Black Box Report

With tonight's topic I know I run the risk of coming off sanctimonious. You know what? So be it.

This past week has not been one for the time capsule. I'll admit Heath Ledger's death, while tragic, did not consume my life. I seem to be in the minority. Breathless reports on every 24-hour so-called “news channel” followed, and almost without exception got facts wrong, leapt to conclusions and recklessly implied the worst, when in reality they didn't have a clue.

somebody was obviously watching, because before the body was even cold, hundreds of gawkers and losers were camped outside Ledger’s apartment snapping shots off their camera phones with a glee usually reserved for a ticker tape parade.

It got worse. Bottom feeders like TMZ - whose explicit purpose it seems is to capture the most embarrassing, painful or even morbid moments for posterity - they instantly were recognized by every network as sober professionals dispensing deep meaning. It makes me sick even re-living it. Some clown who pays paparazzi to stalk quasi-celebrities is being asked by everybody what he thinks happened to Ledger and what it all means. With the phoniest expression just shy of crocodile tears he talks of the late actor and his family as if they were long time friends. He painfully wondered if rumored girlfriends and the mother of Ledger’s daughter would be able to come together.

Let me remind you, this charade wasn't on some tabloid show, but on the networks.

Maybe it's me who shouldn't be surprised. This week those same networks gave us "a moment of truth," where contestants are paid to surprise their loved ones on national TV with admissions of infidelity or humiliating confessions. Lets TiVO that for the kids. (p.s. - its the highest rated new program.)

But finally, to really put our descent into context, consider the plot of the newly released film, “Untraceable.” A sociopath kidnaps victims and puts live and streaming on a web site, them being tortured. The more hits from the public, the faster the victims die. Naturally, millions visit the website dooming the innocent and confirming our voyeuristic ways. I'm sure it's just a stupid slasher film but somewhere, some bottom-feeding programmer is saying to himself, “How could I get this on TV?” He’d probably get a great rating.

As this past week proved, the media will stoop to new lows and the public will be with them every step of the way.