Budget battle?

Michigan has avoided a state shutdown. Hoo-hoo.

I've been watching -- and been part of -- the media coverage of this event, and have been disappointed with the reporting.

One local TV station was actually running a countdown clock to the shutdown. Six hours to shutdown! Five hours, 59 minutes to shutdown. ... This station covered it like it was a football game. And people wonder why I think local TV news is no better than a pimple on my ass -- it's there, I have to scratch it and I can't wait for it to be gone.

This leads me to my biggest concern about the media on this.

Worst of all, the media covered this as a "battle," as a fight. Headlines and announcers called it the "budget battle." Here is the problem.

The media gives the public (which is, I must say, painfully ignorant about the workings of state government) the impression that goverment functions like a sporting event, that there is a clear winner and an obvious loser, that there are even easily identifiable teams.

Untrue. State government works on compromise that involves arguing, but there is no clear winner and loser. Since government is a complex process, not an end in and of itself, there are no clear winners and losers. All representative government is compromise, not battle, but the media won't portray it that way. Government is not flashy and will not bring in ratings or sell papers unless you tart it up and cover up what it really is -- dull but important.

Too bad the huge egos and tiny minds of newscasters and the limits of print can't grasp this. Most media -- and the public it serves -- should stick to Lindsay Lohan and the latest football scores.

Thought: The Bills finally won!