I was channel surfing at 11 o'clock Thursday night when I came across THE BIG STORY on Channel 6 Action News.

No, it wasn't another shooting in Philadelphia -- which should have been a big story itself. What had the folks at Action News all excited was the black bear that was cited in New Hanover Thursday morning.

The reporter was live from the township filing his report. I guess a black bear roaming through a rural township 40 miles outside of the city is the big story for a television station in the fifth largest city in America where gun violence is rampant.

Channel 3 also had a reporter live in the township, but the story was a few minutes into the newscast, not its top story. Still it should have been buried further.

Sure, a black bear in the area is big news for a local newspaper such as The Mercury, but that's something that is happening in our community. The TV news in Philadelphia should have more pressing issues to report on.