All is not well in our great land these days. We are a nation preparing for one war while fighting another; the country seems to be on continual alerts for more terrorist attacks; and a Washington, D.C., area sniper is leaving thousands ill at ease. Now more than ever, the information we the public receive from the media becomes very important.

Of course, everything we hear from the media should be important, accurate, relevant and responsible. It's just a shame that it usually isn't.

Take the Washington sniper. Details are sketchy. Information is scarce. People are running scared. And a killer who lurks from the shadows and kills from long distance is panicking the entire area. The media is in a frenzy like we haven't seen since Sept. 11, and that's not helping anything.

Here's what we know: The first and foremost fact is that the same person is obviously serially killing people with the same weapon, in the same manner, in the same general area. We also know that this serial killer is much different from other serial killers we've seen in the past: He/she doesn't get in close, knows nothing of their victim, and takes no mementos from the crime as most serial killers do. The killer may also be driving some kind of white van, although descriptions vary. Other than that, we're clueless.

Everyone in the country right now wants two things: more information and the killer to be caught. Reining in the media should be our first priority. The media right now could hurt as much as it could help ÷ the killer could be really enjoying all of the press he's getting. We also don't need dumb reporters at press conferences asking law enforcement, "Can you tell us exactly what you're doing to catch this person so that they may continue to evade you?"

The media is beating us to death with this story. Here's an example: The other night, several TV news networks ran a story about a mother who made her kids walk around in a straight line in front of her. "That way," she says to the camera, "the sniper will shoot me first."

Whether or not this woman is just an overprotective mother or a woman insane with paranoia can be debated. But it's not something we need to see on the evening news. This will become worse than random terrorist alerts. Then, in about a week, the media will decide we've all overreacted and need to carry on with our normal lives. Changing our routines, the media will tell us, "will let the sniper win."

These kinds of stories, images and ideas are created, spread and then defeated by the media. It's all one big media game; they create the story, they create the paranoia, and then they say we've all overacted. Of course, they'll then go look for the next thing we need to be afraid of.

The bottom line is that the media won't help catch the D.C. sniper. Eventually, he'll just make a mistake, get too brazen, or someone will turn him in.

This is just one example of the media making a bad situation worse. They are far more dangerous with issues of terrorism or the possibility of an upcoming war with Iraq. It's no secret that most in the media seem to be against the measures we've taken in the war on terrorism and a war against Iraq. Reporters can barely contain their disgust for the current administration when they ask questions at press conferences. But when all is said and done, maybe this is alright. Maybe we want a media that will challenge the administration at every turn. Maybe the public should expect journalists to be tough. But there has to be a line that is drawn.

A war is different from other issues like taxes or the economy. Reporters need to be more responsible in the way they cover a war and the questions they ask about it. Already, we've heard reporters asking questions about troop movements in the Middle East and questions concerning the times of invasions. These kinds of questions are not only inappropriate and designed to embarrass the administration, but put American lives in danger. Whether or not a reporter agrees with a war in Iraq is one thing. Putting our servicemen at risk is another. Whether it's the D.C. sniper or the war on terrorism, we need to tune out and tell the media not to meddle where it shouldn't.