Thursday, October 22, 2009

Adam ashamed


Judy Woodruff ended her reporting on the Lehrer News Hour with a "thank you" . Jim Lehrer always finishes with "thank you, and good night." After listening to the news and hearing Judy sign off with a thank you, I wondered , "thank you for what?" Am I being thanked for listening? The news was, as it often is , pretty dismal. So, given that, is that why we are thanked? or are they just thanking us for tuning in to PBS rather than Fox News? Money in the bank for them if they have more viewers. I've been watching the Lehrer News Hour at times and at the end of the program there is a slide show with no audio/or a soft instrumental playing. Photographs of slain members of the military from Iraq or Afghanistan are shown. We are invited to glimpse the faces of women and men who have given their lives for our country. It is most sobering. Then, the face of Judy or Jim or Gwen Ifill appears and they thank us and say good night. I can't get my head around this. I even feel badly writing about this... it is a very good thing to honor the lives of these men and women who are now gone. I'm just wondering if it's the best thing to follow the respectful silence with a "thank you".

1 comment:

Jennie said...

Not to worry. We will always have the (sufferers) with us. I, personally, like to watch ABC because Charlie always ends with "I hope you have a good evening" (or weekend), to which I respond, "Thank you!"