Pope, Schiavo a good change from news of war on terrorism

I picked up the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette a few days ago, and the entire news section was… I picked up the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette a few days ago, and the entire news section was dedicated to the life and death of Pope John Paul II. Before this, for a few weeks, the national media and even Congress seemed to be focused in on Terry Schiavo and her case.

A lot of people might complain that one topic dominates the news and blocks out many of the other important stories that are happening in the world. On one hand, I agree: This is far from the ideal, with media allocating coverage proportional to the level of impact the news has on its readers.

On the other hand, this is a welcome change from what the media has been doing for the last few years, and I am happy to see that they are focusing on at least one new story a week.

It evoked a kind of pleasant nostalgia for the Clinton era, when the worst thing we had to worry about was whether Clinton had gotten some on the side or if O.J. had murdered his wife. And every few weeks, there was a new buzz story that everyone arbitrarily focused on. Everyone remember Elian Gonzales, that Canadian snowboarder or Gary Condit?

Since Sept. 11, 2001, it seems that the only story you can really get in-depth coverage of is the “war on terrorism” and its related events. Every major news event in the last few years can be traced directly back to the World Trade Center and Pentagon attacks: the invasion of Afghanistan; the debate over Iraq and weapons of mass destruction; the invasion of Iraq; the apprehension of Saddam Hussein; the Iraqi election; and even the U.S. election, which was somewhat of a break, kept bringing up the same story that we have had for the last four years.

This relentless bombardment of information and editorials has brought our country to an intellectual standstill. Republicans refuse to argue on the issue of whether the war is justified or in our best interest on grounds that such debate is unpatriotic. Democrats, regardless of the lack of progress, continue to rail on this issue. And when they’ve tried to change the subject, they haven’t been successful. As a result, we are getting nowhere in our public discourse.

Also, the coverage we’ve been getting on the war in Iraq lately has been sub-par. Many news organizations have taken their correspondents out of Iraq. It’s a dangerous job, and it can also be expensive to hire a reporter to go there and pay for his or her security. Because of this, much of the information we get on the events of the war is straight from the Bush administration or from military personnel.

Combine this with the recent scandals about fake news in the White House pressroom, and readers have a pretty good reason to stop believing war coverage. And the national media has a good reason to begin putting its efforts toward other stories.

It is also refreshing to see a topic in the news that is not so clearly politically divided, something we can openly argue about and have some possibility of changing people’s minds. The pope’s legacy and the point at which someone can legally be taken off life support are two major issues about which everyone hasn’t yet entrenched their minds with unbending opinion.

The same people in the media who usually make up their minds before they know all the facts are doing a great deal of blind yelling over the subject of quantity of life versus quality of life.

But the issue has actually inspired some real public thought. There are people as young as we are who have already looked into having living wills made. Also, the lines are not so clearly divided on the pope, with liberals and conservatives alike already calling him John Paul the Great. Both sides have also stated that perhaps time will tell a different tale of his legacy.

The wound of Sept. 11, 2001, runs deep, but the fact that we can attend to other matters is a sign that we are healing. We can finally step back, breathe and take a look at other things that are also of great importance. And, if only for a couple of weeks, maybe we can take a vacation from the fear that has gripped us for too long.

E-mail Dan your favorite ’90s news bite at dmasny@gmail.com.