"One" Is A Big Number
Dear editor:
Numbers in the news are important and shape our view of our country and the world around us. Today, the news is all about the numbers going up and up at gas stations, about the falling numbers on the stock exchange, about the number of dollars being lost in the value of homes, about the skyrocketing numbers for the cost of both a barrel of oil and an ounce of gold and the falling numbers for the value of the American dollar as compared to other world currencies. The news media that we follow on radio and TV, in newspapers, and on the internet have these numbers as their lead stories. All of these dollar numbers are important in our lives, but they aren’t the only stories of importance involving numbers. Don’t believe it? Think about it.
When was the last time a newspaper had a front page story on the Iraq War? When was the last time a TV news program had a lead off story reporting on American deaths and wounded in that troubled country? You have to search the back part of the paper for a report on the war.
What are the numbers emanating from Iraq that we should be concerned about but no longer find in front page headlines? Have we and the media become so tired of knowing about all that is happening in that part of the world?
The war has now entered its sixth year and some of our politicians are talking about the real possibility of our being there for years and years into the future. Six may not seem to be a big number, but for those who have served and died there, it is huge. Add to that the fact that in the next couple of weeks the death toll for American forces in Iraq will hit 4,000, and the wounded over 29,000. Those are huge numbers.
Of course there are those that will say that casualties are a sad fact of war and this is nothing to compare to the Vietnam War deaths. Try telling that to the family that has lost a loved one in Iraq; a son or daughter; a father or mother; a husband or wife; or a grandchild. Of course to them the number 4,000 is frightening but meaningless. To them the only important number is “one.” Their “one.”
Somehow our reporters, editors, TV producers and internet contributors have to bring this information back to the forefront. Let us not lose sight of the fact that although the body count is down from a year ago, that every time an American soldier, sailor, marine or airman is killed that a family loses a loved “one.” And "one" is a big, sad number.
Numbers in the news are important and shape our view of our country and the world around us. Today, the news is all about the numbers going up and up at gas stations, about the falling numbers on the stock exchange, about the number of dollars being lost in the value of homes, about the skyrocketing numbers for the cost of both a barrel of oil and an ounce of gold and the falling numbers for the value of the American dollar as compared to other world currencies. The news media that we follow on radio and TV, in newspapers, and on the internet have these numbers as their lead stories. All of these dollar numbers are important in our lives, but they aren’t the only stories of importance involving numbers. Don’t believe it? Think about it.
When was the last time a newspaper had a front page story on the Iraq War? When was the last time a TV news program had a lead off story reporting on American deaths and wounded in that troubled country? You have to search the back part of the paper for a report on the war.
What are the numbers emanating from Iraq that we should be concerned about but no longer find in front page headlines? Have we and the media become so tired of knowing about all that is happening in that part of the world?
The war has now entered its sixth year and some of our politicians are talking about the real possibility of our being there for years and years into the future. Six may not seem to be a big number, but for those who have served and died there, it is huge. Add to that the fact that in the next couple of weeks the death toll for American forces in Iraq will hit 4,000, and the wounded over 29,000. Those are huge numbers.
Of course there are those that will say that casualties are a sad fact of war and this is nothing to compare to the Vietnam War deaths. Try telling that to the family that has lost a loved one in Iraq; a son or daughter; a father or mother; a husband or wife; or a grandchild. Of course to them the number 4,000 is frightening but meaningless. To them the only important number is “one.” Their “one.”
Somehow our reporters, editors, TV producers and internet contributors have to bring this information back to the forefront. Let us not lose sight of the fact that although the body count is down from a year ago, that every time an American soldier, sailor, marine or airman is killed that a family loses a loved “one.” And "one" is a big, sad number.
posted by Sam Schoolsky | 6:45 PM
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