WERE YOU PLANNING TO RIDE THIS? I THOUGHT NOT.

This week a 10-year-old boy died when he fell off a water slide in Kansas City. There is no question that this is a sad, heartbreaking tragedy. But is it news? Why is this story covered on all three networks? Does the American public need to know what a lovely and loved child this was? Do we need to be aware of how heartbroken his parents are? Do we need the details of the horrific accident? Will knowing this story be of some benefit to us? Of course not. This is yet another example of how the American people are being cheated by the lazy broadcast news networks. There are important events happening in the world every day, international situations that will affect our lives, our finances, our health. But  we don't know what they are. We are fed only the easy to report, sensational pop stories. Do we really need a five minute report on cupping at the Olympics, or any Olympics "news"at all? No. Save it for a special. It's bad enough that we now  get fewer significant news stories with the 6:30 pm networks coverage, but on NBC, ABC, and CBS more and more time is being taken up with commercials, mostly pharmaceuticals. So basically we are watching 18 minutes of stories that have no actual effect on our lives. And most of us are paying for this waste of time with cable costs. It's not right. And it's not news.