We just completed an "initiation" trip for our dog in our truck. We're trying to get him acclimated to vehicle riding, as we're hoping to have him join us on more of our jaunts. After all, what's the point of having a pet if you cen't include them in your little adventures?

As I pulled away from the house, I took an extra step of precaution. A step that made me, oddly enough, thankful for the sensationalist media.

See, whenever I pull away from the house, there's always a cursory check for children. They're usually corralled pretty good, but when the whole family's in the yard (as my wife and the three youngest were in this case) we always do a headcheck. We make sure that every member of the family is accounted for. Either in the vehicle or well clear of it.

We do this because we've heard too many nightmarish tales of families who have driven out without checking closely and run over their own children or grandchildren. See, as it turns out, and not unexpectedly, a parent leaving excites a kid. They'll run out to either say goodbye or join their parent on the trip. And the parent won't know they're there. And the tragedy is devastating.

I would not know about this without the "sensationalist" media.

I also would not fully understand or appreciate the dangers of leaving a child in a locked car. Sure, it's easy to think about when it's 100 degrees out, but rarely do you consider how much easier it is for a child to overheat than an adult. And rarely do you think about it when it's 80 degrees out.

See, sensationalism is in some ways a good thing. It saves lives. Who knows how many lives could have been lost if we hadn't heard about tainted food products from China. Or even about the dangers of a fast food diet (which should be painfully obvious, but don't seem to be). The problem is when we use sensationalism to enact ridiculous legislation or to limit freedoms of people who act sensibly. The problem isn't the media; it's what we do with it.

So thank the "sensationalist media" Without them, we might not know about the dangers of smoking. Or might not have so quickly prevented the rampant spread of AIDS. Or any other countless number of changes we've made in our lives and our environment. If we hadn't seen the Cuyahoga river ablaze, would we have cleaned up our rivers?

Let's just not get TOO happy with these yahoos! They ARE the same dodo birds that brought us the Spice Girls, yanno!