http://www.craigbosley.com/wordpress Idaho Common Sense® Mon, 06 Feb 2012 15:02:45 +0000 en hourly 1 http://wordpress.org/?v=3.3.1 Welcome to - The truth as I see it™. Dr. Bosley writes sociopolitical columns with a conservative view that is well articulated and defended, provoking thought and discussion without telling people what to think. He poses questions, while offering his personal views and reasoning for them, allowing readers to better understand his opinions as they develop their own. His advice to himself - "Writing the truth as I see it; trying not to offend those who will disagree." Craig L. Bosley, MD no Craig L. Bosley, MD webmaster@craigbosley.com webmaster@craigbosley.com (Craig L. Bosley, MD) 2010 Craig Bosley The truth as I see it™ http://www.craigbosley.com/wordpress/wp-content/plugins/powerpress/rss_default.jpg http://www.craigbosley.com/wordpress http://www.craigbosley.com/wordpress/2011/12/what-happened-to-our-hallmark-values/ http://www.craigbosley.com/wordpress/2011/12/what-happened-to-our-hallmark-values/#comments Fri, 09 Dec 2011 13:15:02 +0000 Craig Bosley http://www.craigbosley.com/wordpress/?p=1728 http://www.craigbosley.com/wordpress/2011/12/what-happened-to-our-hallmark-values/feed/ 2 http://www.craigbosley.com/wordpress/2010/05/michael-tiger-and-ed/ http://www.craigbosley.com/wordpress/2010/05/michael-tiger-and-ed/#comments Mon, 03 May 2010 15:28:25 +0000 Craig Bosley http://www.craigbosley.com/wordpress/?p=1101 http://www.craigbosley.com/wordpress/2010/05/michael-tiger-and-ed/feed/ 1 Ed Freeman,Jerry Springer,Michael Jackson,National Enquirer,Tiger Woods,United States,Vietnam War,Walter Cronkite Do you recognize these men? I suspect you know two of them. Michael is Michael Jackson, his death garnering more media attention than President Reagan's funeral. Tiger is Tiger Woods, his philandering capturing near continuous media attention with each... Do you recognize these men? I suspect you know two of them. Michael is Michael Jackson, his death garnering more media attention than President Reagan's funeral. Tiger is Tiger Woods, his philandering capturing near continuous media attention with each new girlfriend revealed. But who is Ed? We know every detail about Michael, the little boys, the drugs, everything. We know every detail about Tiger, even which golf club damaged his car and the name of every woman he "encountered." But who is Ed? Do we know anything about Ed? Do we care? Should we care? How does the media decide who is newsworthy? To whom do the media answer? Remember, the media is a business, and like any other business they must generate a profit or fail. If no one watches their shows, if no one buys their magazines or newspapers, they will go out of business. And just like any other business, they analyze what we want – and they deliver. They deliver the scandals, the gossip, almost celebrating the failures of others. But who is Ed? Ed is Ed Freeman, a footnote on a busy news day. He died Aug. 20, 2008, his obituary briefly shared across the nation. Why even bother noting his death? Do any of us know who Ed Freeman is? Should we be interested? What did he do wrong? Did he use drugs? Was he an adulterer? Maybe a pedophile? Perhaps a Wall Street crook? Did he rate a federal investigation or criminal charges? What was his failure, his demise, his downfall making his death newsworthy? Who is Ed? Capt. Ed Freeman is a Congressional Medal of Honor recipient, a hero. During the Vietnam War, he flew a non-combat lift helicopter, an unarmed helicopter, nothing glamorous. One day he overheard radio traffic about a battle going very badly for the American infantry. An overwhelming force surrounded them and they were taking significant losses. The enemy fire was so intense the commanding officer on the ground refused to allow any more Medi-Vac helicopters to land, no more ammunition or supplies and no more evacuations of the wounded. Capt. Freeman knew they must be nearly out of ammunition and he knew they had critically injured soldiers. Both he and the officer giving the order knew what the outcome of the battle would be if the order was followed. So Ed did something. He did something 14 times. He ignored the order 14 times. Fourteen times he flew his unarmed Huey into the heart of the battle, each time taking enemy fire from less than 200 yards away, delivering ammunition and evacuating the injured. He saved the lives of the soldiers he evacuated, along with many others with the ammunition and supplies he provided. Really think about what he did. Fourteen times he flew into enemy fire to get the wounded, each time facing probable death. Why didn't he get the same round-the-clock news coverage Michael or Tiger got? Most people blame the media, claiming they are anti-military, anti-American and don't care about what is really important, preferring to emulate the National Enquirer. Are they right? Is the media full of nothing more than tabloid-style journalists? Again, the media is a business, publishers and producers responsible to generate a profit. Yes, they do want to report "real" news. Nevertheless, they accept the reality of delivering what the readers and viewers want, generating the income needed for their business to survive so they can provide the small amounts of "real" news we will tolerate. And what is it we want? We want trash. We want gossip. We want calamity. We want handcuffs and jail time. We want the dirt. We want Jerry