I continue to be astounded by changes in the business I have toiled in now for better than four decades.
Simply put, we live - and more importantly work - in a different world, one much smaller than the one I entered a lifetime ago.
Let me try to explain.
There was a time - not that long ago - when a big local story would reverberate around the region for a day or two, then fade into the background.
The subjects of those stories - often portrayed in not the best of lights - would have to deal with a fair share of local ignominy.
Consider what happens with some of those same kinds of stories today.
It happened again last week, in an incident that occurred at a school in Upper Darby.
We duly reported the incident.
But it didn't stop there. These days, it never does.
That is the nature of the social media-drenched world we live in.
Every person with a phone is now a TV news crew, shooting video and posting it online for all to see.
And when I say all, I am not exaggerating.
Once posted on Twitter, Facebook or other online outlets, it's off to the races.
In this instance, the video of course went viral. The incident that took place in the parking lot of a local school here in Delaware County was suddenly national news.
Imagine how lives changed in the blink of an eye.
School district officials, including Superintendent Dan McGarry, soon were no longer answering questions solely from local media outlets, but was dealing with national media attention.
Most days, it now frightens me how quickly we disseminate information, and how far those ripples can spread.
It's a different world.
My job is the same - and yet it is totally different.
I guess it's something we all should keep in mind.
In reality, we're all a heartbeat away from being national news.
That's a fairly daunting thought.
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