News

If you've seen Michael Moore's film "Bowling for Columbine," you might remember his comparison of the US and the Canadian media. Moore points out that the US tends to accentuate the negative, "fear factor" stories, and Canada tends to focus on more positive stories. I'm sure some of this is hyperbole, but I have done a couple of comparisons of the KTLA (our local LA station) news headlines and the Calgary Herald's top stories (Calgary's newspaper), and the contrast is quite amazing.

These headlines were taken from the sources on November 18:

Calgary Herald
+Transportation minister defends distracted driving bill
+Mayor seeking public input on budget talks
+Contraband tobacco hurting convenience stores
+Study examines impact of stress on babies

I seriously couldn't find one negative story that day.

KTLA News
+210 Fwy Shut Down Due To Fiery, Double-Fatal Accident
+100 Naked Body Scan Images Leaked Online
+Boyfriend Accused in Horrific Beating Death of 4-year old Boy
+Bodies of Missing Ohio Family Found in Hollowed Out Tree
+13-year old Girl Sexually Assaulted on her Way home From School
+Prosecutor: Jaw Bone Found in Aruba Belonged to Young Woman
+Fertility Doctor Accused of Turning Octomom into 'Human Guinea Pig'
+Teen Shot to Death Inside Long Beach Home

This comparison would be hilarious if it wasn't just sad. In Canada, we feel safer, and people do seem to be happier and more stable than they are in the US. Maybe it's because they don't have crazy, scary news all day long? Maybe it's because they have health care? Maybe because it's too cold? I don't know. What I do know is that it is nice to have a sabbath from the US fear-monger news.