Tim Johnson and "preemptive news"

We've all seen the news reports on the Tim Johnson story. They begin by saying something like, "Senator Tim Johnson, Democrat from South Dakota, was rushed to the hospital after exhibiting stroke-like symptoms." So far, so good; these are facts.

Then they continue, "If Senator Johnson leaves office, the Republican governor of South Dakota will appoint his successor, thereby passing power in the Senate to the Republicans." Now they've gone off the rails. "If" is not news. "If" is hypothetical speculation and only matters if "if" happens.

This is what I call "preemptive news." Rather than simply report what's going on, they speculate or ask hypothetical questions. Both of these devices are designed to introduce opinion and, therefore, bias into the equation.

If vomit spurts from my ears, I might go to the hospital. But until it does it isn't news - and you can't report that I've gone to the hospital.

One more Democrat isn't news; one less Democrat is. I wonder if that's significant...

This illness is a god send.