paying-attention

Last night I watched the local ten-o'clock news. Now I remember why I don't usually do that. It's not -- or not only -- because I prefer the "Law and Order: Criminal Intent" reruns on My-50 TV.

The NBC affiliate here, KOB-TV, has good, intelligent-sounding anchorpeople, and they do a reasonable job most of the time covering local news. But with all the national and international news available, they think what will interest us most are stories about two missing white girls from Georgia?

The stories, which KOB did as a single item, seem to have only a superficial relation to each other. The police in Chapel Hill, North Carolina, and Auburn, Alabama, have released little information and have given no reason to link the two events.

The story is uninteresting to start with, and raises a serious question. Have there been no murders, mysteries or disappearances in New Mexico, Colorado, Arizona or Utah? Do we really have to go all the way to Georgia, Alabama and North Carolina to find crimes worth reporting on? I realize both of these victims are pretty white college girls, but does that make them more interesting than people with tragedies closer to home?

All I can say is, somebody with pretty weird judgment must be calling the shots at KOB.