

corporations. If we just take a cursory ally find cures
approach, maybe we view the first of for major dis- Photo Courtesy of google.com
these as inefficient and bureaucratic, and eases, corporations and universities can

the second of these as greedy and uncar- effectively work towards that goal. Me-
ing. But government and corporations, dia makes us aware when corporations

with their size, resources, expertise and produce a tainted product, or when uni-
scope, can accomplish goals beyond our versities become caught in a free speech
reach as individual citizens. dilemma surrounding a controversial

speaker. But only minimal reporting
Consider, for example, that government occurs, and no ground swell has arisen,

16