CNN has now been wall to wall with Hood coverage for over 7 hours.

FOX, CBS, ABC, NBC have also made the story front and center.

With all due respect, (and prayers), to the families and the climbers, there seems to be something amiss here.

First, while dramatic, deaths on Northwest mountains are not unusual. I believe the average is around 10 per year between Hood, Rainier, and others.

Ten times the number of people missing/dead on Hood died during the past week in traffic accidents in the Northwest alone.

I understand that this is a dramatic story, much like the Kim story a couple of week ago, but one must ask whether or not CNN and the others are using this story to garner "human interest" ratings, as opposed to less than great ratings from the routine...(Iraq, economy, gas prices, etc.) Do they really believe this is hard news, or are they going after it as a story that they can manufacture into something they can make important by the intense coverage? If that is true, then they have indeed mainipulated the story to help CNN first, and "who cares about the real importance of the story?"

I hope they find the remaining two climbers alive.
But is CNN (and others), using this for ratings, or for actual news coverage? My guess is the former.

Obviously, Paul, they are milking the story for ratings...but there's real drama involved, because we don't know whether the two remaining climbers are OK. That sort of thing certainly captures the public's imagination, just like the Kim story did. In other Mt. Hood deaths, there usually isn't that much drama. Sure, it's exploitation plain and simple - but today's TV news does it all the time. Doesn't surprise me a bit.

(FYI, I'm getting a zillion hits on my website on my "Mt. Hood" photos page - I guess people want to know what it look like. I notice that many of the web stories I am glimpsing (Google News - wire stories largely) do not even show a picture of Hood, so I guess people around the country are curious.)

Andrew

Don Henley pretty much sums up news in general with:

Dirty Laundry:

I make my living off the evening news
Just give me something-something I can use
People love it when you lose,
They love dirty laundry

Well, I coulda been an actor, but I wound up here
I just have to look good, I dont have to be clear
Come and whisper in my ear
Give us dirty laundry

Kick em when theyre up
Kick em when theyre down
Kick em when theyre up
Kick em when theyre down
Kick em when theyre up
Kick em when theyre down
Kick em when theyre up
Kick em all around

We got the bubble-headed-bleach-blonde who
Comes on at five
She can tell you bout the plane crash with a gleam
In her eye
Its interesting when people die-
Give us dirty laundry

Can we film the operation?
Is the head dead yet?
You know, the boys in the newsroom got a
Running bet
Get the widow on the set!
We need dirty laundry

You dont really need to find out whats going on
You dont really want to know just how far its gone
Just leave well enough alone
Eat your dirty laundry

Kick em when theyre up
Kick em when theyre down
Kick em when theyre up
Kick em when theyre down

Kick em when theyre up
Kick em when theyre down
Kick em when theyre stiff
Kick em all around

Dirty little secrets
Dirty little lies
We got our dirty little fingers in everybodys pie
We love to cut you down to size
We love dirty laundry

We can do the innuendo
We can dance and sing
When its said and done we havent told you a thing
We all know that crap is king
Give us dirty laundry!

Check out MSN.com today.

They have a picture of the deceased climber on a backdrop of what I believe is Mt. Rainier.

(because the national media probably thinks all mountains in the northwest look alike!)

Whoops.

Perhaps Andrew you could send them a correct picture from your collection!