| Saturday, February 28, 2004 |
You're Givin' Me a Heart Attack
 "Is there a local TV station employee in the house?" That, is not what you hear shouted when someone goes into cardiac arrest. [Jeopardy Category: Wild Speculation]
I realize that the controversy surrounding "The Passion of Christ" provides an opportunity for sensationalized journalism surrounding this incident at a movie theater -- "Woman dies watching 'Passion'" (Feb 26, 2004) as reported now on CNN.com -- but that doesn't make it okay. While the story itself is tenuously alluding to some thing (I won't go there), I am specifically referring to this sentence near the end of this piece: Employees at KAKE-TV said they knew the woman as Peggy Law, adding they did not think she had any pre-existing health problems.So what? Who cares if they didn't "think" it? Were these local TV employees her doctor? A doctor? A close friend or actual relative? Or in any other way at all qualified to know about her medical history or to speculate on it based on the mere circumstances of her demise? How does that statement serve the story? I'll tell you how--it makes the story suggestive..."sexy," as I've heard it called.  First of all, heart disease is the number one killer of women and yet it is often undetected or unchecked. That is the whole point of the "Go Red for Women" campaign--to raise awareness regarding heart disease and women since it is stereotypically thought of as a men's disease.
Second, if I were to stop breathing suddenly, cough uncontrollably, go into respiratory failure and die, most of my co-workers and business associates--and even friends I'm pretty close to--would not necessarily be aware that I have a pre-existing health condition (asthma) because it isn't something I talk about constantly. I may have mentioned it at some point, particularly if we are in a setting where there is a trigger for an asthma attack (say like cigarette smoke), but other than that I don't broadcast my medical history to anyone and everyone I work with or know. My point is that just because they didn't know it, doesn't mean she didn't have a pre-existing condition even if they knew her well. That's sloppy journalism. If it was a quote from her spouse, that might be different but not conclusive.  Finally, even if she had no (known) "pre-existing health problem" that brought on the heart attack, doesn't mean that there weren't health factors or contributors. She was the "sales manager for TWO local radio stations." Gee, that has the potential to be a busy and stressful job. Perhaps one where you're extremely busy and don't have time to eat right and exercise regularly. And, even if that were not the case and this woman was fit as a fiddle, people have heart attacks and die every day (probably even a few in theaters) without warning or obvious contributors.
The only thing that makes this newsworthy -- especially on the CNN.com level -- is the "where" of the story. Since it DID happen at a climatic part in a controversial film, it apparently cries out for wild speculation and insinuation. What a sad story--on both counts. Link via Canadian Connie. [ ] |
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