It occurred to me recently that I could bypass the screaming heads of NBC, ABC, CBS and CNN by watching the news coverage in Spanish. This morning I began with Despierta America, a charming morning show on Univision which features four - count 'em! - four hosts and a little dog. It's sort of like a co-ed version of the View, with a lot more news coverage. And a lot less Starr Jones, the Ann Wilson of morning t.v.

After watching less than an hour of coverage on Univision this morning ("Ataque a Irak") and last night on Telemundo, I've gotten more coverage of Iraqi civilians hiding from the bombs, more of protests worldwide, and more footage of the helicopter pilots taken as POWs. And a lot less pontificating by Chris Matthews.

Incidentally, I'm watching Blanca Jaramillo, the mother of one of the POW's, being interviewed in her native Spanish - a completely different person from the one I saw interviewed yesterday in English. What a difference a day - and a language - makes. Oddly, for all the reputation Latinos have for being more passionate, more sentimental, more casual, etc., the interview was extremely businesslike - none of the human interest/Katie Couric I-can-make-her-cry-in-four-questions crap: "What was the last thing you said to him?" "Was he scared?" This was focused on what did you hear, who did you hear it from, where did he train, etc. Questions, answers and it was over.