Coincidence

On 5 News at noon, Ashley Beck was promising "a live report from XNA at 5" just as we clicked on Ask the pilot:

It's Thanksgiving again. In terminals around the country, camera crews are getting in position. It's time for the media's annual barrage of crowded-airport stories. ... We've grown accustomed to their stories -- quick little drive-by segments that seldom stray from the boilerplate: Remark on how many millions of Americans are expected to fly between Wednesday and Sunday; remind them to arrive at the airport as early as possible; get some shots of stranded travelers sleeping on the floor; interview a bedraggled passenger who, after standing in a security line for the past 190 minutes, is happy to chime in, "Well, at least we're safer." They might as well use the same clips every year.

Ditto for anytime there's a hurricane in the Gulf of Mexico. Local Red Cross volunteers prepare to ride to the relief of victims. Tsunami in Indonesia? Earthquake in Pakistan? Israel bombing the crap out of Lebanon? Someone around here surely has a relative or friend there affected. Contact the Office of International Students and Scholars at the university. It's like a template. Localize everything.