Springer, not Walter Cronkite. Which show would get the most viewers and the best ratings, a show about the heroism of Ed Freeman or a competing show about Tiger’s girlfriends? Should the media be embarrassed? Or, should we be embarrassed? Who is Ed? Print Page (http://www.craigbosley.com/wordpress/wp-content/uploads/2010/05/20100503-Michael-Tiger-and-Ed.pdf) Craig L. Bosley, MD no 4:36 http://www.craigbosley.com/wordpress/2009/12/what-is-public-and-what-is-private/ http://www.craigbosley.com/wordpress/2009/12/what-is-public-and-what-is-private/#comments Sat, 05 Dec 2009 20:21:08 +0000 Craig Bosley http://www.craigbosley.com/wordpress/?p=122 http://www.craigbosley.com/wordpress/2009/12/what-is-public-and-what-is-private/feed/ 0 Atlanta Journal-Constitution,Defamation,Freedom of speech,Mass media,Media,Newspaper,Press freedom,Richard Jewell,Thomas Jefferson,Tiger Woods Does the public have a right to know everything?  Does freedom of the press have any limits?  Is anything private?  Is everything fair game?  How might Tiger Woods answer these questions?   "Yes, no, no, yes."  Moreover, Does the public have a right to know everything?  Does freedom of the press have any limits?  Is anything private?  Is everything fair game?  How might Tiger Woods answer these questions?   "Yes, no, no, yes."  Moreover, these questions have little to do with any claimed right to privacy, and all to do with the Constitution.  As it turns out, most anything the media reports is constitutionally protected by "freedom of speech" and "freedom of the press."  You would assume this scrutiny is reserved for a public figure, whatever that is.  But public figure is a legal term used when suing for defamation of character.  Moreover, if the court decides you are a "public figure," proving defamation is not enough, you must also prove the media acted with "reckless disregard for the truth," acted with malice. Adding more difficulty, defining a public figure has grown far beyond politicians and celebrities.  It also includes "limited public figures," people who might voluntarily become publically involved in an issue.  And as long as the media reports focus on their involvement with that issue, that person is a public figure. Further, you can also become an "involuntary public figure," resulting from publicity, even if unwanted and uninvited.  Probably one of the saddest and most famous was Richard Jewell, who hit the media spotlight first because of the lives he saved during the Atlanta Olympic Park bombing in 1996.  He then quickly became known by the newly popularized term, "person of interest," a thinly veiled suggestion that he may have planted the bomb. For 88 days, the media turned his life inside out.  He sued several news agencies, three settling out of court.  But the Atlanta Journal-Constitution newspaper fought and won because Richard Jewell was a public figure and they did not report with malice. With this history, Tiger Woods has little prospect of maintaining any privacy.  And as long as the media does not show any "reckless disregard for the truth," most anything goes. But in defense of the media, it is a tremendous benefit to the people, a part of the checks-and-balances to government, and rightly so.  The press was considered so important to the Founding Fathers that Thomas Jefferson said, "Were it left to me to decide whether we should have a government without newspapers, or newspapers without a government, I should not hesitate a moment to prefer the latter." The press is vital to our freedoms, but why is the implosion of Tiger Woods' life worthy of front-page coverage?  Have you ever seen a full-page article on Mr. Woods' charitable work?  Did you know he has a foundation working with inner city children?  Did you know a sponsor learned that part of the agreement to get his endorsement was a contribution to that foundation?  Why are these wonderful activities not as newsworthy as his supposed extra-marital affairs? Has the media started treating us, the people, the way it treats the government, a sort of checks-and-balances on society?  You might assume news includes the good and bad of life.  Does it?  Moreover, whose fault is it?  Is it the media or the consumer that thrives on bad news, on gossip masquerading as news?  Would we be riveted to non-stop television coverage of Mr. Woods' charitable work the way we are his personal problems? Yes, he may deserve all that is going wrong in his life; he may have done all that we hear.  But when is enough enough? The differences between mainstream media and tabloid media used to be clear.  But that line has all but blurred into oblivion.  Does the mainstream media research and investigate something wonderful about someone with the same attention used to catch them, to bring them down? The public's right to know?  Guess what?  I just heard on Fox News that a fourth woman has come forward to discuss a claimed affair with Mr. Woods.  Won't that be a great interview?  I can't wait to see it.  I wonder how much more money he will offer to pay his wife for this one. Craig L. Bosley, MD no 4:17 http://www.craigbosley.com/wordpress/2008/02/was-comment-about-tiger-woods-racist/ http://www.craigbosley.com/wordpress/2008/02/was-comment-about-tiger-woods-racist/#comments Mon, 11 Feb 2008 08:14:38 +0000 Craig Bosley http://www.craigbosley.com/wordpress/?p=46 http://www.craigbosley.com/wordpress/2008/02/was-comment-about-tiger-woods-racist/feed/ 0