There is so much bad stuff going on in this world that I have a very hard time dealing with all of the stories. One day I worry that I should be more afraid than I am. I’m concerned I’m growing more cynical every day. Other days I fear I’m becoming immune to the horror.

At first, I thought it was me.

An old Hard-Hearted Hannah.

But during recent coverage of the Baltimore protests and associated violence, I realized where my cynicism was coming from. Television journalists on several channels were inciting emotional outbursts, working as hard as they could to stir up feelings and aggravate the situation.

That’s appalling!

Coverage of the news and exercising freedom of the press have fallen to a new low.

Journalists were always supposed to report the story, not become the story. That’s the integrity part, ladies and gentlemen of the press, and it shouldn’t matter whether you’re in print/online media or visual media.

I want to stay on top of the news, but I sure don’t want to put up with the reporters on the scene who get in the middle of the crisis and dance around like maniacs as they thrust their microphones in one face after another, asking provocative questions, spreading lies, rumor-mongering. In one case, the show anchor, sitting at his desk, constantly fed argumentative questions to the reporter who was interviewing a Baltimore elected official. Pushy, unnecessary, and hardly an example of news-gathering.

What do you think? Where do you go to learn what’s happening in the world?