The presenters were discussing a man who had reported witnessing what he thought was a yeti creature.
The man was overweight, and when discussing his sighting, explained he had run after it. The presenters made fun, with one stating he doubted if the man could run at all, clearly pointing to the man's apparent lack of fitness.
They went on in this fashion, laughing at the man's expense, even suggesting he had eaten his girlfriend.
Is this journalism? Is this the standard we want showcased by our media "professionals"? I think not.
Okay, the story was a silly space filler, but there was no merit in attacking the man based on his weight or appearance. Is it any wonder bullying is so entrenched in our society, when educated professionals, entrusted with educating and informing the public, are so blatantly disrespectful?
I sent off a couple of tweets to The Today Show and of course got no reply.
These were my texts this morning -
David J. M. Samson
@thetodayshow Encouraging a culture of bullying, suggesting an overweight man couldn't run anywhere and that he may have eaten his girlfriend
and
David J. M. Samson
Not even an acknowledgement. I shall be no longer watching The Today Show. I want my news from media outlets that are well balanced, informed and are in no way inexcusably deprecating towards people. It just isn't necessary.
Then today at lunch I was catching up on my own blog reading via Facebook, when I saw via Mrs Woog, that HuffPo had run a story on Adele giving birth to a baby boy. Congrats Adele!
The angle of the HuffPo article was that Internet Trolls (yes they are still around) had been at it again, taking the opportunity of a beautiful event in someone's life to attack that person. Follow the link and read the post.
Adele's weight was used as ammunition, among other aspects of her life.
The Internet, rightly so, is up in arms at the outrageous and horrific attacks on Adele and her family. It is awful. Such personal, vicious and imbecilic comments and remarks are better kept to those who think them. If you have nothing good to say, say nothing at all. Words to live by.
We are quick to judge these morons. But look at the example they have. The Today Show, and the like, need reminded of the above philosophy to keep their poison to themselves too. Their onscreen jocularity requires further honing, to avoid relying on such snide chit chat in the guise of news and entertainment.
Let's really stamp out bullying, and not let it become just another meaningless buzzword.
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