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And what about the 'news' media? They don't want to hear about it unless it fits an approved agenda. If you want to expose someone - say a politician not of the
current favored party - even then they'd have to have approval from higher up. Same with a local business doing bad things. Is the owner politically or socially untouchable?
I sat down and talked to a so-called investigative reporter for a newspaper that should have an interest in the matter, it being a local hospital that is brutalizing its patients. To
be fair the guy didn't seem that smart - he
was working for a local newspaper and had been there for quite a few years - but whatever the case he wasn't interested.
The local television station and newspaper are both owned by large companies and are pretty much cookie-cutter operations. Keep the ad revenue flowing and don't rock the boat.
As Don Henley said
"We got the bubble headed bleached blonde comes on at five, she can tell you 'bout the plane crash with a gleam in her eye, it's interesting when people die..."
Visiting the websites for these little stations, they all have the 'Our News Team' page, slick high-dollar photos (had to be in a few of those back in the day) with reporters, anchors,
meteorologists (what TV station in a place that small needs three meteorologists?) and of course sports reporters. Gotta do sports right.
The bubblehead isn't always a blonde, although that seems to be a popular color. Bleached or not, who cares? You don't see as many young ones now. Time was a young
person could get a job at a small station, work up to anchor, self-promote and make connections and one day you might, just might, get the call. ABC/NBC/CBS/CNN, whatever.
Multimillion dollar salaries for the lucky few. Just read the teleprompter and cash the check. But there are hundreds of thousands, maybe millions after that handful of
gigs and the call never comes. So they grow old at the anchor desk at W-or-K-whatever, still reading the teleprompter and cashing smaller checks than the lucky ones but it still beats working.
I don't blame them. For a lot of people it's a scary time to be alive. The only certain thing is uncertainty. Stick with what you have, what works. Like the lawyers.
And doctors.
And as for taking on a hospital in your own backyard, as a couple of lawyers told me "we don't sue Jonesboro hospitals." Pretty much a no-brainer. Don't want to find yourself
in an ambulance someday, knowing that the hospital you're going to may be one you sued. Same with local news people - talking bad about people who have your life in their hands.
Besides that sort of thing could make for awkward golfing, holiday parties and other social events.
But if it should come to pass that a respected local establishment is exposed as doing very bad things, law enforcement at higher levels is involved, indictments, the works - well all of a
sudden those newspaper and TV folks will be all over it. Lawyers too. Once the protection is removed the vultures settle in for a hearty meal.
We may find out one day, or not. Some packages containing the fruits of nearly two years of investigation will soon be on the way to the Attorney General, governor, state medical boards,
and maybe some other interesting people. I'll update this blog with the results when I have some. Probably they will ignore me, or maybe the hospital will sue me. I'm an old
guy with not much time to live in any case. But other people are being harmed, some fatally. And failure to act is itself an action.
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