Bob McCarty Writes

In this week’s edition of Uncle Jay Explains the News, Uncle Jay tells us how television reporters are supposed to assess current events by (1) getting all the facts, (2) understanding the subject matter and then (3) talking about it.  Unfortunately, he reports, they often move directly to the third step.  Uncle Jay points to their reporting of the tragic events Thursday at Fort Hood and Friday in Orlando stand as prime examples of that practice.

Uncle Jay’s news word of the week is “assess.”  He uses it to weave news about terrorism and shootings with a wide range of other topics, including health care reform, Congress, the anniversary of the fall of the Berlin Wall and the end of the Cold War.