Anchor anger

Between getting the gist of earthquakes, captured terrorists, new members of the House of Representatives which looks more and more like a circus, and the endlessly frustrating mudik, I've been nothing but fine.

Let's jump to the latest issue that's been filling our brains for the past few days. The magnitude-7.6 tremor in Padang, feared to kill more than 1,000 people. Quite a statistic.

What bothers me the most is not the victims, really. Call me heartless, but oh well it just means their time on Earth's up. What I can't stand is the way local TV stations air the news like their main aim is not to inform people, but to entertain the audience with grief.

The more footage of crying people, the better.

I understand very much the term "bad news is good news." But it made me want to destroy my TV when a TV One anchor went live with a man in Padang whose daughter was trapped under a rubble of school building.

The two female anchors kept cornering him with questions they probably thought would get him in tears.

"How do you feel about the possibility of losing your daughter, Sir?"
"What was she wearing the last time you saw her?"
"Did she say anything at all that might have sent a bad sign?"
"What is your hope, Sir?"

And they kept going on and on and on, asking the same questions, only phrased differently. It's like a police interrogation. Luckily the guy seemed more patient and did not break down at all.

Seriously, TV anchors. Made-up, Barbie-doll-like, TV anchors.

And let's not forget the footage loop. A foot sticking out of a rubble, people crying on the street. I get it the first time, but three days of those, backed by mellow songs?

Earthquakes are earthquakes. This country lies on the Ring of Fire, home to about 80 percent of the world's volcanoes and seismic activities. We're supposed to be prepared for quakes, not treat it as a big disease and just weep every time we lose thousands of people to it.