Please, Oprah! Don't Go!

I know that some of you probably don’t like Oprah (which I can’t understand) and some of you don’t watch her show, but I love her and I always watch the show and I am really sad that today is the last of the last.  I have watched it since I was in high school and I even went to see it filmed when I went to Columbia in Chicago.  I saw a live broadcast right after “shock and awe”.  They put me in the front row because “my skirt was cute” which was sort of funny to me.  Condoleezza Rice was interviewed via satellite—extremely exciting to a journalism major.  A lot of the viewers wished that someone famous had been there or that they would get something free, but I love the serious shows and was happy that I came for something news worthy.  After Oprah interviewed Rice she interviewed two more guests.  One of the guests was an American mother and had a son fighting in Iraq.  Her neighbor was from Iraq and had a son still living in the most dangerous part of Iraq, where we were fighting.  They were both stressed out and terrified every day, as any mother would be, and by becoming friends they were able to deal with the fear that they were forced to endure.  They prayed together and supported each other and it proved that we’re all just people at the end of the day and that we’re all capable of being friends.  It was inspiring, as most Oprah shows are.  I wondered though, could that happen between men?  My friend Katie has a theory that if women ruled the world we wouldn’t go to war with a country that misbehaved or violated a trade agreement, we’d just leave them out and give them the silent treatment.  I love that—so funny and probably true.

I think that the thing I will miss the most are the informative shows because she often unveiled a lot of secretive and hush-hush material.  I remember a show on the Congo that made me cry because I didn’t understand why the media didn’t cover it more and I not only felt grateful for the life I lead, I wanted to change their situation.  Of course, I haven’t done that, but she inspired me to change things and when the right people are inspired it can be such a beautiful thing.  I know that there are better people than me who are out there doing the things that I only think about and I am glad.  I also remember a show on puppy mills that was so awful that it changed my mind about pet stores altogether.  Her show has changed the way that I think and changed some of the decisions that I make.  For example, I won’t ever buy a puppy from a pet store again because of the way that they are treated.  I watched “Food, Inc” because of the show and it has changed the way that I think about food.  These are just a few examples of how many important issues Oprah has brought to my attention and now who will do this?  Not the evening news, that’s for sure!  I have learned in the past ten years that the Golden Rule of local news, “If It Bleeds, It Leads” is usually true for most news sources. Unfortunately it usually has to be our blood or they don’t cover it enough and the viewers don’t care enough.  If it doesn’t affect our family or pocketbook, people don’t pay attention enough to bring about change and that is what’s different about Oprah’s approach.  For one hour she humanized the news and made people feel, not JUST think.  Oprah is different than the news media because she is interested in the people and how they feel, not just the grit of the story and I think that people react more to that because once we realize that we’re all just people the fear melts away and change is possible.  I know she has a network now, but I don’t know if it’ll ever be the same.  I hope it will be as good as the past 25 years! 

Here’s the Word of the Day:

sojourn \SOH-juhrn; so-JURN\, intransitive verb:
1. To stay as a temporary resident; to dwell for a time.