Dog-gone it!

The nightly news cast sounded like this: "There was a altercation today at the corner of Walk and Don't Walk that led to two women beating each other to death with curling irons. Our reporter, Viviane Mouthoff was a witness to the event and files this story." I am sure that the story was a good one, considering that the reporter was a witness, but a large question looms. If the reporter was a witness, why did she not put down her video camera and try to break up the fight before both women died of curls and flips?

This brings me to a sad story in the local Ottawa news rags. "Beloved dog in SUV when it was stolen." An 83 year old man went to a store and parked his car, with his dog inside. When he returned, his SUV was missing... so was his dog. The man collapsed later due to the stress of the incident. The man's son was reported as theorizing that the vehicle was stolen by professionals who stripped it for parts. "...the dog is probably dead", states the son.

Oops. The reality of the story is that the man forgot where he parked the vehicle and it sat in the shopping centre parking lot for four days... with the dog inside. This SUV had very unique plates so it should not have been difficult to find if someone had taken the time to look. It must have been visible for three evenings in that parking lot.

This is a sad story in many ways. The fact that an 83 year old man forgot where he parked is tragic. But the real tragedy is that two reporters and the man's son did not even investigate the scene of the incident before chalking it up to theft. Is that objective reporting? Was the theft reported to the police? Did the police even bother to investigate or go to the scene?

I am glad the man's dog was returned safe, if not a little thinner. I am more concerned with the low level of professionalism of our so-called journalists.