Monday, April 16, 2007

Just say no to sensational media!

It is absolutely (expletive) absurd for the people in the media to pass judgement on government agencies such as the Virginia Tech police. The majority of the questions asked by “reporters” at the press conference had NO purpose other than to attempt to ask the leading question that would give the best news bite – not inform the public. There seemed to be NO condemnation of the shooter, NO Sympathy for the victims, NO concern for the survivors – only blame. Perhaps their actions were not ideal – tell me honestly though, had they locked down the entire campus and cancelled classes for a domestic squabble that ended in tragedy – and not a massacre – don’t you think the media would be spending this evening bitching about that also? I am certain they would – the media does NOT REPORT the news, they sensationalize events and use them as bait for whiney assed Americans who are looking for something to whine and bitch about. This is absolutely a tragedy, but the media coverage is a travesty – I am ashamed that I share a country where freedom=lack of responsible behaviour for so many – including those with the power to affect the opinion of the masses.

There is NO REASON to report information pre-maturely – and the idea that people don’t think that the University acted quickly enough is close-minded and illogical. How many times have you fussed over a child with a scratch because things looked worse than they were? Likely, many more times than you ignored a serious injury because it didn’t look as bad as it was (which is also not that uncommon).

Please join me in condemning the current media mindset that doesn’t serve to provide accurate news to us, but to compete for the most sensational story of the day – when at all possible, please boycott sensational news – otherwise our networks and newspapers will continue to slide toward becoming the Daily Mirror –a sad prospect indeed.

1 comment:

Anonymous said...

I KNOW! Someone at work told me that they're already talking about lawsuits, suing the school for the way things were handled. Do we live in such a litigious, money hungry society that we can't go ONE tragic day without talking about suing someone for using their judgement? WTF?