Crofton Online: Media Watch
Tabloids Encourage School Bomb Hysteria For May 'Sweeps' Ratings; Grasmick Delays MSPAP Tests
Three word note in Arundel High bathroom stall causes adult panic.
Students everywhere laughing at official idiocy.

The nation's tabloid media, including ABC News, MSNBC, and the entire Fox Network, have been actively encouraging mass adult hysteria in the wake of the Colorado murders, in a desperate grab for ratings during the crucial May "Sweeps" rating period.

The month of May is extremely important to broadcasters. Ratings during this period determine what advertising rates the tabloid broadcasters will receive for the next six months.

Always willing to sell out America for their next multi-million dollar executive bonuses, the broadcasters have latched onto the isolated murders in Colorado in a desperate search for a "story" to replace Monica Lewinsky. Kids aren't buying it; unfortunately many adults are.

At Arundel High School prior to the Colorado mass murders, someone scrawled the words "Fear May 10" inside a bathroom stall, apparently referring to the scheduled start of the hated MSPAP exams. After the mass murders, a parent began circulating the message via email to other parents. The ensuing adult panic eventually resulted in yesterday's [May 6] announcement by Maryland State School Superintendent Nancy Grasmick that the week-long MSPAP exams would be delayed.

One Arundel High student told Crofton Online,"This shows the real danger of the Internet. Adults should be prohibited from getting online until they can pass a basic intelligence test."

Meanwhile, the tabloid ABC News continues its 'May Sweeps' search for the right combination of sex and violence to generate needed revenue. ABC's sister tabloid Fox News is also broadcasting special sex and violence shows. Desperate to replace the Monica Lewinsky "story," most broadcasters and print media have continued to hype the weeks old story of the isolated mass murders in Colorado.

Some area principals have tried to use the murders to generate school spirit, asking students to wear yellow ribbons and offering cash rewards to kids who turn in their friends. School guidance counselors have issued lists of "signs" for parents to watch out for. This use of "profiles," similar to ones used by Maryland State Police as an excuse to randomly stop and search black males, has resulted in widespread harassment of students who do not conform to adult standards of dress and behavior.

Related stories:

An absolute, must-read article by Jon Katz on Geek-Profiling as it relates to the Colorado murders, click here.
Baltimore Sun (BS) columnist Gregory Kane argues that we need MORE guns in schools. Click here.

As always, we welcome your comments.



BS columnist Republican Gregory Kane advocates exactly this: arming everyone in our schools.


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