The ability to tell it like it is directly states how an audience should feel about receiving the latest news, gossip, or story from the conveying party.  There wasn't much excitement in the eyes of the Washington Week panel this past Friday, but I still felt hungry for a story or two.  Trying to find my spark, I listened to the tell all wondering what would strike me to formulate my own tell it like it is written piece.  Gwen IFill shifted to Jim Tankersley, an Economics Correspondent, opening the door for him to give his take on the constant battle of to tax or not to tax? While spending cuts still played into question, it was obvious that Tankersley is a numbers man. He brought the funny to the conversation, as he rambled off numerical data, talking polls and surveys with ringing percentages taking over most of the expression. Listen to see what gets your attention, and see if you find Tankersley interestingly funny.


 


 That seemed like take one of a future comedic release! I just chuckled, as I wondered if hearing the percentages really had the power to impact future outcomes. Poll results are not what I would use as a margin measurment when specific tax increases or spending cuts are not well defined. Yeah, surverys and polls are all we have outside of an actual voting ballet to measure the probability of outcomes, but the margin of error is too open for miscalculations for me to take any of them seriously considering the cirucumstances. Gwen IFill brought Nancy Youssef into the conversation, and Youssef raised the issue of the many obstacles facing today's journalist. I wondered how nosy you have to be to risk your life for a story, and I remember how I feel about writing. Enough said. The mention of danger did make me think about ABC's correspondent Bob Woodruff, who has made an amazing comeback, after being injured by a roadside bomb. He is featured periodically on Good Morning America. 

 Most importantly, relationships came to mind, and I wondered did our Foreign Policy in the United States play a role in the uprising in Libya? An article dated back in February at Suahibwebb.com shed some light on "The Situation in Libya". Who knew that Libya has the largest oil reserve? A wealth of resources, but the unemployment rate is still at about 30%. That's more than 25% of the population of 6.5 million. Unrest, high unemployment rates and other societal issues likely played into what is going on right now throughout the country. 

 When Gwen IFill brought up the Martin Luther King Memorial, I realized that I had hardly heard it mentioned in the news. In large part, I believe it's because people tend to want to forget history when fatalities are involved. The importance of mass media can not be emphasized enough. Mainstream television media is only going to give you so much, so print media has to fill in the gap with newsworthy stories. There will always be manipulation in media, and America is not excluded from being a party to it either.  The impact of numbers, the importance of retrogressing in today's society, foreign policy, relationships in general, and the responsibilities of a journalist are all topics that are thought provoking. This has been a political mouthful. Are you still hungry?