Voice of an Angel

May 2002

Hello. My name is Angela Christine Byers (yes, my mother actually named me “Angel of Christ”), and I am an atheist.

I never ceased to be amazed at the state of television news. More and more it seems that we are watching tabloid reporting where sensational is what sells — and the truth be damned.
As many of you might recall, in my column last September, I wrote about a news report on KEZI television out of Eugene. In this hack-job of a news story, reporter and news anchor Lisa Verch shared with us the evils of things not Christian — in this case, Wicca.
It seems Ms. Verch and several parents were up in arms because the Juvenile Authority was allowing not only Christian ministers to talk to kids in Juvenile Hall, but they were also allowing Wiccans to do the same. The spokesperson for the Juvenile Authority said he “expected this sort of reaction as soon as the media got ahold of the story”. It seems the state took the correct position and said that if a representative from one religion was allowed to talk to the kids in Juvenile Hall, then they would not discriminate and would allow representatives from other types of religion.
This all had many Christians up in arms — including Lisa Verch. Ms. Verch presented a horribly biased and outrageous news report where she compared Wicca to Satanism. As evidence she interviewed a Satanic Cult murderer. It didn’t seem to matter that — as even Ms. Verch herself admitted —Wiccans don’t believe in Satan.
The report was one of the most appalling things I had ever seen — and just when we thought we had put it behind us — it now comes back to bite us in the butt! In April, the Associated Press Broadcasters Awards were announced for Oregon broadcasters. It seems that Lisa Verch’s report on Wicca won second place as the best news report. This really shows the sad state of TV news today — where tabloid type reports are considered award winning.
While the entire thing is very sad and frustrating, I suppose the blow is softened a bit if we look at the first place award winner — “Old Hard Drives”. I saw this report, and it wasn’t that great — mostly a reporter telling us: “Did YOU know that EVEN if you FORMAT your old hard drive before selling it, SOMEONE ELSE could pay a company to RETRIEVE your erased data from it and INTRUDE ON YOUR PRIVACY?!”. Gee what a surprise. And then there is the third place award for a segment entitled “Wrestling Folo” — I don’t even want to know what THAT was about!
It’s almost enough to make you turn off the TV and read the newspaper. Surely we can trust the accuracy and depth of reporting in newspapers! After all, if it’s in print, it MUST be true...

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Angela C. Byers