If there is any indication in the news, the magic number for an event to become practically irrelevant to the media is 69 years.
As I write this on December 8, 2010, yesterday marked the 69th anniversary of a "day that will live in infamy." Although, that did not appear to be the case. The anniversary of the bombing of Pearl Harbor did not even receive a scant mention on the news. In modern history, America has been attacked twice on its home soil leading to consequential wars that took our brave service men and women overseas to fight on out behalf. Those events deserve to be memorialized and remembered as they both permanently changed the direction of this country.
I understand that 69 years is not a significant milestone. I also recognize that most, not all, of the veterans that were at Pearl Harbor are no longer with us. But to give up on this memory is beyond me. Sure, the media does not need to put a full page spread of the event. But Fox, CNN, and MSNBC all failed to even mention the 69th anniversary of Pearl Harbor on their home page. (sometime after 4 PM CNN posted a link to a Life or Time slide show of the event) .
At 12:48 PM (7:48 Honolulu time), the hour of the bombing, I wandered into my break room to see if CNN would show the annual memorial service or be having a moment of silence. The answer was no. Instead some pundit was talking about the WikiLeaks scandal. A topic that has been done to death over the past several weeks and no fresh perspective can be offered at this point.
Maybe it is just me making a big deal out of nothing. That is possible and fair. But my position is that Pearl Harbor was the powder keg that put was where we are as a world power today.
Personally I think it is reprehensible of the media to not even give mention to this anniversary on their home page instead opting for political banter (banter not relevance) and juicy celebrity headlines.
And for those counting today, the anniversary of the death of musician John Lennon is plastered all over the news. Love it while you can Lennon supporters. In 2049, no one will care.
As I write this on December 8, 2010, yesterday marked the 69th anniversary of a "day that will live in infamy." Although, that did not appear to be the case. The anniversary of the bombing of Pearl Harbor did not even receive a scant mention on the news. In modern history, America has been attacked twice on its home soil leading to consequential wars that took our brave service men and women overseas to fight on out behalf. Those events deserve to be memorialized and remembered as they both permanently changed the direction of this country.
I understand that 69 years is not a significant milestone. I also recognize that most, not all, of the veterans that were at Pearl Harbor are no longer with us. But to give up on this memory is beyond me. Sure, the media does not need to put a full page spread of the event. But Fox, CNN, and MSNBC all failed to even mention the 69th anniversary of Pearl Harbor on their home page. (sometime after 4 PM CNN posted a link to a Life or Time slide show of the event) .
At 12:48 PM (7:48 Honolulu time), the hour of the bombing, I wandered into my break room to see if CNN would show the annual memorial service or be having a moment of silence. The answer was no. Instead some pundit was talking about the WikiLeaks scandal. A topic that has been done to death over the past several weeks and no fresh perspective can be offered at this point.
Maybe it is just me making a big deal out of nothing. That is possible and fair. But my position is that Pearl Harbor was the powder keg that put was where we are as a world power today.
Personally I think it is reprehensible of the media to not even give mention to this anniversary on their home page instead opting for political banter (banter not relevance) and juicy celebrity headlines.
And for those counting today, the anniversary of the death of musician John Lennon is plastered all over the news. Love it while you can Lennon supporters. In 2049, no one will care.
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