Decline of the media

For the next couple of blogs over several days, the topic of the decline of the media will be examined intensely. Well maybe not that intensely. Several causes lead to inescapable conclusions.

Primary to the decline of the print and internet media quality emerges from this image. It is of course a cup of coffee. And it is good coffee.

Yet one must ask oneself in a detached logical accent of a voice, does the increase of good coffee directly effect the sliding quality of the media reportage?

The relationship appears to be yes. In days gone by, reporters and editors could not get quality cups of coffee. Now that they can, coffee breaks are longer. Which means the storytelling around the coffe tables appears so excessive that it diffuses originality and the creativity of any sort of bullshitting.

So a turbid equation emerges. A theory proposed. Increases in the quality of coffee, leads to a comparative and proportional decline of print journalism.

Front page, the

Special gestures should take front stage. They should be noted. The single criticism of news media that carries weight is that the editors take note of the ugly and violent events. It sells news. They wish to blame the reader.

Too often occurrences that should be front page, are not. One story today emerged from being buried deep in the sports section by newspapers or if it was printed at all. This is only a lowly blog. There are other stories or comments that can be made but this story makes it to the front page of today's blog.

Why? You see Mi Hyun Kim is a golfer on the Ladies Professional Golf Association. And she is a very special person. Michele Wie gets a lot of undeserved attention for someone who has never won any tournament. While eight time winner Kim gets little.

The overpaid, self centred athletes of MLB, NFL, NHL, NBA get a lot of press focus. All front page entries. I mean Barry Bonds, or Vince Carter, or Pete Rose, or Floyd Landis get a whack of press if they blow their noses. They get upset if the story is printed, and likely some get upset if it isn't. If Bonds passes Aaron for the most home runs it will be reported on the front page (but never here).

Kim is one of the very few elite athletes that actually deserves attention and respect. Its a very small club. Clara Hughes, and Terry Fox remain the only other athletes worth this level of genuine respect. So the following is this blog's monthly front page story and comment.

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Kim makes $100,000 donation to aid victims of Greensburg, Kan., tornado

DAYTONA BEACH, Fla., May 8, 2007 -- Mi Hyun Kim, an eight-time winner on the Ladies Professional Golf Association (LPGA) Tour and champion of last week’s SemGroup Championship Presented by John Q. Hammons in Broken Arrow, Okla., announced after her win that she will donate $100,000 of her winner’s paycheck ($210,000) to the United Way Greensburg Disaster Fund to aid the victims of the tornado that destroyed the Kansas town last weekend.

“I was just happy that I won the tournament,” said Kim. “Sunday and during the week, the tornados came out of the middle of nowhere. I felt like I needed to do something for them. Winning a tournament on its own was a good thing, but I just decided to donate some money.”

“We’ve already seen a tremendous outpouring of support for the residents of Greensburg and I know this very generous donation from Mi Hyun Kim is truly appreciated. The citizens of Greensburg have a tremendous spirit and are determined to rebuild their community. It is my honor to acknowledge this donation on their behalf,” said Governor Kathleen Sebelius today.

Kim, 30, is currently seventh on the 2007 LPGA Official Money List with $315,341 in season earnings. She moved into 10th all-time on the LPGA Official Career Earnings List with her victory at the SemGroup Championship last week. She has earned more than $6.5 million since joining the Tour in 1999.

“Honestly, I made a lot of money in the United States on the LPGA Tour,” said Kim. “Most of time, I get the money here and donate to South Korea. But, I want to help people here, too. The win was a surprise for me and I think God gave it to me like a special present or he is using me like, ‘okay, I give you this, but after that you give to help the people.’”

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Comment: Thank you.