On Balance and the Media.

A British company had to apologise this week because they released an ad in which two farmers compare suntans. All hell broke loose and people screeched their indignation: ‘This is a kick in the teeth for all those with melanomas,’ screamed one source (‘a kick in the teeth’ is the standard phrase used by those lacking the wherewithal to trust their own ability to communicate.) And the media, as usual, made a big issue of it.

So let’s be sensible about this. Too much sun is detrimental to health. So is too little because we need vitamin D. There’s nothing wrong with a suntan as long as it’s gained gradually and not through bingeing for hours in the garden or on the beach. A moderate suntan is attractive and makes people feel good. All it takes is a little common sense and reasonable precaution. Instead we get hysteria which the media does so love to promote.

And that’s something else that bothers me about the modern world. We see it from all quarters and relating to so many issues. Too much screeching and not enough balance. We’re coming to the point at which impotence beckons because everything we do or say is scrutinised by screechers ready to leap into the limelight and vilify whatever offends their personal perceptions or prejudices. Society is becoming dangerously unbalanced, and the media does so love to fill its pages with any amount of nonsense as long as it’s shouted loudly enough.