Dear Cagerattler

I do enjoy your column “The Say”, even though I don’t always agree with your opinion.   But that is what’s good about the Valley Voice; there is such a varied  content.

I do however agree whole-heartedly with your last article regarding the Schapelle spectacle. The media frenzy which was stirred up about her case was ludicrous in the extreme, as was the amount of air time foisted on the  public; her appearances in court and the scramble through the waiting press, all leading up to the PAROLE.

Whether or not this lady was guilty is beside the point.   What was noticeable was the amount of attention paid to a very attractive young woman who should have known better than to travel to a country which banned the importation of drugs. I sometimes wondered if the guards enjoyed the opportunity to have such close contact with her to get her to and fro with each appearance!

The  melee to get the first pictures, the first ‘story’, the filming rights, the book (no doubt there will be one), not  to mention the money involved, made a farce out of the whole sorry drama. It became a charade and made my blood boil.

Sometimes I feel our media are pathetic in the way they approach a ‘story’.  Current affair-type programmes on TV go in for sensationalism, and often seem to prefer to show people screaming at each other over some believed insult rather than concentrating on the good that so many others quietly do.  And some of our politicians are no  better, for personal insults and derogative comments are often made in and out of Parliament, and unfortunately our media seem intent on making sure we hear/read all about it.  This encourages the ‘pollies’ who wallow in this type of interview to get more ‘air time’. Thankfully they are not all the same.

I could go on, but have said enough.  So thank you, Rod, for your column which I hope you will continue to write.

Many regards,  Toni Brewster, Chain of Lagoons.