Last night I was watching CNN as they continued to cover the horrible aftermath of Hurricane Katrina. This particular segment was not about the victims, or FEMA, or even the efforts to rebuild. No, this was about the reporters themselves, and how many of them have broken down crying on the air. Apparently, CNN thought that coverage shouldn't go to the people who were actually hurt by the disaster, but to the reporters themselves. The segment also included "man on the street" interviews about whether or not it was appropriate for correspondents to show their emotions on the air. What I thought wasn't "appropriate" was the segment itself, which was nothing more than an exercise in unmitigated solipsism.

However, despite this lack of judgment, CNN is making efforts to reunite children who were separated from their parents during the hurricane. It's probably the most crucial effort going on right now, and at least it shows that the cable network isn't always mesmerized by its own navel.