What are my media brethren and sisters smoking?
Someone coined the phrase snow-mageddon for the current blasts of winter weather and they’re actually using it on the air! It’s catchy. It’s a little bit clever. But it’s not even within a snowball’s throw of being anywhere near accurate.
Armageddon is the final battle between the forces of good and evil. Our recent snowfalls have been in the 5 to 20 centimetre range. That’s hardly apocalyptic. If you’ve made it to the age of 10 or older, you remember winters with a hell of a lot more snow than this. It’s awfully silly to name it the snowfall of all snowfalls when it’s not even close.
Sometimes I’m embarrassed by the actions of the media. I’m proud to say I haven’t watched an entire TV newscast in the past six weeks and I don’t feel out of the loop or uninformed or like my brain has turned to mush. Most of the time, I just don’t believe they’re telling me the truth – or even the truth as they understand it. Kevin Newman is the exception. I think he’s genuine, credible and not afraid to say, hey, this story is so complicated we’re still trying to figure it out. Honesty! What a concept. And if he used the non-word snow-mageddon, I’ll eat my toque.