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Virginia Massacre Media FrenzyInappropriate mainstream media coverage of tragedy at Virginia TechMajor news networks covered the murders at Virginia Tech as if they were covering a major policy announcement or celebrity news story, rather than the trajedy it is
The breaking news yesterday that 33 people died at Virginia Tech as a result of what looks to be a single gunman is incredibly upsetting. Within hours of the shooting, the media had already begun to look at how this shooting fit into other similar crimes in recent years. Students at schools affected by such tragedies in the past have been interviewed by reporters form around the world, about how they felt when gun violence came to their school, and if they had any words of healing to pass on to students at Virginia Tech. Bringing Back Old MemoriesThe fact that we live in a society where school shootings are becoming something tragic but somewhat common is unbelievably scary. What’s worse though, is the fact that these students, many of them teenagers themselves, are asked to relive the terrible experiences that they survived when a shooting occurred in their place of learning. What do we have to gain by dredging up old memories of past murders? While one can argue that are healing benefits in talking about past trauma, it seems to somehow minimize the current tragedy, and create a situation where we see school shootings as almost regular occurrences. Operation Name That TragedyThe mainstream media is not just to blame when we look at how they interact with similar shooting locations and victims of the past. They are also heading down a problematic path when they insist on treating this sort of tragedy as something akin to war: naming the murders, the discussion of the university’s tactical decisions, and generally making a media frenzy among the very people who need time and space to grieve and search for answers. Watching the four big American news networks last night was sickening in that the props, special experts, flashing graphics, and all-day coverage showed incredibly little consideration or dignity for those who lost their lives in this massacre. Instead, the media insisted on reporting about what had happened from as close as they could get to the exact locations of the murders, and stopped all over programming to concentrate at the “Massacre at Virginia Tech” as it has become known in a few short hours. Where We Go From HereWhether the media frenzy surrounding this awful occurrence helps those who have been affected by what happened yesterday move on is doubtful. By treating tragedy as a way to boost one’s ratings, the mainstream American news networks come across as callous and uncaring. Watching what these networks had to offer on such a sad day was depressing, as the massacre was treated in the same way as a pre-election primary race, or the latest announcement by the President on the war in Iraq. Instead of conducting business as normal, the mainstream networks would have been far better off had they treated the situation at this university with far more class.
The copyright of the article Virginia Massacre Media Frenzy in Newspaper Journalism is owned by Kate Butler. Permission to republish Virginia Massacre Media Frenzy in print or online must be granted by the author in writing.
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