Coverage of Flight 370 - The demand for news

>>> AND FINALLY THIS MORNING, A THOUGHT ABOUT NEWS MEDIA PRIORITIES. WHEN I WAS AT HOME THURSDAY NIGHT SITTING ON THE COUCH CHANNEL SURFING THE WAY I DO FOR NEWS BETWEEN ABC, CNN, FOX, MSNBC, AL JAZEERA, I NOTICED SOMETHING VERY INTERESTING. EVERY TIME A NEWSCAST TURNED AWAY FROM THE MISSING PLANE STORY, MY WIFE SPOKE UP. YOU KNOW HOW PEOPLE TRY TO TALK THROUGH THE TV? IT WAS LIKE SHE WAS TRYING TO TALK TO THE PRODUCERS THROUGH THE SCREEN. GO BACK TO THE PLANE, SHE SAID. GO BACK TO THE PLANE STORY. GOT ME THINKING ABOUT HOW WE ARE ALL OUR OWN PRODUCERS NOW, OUR ENEDITORS, CREATING OUR OWN NEWSCASTS AND ONLINE VERGS OF NEWSPAPERS BASED ON THE VAST ARRAY OF NEWS AVAILABLE TO US. I PERSONALLY WANTED WALL-TO-WALL PLANE COVERAGE THAT NIGHT TOO. YOU KNOW, SOMETIMES A NATION'S NEWS MEDIA DO COLLECTIVELY OVERREACT TO A STORY. IT HAPPENS FROM TIME TO TIME. BUT I DON'T THINK IT'S HAPPENED IN THIS CASE OF THE MISSING MALAYSIAN ARABLES FLIGHT. THERE ARE SO MANY OTHER SOURCES OF INFORMATION AT OUR DISPOSAL ANYTIME. THERE'S AN OLD ADAGE THAT THE MEDIA SHOULDN'T JUST GIVE US WHAT WE WANT. THEY SHOULD GIVE US WHAT WE WANT TO KNOW AND MORE IMPORTANTLY WHAT WE NEED TO KNOW. AND THERE WILL ALWAYS BE SOME TRUTH TO THAT. BUT THE PERVASIVENESS OF THE WEB CHANGES THOSE CALCULATIONS. NEWS CAN'T BE VIEWED AS ONE LINEAR PRODUCT ANYMORE. IT'S AN ON-DEMAND PRODUCT. WHEN YOU SEE CNN TELEVISION COVERING SOMETHING NONSTOP AND YOU WANT TO SEE SOMETHING ELSE