We've been so inundated lately with anti-gun and pro-gun discussion in the wake of the Aurora, Clackamas and Newton shootings, I can't help but notice one thing I beleive would curb some of these tragedies. In my opinion the media of today is largely to blame. Before I get started, I fully acknowledge I'm on a slippery slope. Treading on 1st Amendment rights is probably more dangerous than treading on the 2nd Amendment rights, so to help curb that, by no means am I asking for more government regulation regarding the media, God knows we have enough regulation. Just a little moral compass.
Where am I going with this? As I watched the news, I recall being amazed at how much was being focused on the shooter, especially compared to the victims or the heroes. In all cases, especially early on, it was pretty much all about the shooter and the victims seemed to be relegated to nothing more than a kill count, the heroes an afterthought. Now I get that families have to be notified etc before the victims names can be released, hero stories have to be dug out, but because its not fast news doesn't mean it has to be pushed aside. We are a "breaking news" society, no doubt about it. But where does the focus lie? The shooter. Who was he or she, what weapon was used, how were they dressed? Reporters are getting anybody they can to talk on camera, regardless of what they know about the situation. "What are you're thoughts?", "Did you see the shooter?", "How many shots were fired?", "Were you afraid?" Basically, what do you know about the shooter and how did it make you feel. Did they drive fear into you? Shooter, shooter, shooter. Lets put them in lights! Even when we get to know the victims and families they seem to be trumped by new info on the shooter. Where are the heroes? Check back on day two or three.
Let's put them in lights! Find their name and their picture and burn them into our brain. I have no idea about their psychosis or what made them do what they did. The way I see it though, is they all needed to go out with a bang. There was something in them that needed to be noticed, so why not hit the biggest stage in town. Two of them took their own lives. They could have easily done it by themselves, alone in a room, so why didn't they? My thinking is they wanted to be more than a paragraph on page six. The media has shown them a history of how to be page one for days. Bingo! There has to be something in their heads that says "I want people to finally know who I am, finally know my name or my face, and they will never forget it." No amount of gun control will take that away. If they have enough will to lay waste to perfect strangers, to a school full of kids, they will find a way to make people know who they are.
So what can we do as consumers (speaking to myself as well)? Shut the
news off. Read about it instead of watch it. If you read it you can
filter through the headlines and only click on the positive. That
includes the trickle down news, the Piers Morgans, CNN's and yes even
Fox's, that feast off a tragedy and prolong it in the name of gun
control or mental health or whatever as long as they get ratings for it.
Find positive news outlets. They know what gets read and what doesn't.
It starts with the parents, continues with the teachers, and ends with the media and their consumers. Bring them up right, let them know they are relevant in their own way, there are positive ways to affect many (and it doesn't start with personal glory). Give them the attention and education they need. Report on the positive things that people do and not fill a one hour news cast with a slew of who got killed "routinely", and days of saturating broadcasts on a mass murder and the shooter. If there is a mass murder, leave the reports to the victims and the heroes... not the killer. DO NOT give them a stage, DO NOT give evil a stage. They'll bow at the curtain call and book the next showing.
Remember the victims, pray for the families, applaud the heroes, don't mention the killer.
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