Derb, there is no one who burns out on damsel-in-distress stories faster than we “self-appointed” news watchdogs. (Or in this case, you feel like news hamsters on one of those running wheels. Enough!) The “news” business ever since O.J. Simpson has discovered this new field which is less “news” than a version of reality television. You can’t cover a story day by day with no new developments (say hello to the still-unsolved JonBenet Ramsey murder) and call it “news.” But it has a compelling narrative, a tabloid True Detective sort of pull, that will draw the numbers to pay the bills and please the stockholders. The conglomeration of news media outlets into major corporations over the last few decades has greatly accelerated the descent into this kind of coverage. Media critics of right and left can agree on this. Both want more hard news — although we righties are probably the ones who would regret it if it happened!

There is no doubt looking at the numbers that this Aruba story is goosing Greta Van Susteren’s nightly ratings. But we forget that in the comparatively small ratings universe of cable news, gaining a half million viewers is huge. But compared to the population of the US (approaching 300 million), that doesn’t really represent “America” as a whole. It’s just a large enough fraction to force the other news junkies to have to deal with it.