Malaysia Airlines Flight MH370 with its 239 passengers on board went missing seven months ago. On Oct. 13 it was announced the airplane did not crash into the Indian Ocean. The search still continues.
Former Baltimore Ravens running back Ray Rice was suspended indefinitely from the NFL in September for hitting his then fiancé, Janay, inside an Atlantic City elevator in February. The NFL announced on Oct. 12 that Rice’s appeal of his suspension is tentatively set for November.
A bus carrying the North Central Texas College softball team crashed three weeks ago. Two of those involved with the crash, Rachel Hitt and Bailey Buchanan, are from my hometown. Both are recovering well. Buchanan was transferred to the Baylor Institute for Rehabilitation in Dallas, and – according to a video posted to Buchanan’s Facebook page on Oct. 12 – is now able to walk with a walker.
These are three stories that illustrate the power of the news cycle. These are topics that are no longer tweeted about, discussed on television or gossiped about in the cafeteria. They have each become petty news stories that online newspapers report with hopes the story might be shared on Facebook.
This week the buzz is all about the Ebola virus, the Kansas City Royals’ miraculous journey to the World Series and the not-so-sweater weather. What will next week’s hot topics be?
Shaped by the breaking news we are constantly aware of, we have forgotten about the Bring Back Our Girls campaign, riots that are still occurring in Ferguson, Missouri and the friends and family of the Oklahoman woman who was beheaded in September.
It’s OK not to obsess and linger over these news topics of the past. But we cannot forget. 239 lives are still unaccounted for because an airplane has not been found. A woman became a statistic and a man lost his career after a drunken Valentine’s Day celebration. Four young women in college lost their lives after a softball game.
The world keeps on spinning and the news cycle restarts every 24 hours. New stories will develop and people will move on from what happened today. But we cannot forget.
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