There would be days like this...

Commentary by Jeff Burgar
Momma told me there would be days like this, days like this ..." goes the hit song. Interestingly, if a newsroom in a newspaper or TV station is doing its job, troublesome news stories are the norm, not the exception. Very, very often, reporters and editors are faced with making tough calls. Those calls have nothing to do with what goes on the front page, or should the story be run with or without photos. The calls I’m writing about are based on the idea, is running this story good or bad for the community? Media very often finds itself faced with this moral dilemma. So, here we have the ‘’Aqua Dots’’ situation. For over a month, reports on this children’s game product have circulated on the Internet. Message boards comment on the product which, incidentally, is actually highly rated. One board post says, ‘’Who in their right mind would recommend a kid’s product that looks and feels like candy? Of course, it’s going to end up in some baby’s mouth!’’ Well, guess what friends? Not only is the product ‘’chokeable’’ it also is quite chemically active. The active glue that makes Aqua Dots stick together when wet is a precursor to GHB. GHB is the so-called date rape drug. Do I have your attention now? According to experts, when this glue hits the digestive system, our own body processes it into GHB. My question to you is, is this the kind of news the public deserves to know? On one hand, we might suddenly find every wanna-be drug dealer in North America swooping down on stores trying to corner the market in Aqua Dots. Aqua Dots retail for around $30. There’s lots of Dots in a box. Just walk down to your corner drug or department store and there you are - instant bad news. In the 1960s there was Coca-Cola and Aspirin, supposedly a combination guaranteed to send one to Neverland. It didn’t. The quest continues. Airplane glue. Gasoline. Cough syrups. Prescription drugs of all kinds. A hundred flavours of speed. And now, Aqua Dots. At some point in time over the decades, someone has argued that news about these products should be kept secret. Mainstream media has, at times, obliged. Most times however, those in the business take an opposite position: not only does the public have a right to know, a responsible press has a duty to inform. All in all, these are pretty big topics. Throw in controversy over Columbine and copy-cat shootings and soon enough, you have enough quicksand to drown just about every TV station in the world. Some days the stories are big. Some days the stories are small. No matter what, there’s still lots of thinking behind the scenes.

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