The Media Goes Wild!

I detest the exaggeration of our news media.

For Example:
Black scholar agrees to beer with Obama, policeman

The first sentance reads:

A prominent black Harvard University scholar has accepted an invitation to have a beer with President Barack Obama and the white police officer who arrested him in a racially charged case.

I don't really have an opinion about what happened. I do have an opinion about what the media is doing to make the problem worse. That statement is just as charged with negative momentum as the story itself. As a test lets switch things around a bit:

A Prominent white police Sgt has accepted an invitation to have a beer with President Barack Obama and the black man he arrested in a racially charged case.

Now the black guy has no credentials and the white guy stands out. Does it sound racially charged?

What if the story started like this:

Professor Henry Louis Gates has accepted an invitation to have a beer with President Barack Obama and police Sgt. James Crowley who arrested him in a racially charged case.

Our news media doesn't try to maintain a neutral - only the facts - kind of reporting. I suppose that would defeat the purpose of marketing. In reality this whole story is pretty bloated and is getting much more attention than it deserves. Racism is an important issue. This news story reeks of perpetuating the problem rather than solving it. What do they care? As long as it sells advertising right?

I am guessing there is no money in reporting just the facts. The more the news media is concerned with the income generated from a story the more we will need to sharpen our skills at fact extracting. That is the real story here.