Miracle from the Media

It's a miracle. Over two months of waiting, planning, and preparing, and then in less than 24-hours a media miracle.


Yes, after 70-days of waiting, the Chilean miners have been retrieved from what would have been their final resting place. Thirty-three men, trapped without knowing if they will survive at all for the first seventeen days, free to roam above the earth once more. And the stories to come will fill the papers, magazines, television and online media outlets for months yet.

Not to mention the book and movie deals they're sure to try.

Seventy days. Over two months without seeing the sun or loved ones except by remote camera. Even the longest patrols on a submarine don't keep the sailors from fresh air and sunlight that long usually - although contact with the rest of the world is even more limited.

Thanks to modern technology, the trapped miners were able to see and speak to loved ones on videophone links, one even able to see the birth of their child while still a half-mile underground. Music and medicine shared with ease, either through streamed sources online, or personal media players donated to the men.

The speed which care provided remotely during the rescue preparations contributed to the well-being of the miners, and many of them are already home with loved ones after barely a day - and most are expected home before the weekend is out.

And then the next media miracle will happen - the tours of talk shows, interviews, and possible book and movie deals which will be poured like Niagra Falls at their feet.

But there is another media miracle which has already happened. The lack of intrusive coverage into these men's lives (at least on an international level). Although there was expected a little drama when one man's reported mistress was the first person to welcome him, it was barely brushed over by a few news sites, and most didn't even discuss it at all. This was something almost worthy of "Reality TV" in the United States. But it was underplayed instead.

So for another couple of weeks the miners will be the hot topic around the watercooler, until the next major news story breaks, and the world media descends onto the scene like carrion birds. At least this time it didn't feel like they were waiting for death, but presented hope in the best way possible.