If you know about a hurricane, thank the news media

My wife and I have been closely monitoring Hurricane Florence the past several days. We have prepared ourselves and our home as best we could for the winds and rain that are forecast. I've used the weather app on my phone, the Weather Channel and a Raleigh TV station to keep informed about the storm.

During this time, I have heard two people tell me how "newspapers" or "the media" have exaggerated the dangers of the storm. They were both hard-core conservatives who blame "the mainstream media" for most everything they don't like and suspect government officials are deceitful. 

I wasn't going to argue with either of them, but it made me wonder what they thought they would do if there were no "mainstream media" to hire meteorologists, send reporters to impact areas, and provide maps and satellite photos showing where the storm is expected to go and when it is expected to arrive at various locations. Who would warn them of the approach of a dangerous storm so that they could prepare for threatening conditions, such as 100 mph winds or punishing rainfall that causes widespread flooding?

Demagogic politicians create a straw man and whipping boy of the news media, blaming them for misinformation, bias, conspiracy and even, yes, being an "enemy of the people." These critics had better hope they don't succeed in destroying the news media that use their revenue (mostly from advertising) to inform the public about things they need to know. Hurricanes are just one example of things the public needs to know.

Some news media-hating people say they'd still know all about hurricanes, tornadoes, elections, governmental decisions (from the courthouse to Congress), court decisions, crimes, new products and treatments for illnesses, and the availability of inoculations or low-cost medical care. But I doubt they've really looked into that.

News organizations are created to collect information such as this and distribute it to the public. A lot of work goes into just finding that information. Yes, there are governmental websites and some independent websites that post information about some government activities, but it takes a lot of work, especially for the untrained and unfamiliar, to find that information, understand it and pass it along.

I used to tell journalism students that one responsibility of news reporters is to be at the meetings, press conferences and events that voters, most of whom have full-time jobs, do not have the time to follow every meeting, conference or event. Reporters, who work full-time at collecting news, go where subscribers/voters don't have the time or inclination to go. Informing the public is the key responsibility of any news organization. It is what motivates newspaper people.

You don't like the "mainstream media"? OK. Unplug the TV, ignore the news websites on your computer or phone, don't heed the warnings, originated by government officials and passed along by the news media, to evacuate or prepare for the next storm on the horizon. See how that works out.