But still, to Beth's point, a mother and her son were also lost. The son--to what terrible cause? The mother, simply by being. There are people who will miss them. At the least, a father, brother, son. As terrible as it is for the 26 others, and it IS unimaginably terrible--it is also terrible for the shooter's family. They must be having a very hard time in the face of unspeakable guilt (which is probably quite unwarrented but there anyway). There were 28 losses to mourn.
Carol On Mon, Dec 24, 2012 at 9:29 AM, Paul Brandon <[email protected]>wrote: > You might also discuss why a hundred times as many people are killed in > car crashes as in plane crashes, but plane crashes get more publicity. > > On Dec 24, 2012, at 8:26 AM, Mike Palij wrote: > > > Cullen's main point is that in situations like Columbine and Newtown, > most > > of the initial information about what happened is just wrong. As the > Guardian > > article above points out, journalistic rules get tossed and "gossip" > serves as > > "news". What actually happened in Columbine or Newtown or Aurora or > > other places involving gun violence takes a long time to figure out as > well > > as getting the details right. But an "infotainment"-driven news media > has > > no patience for such things because it works in "news cycles", that is, > limited > > time periods that can be devoted to one story until the next big story > appears. > > > > In my methods class, I point out that when an airplane crashes the > National > > Transportation Safety Board (in the U.S.) it usually take 18-24 months > for > > them to conduct an investigation, reach conclusions, and present their > report > > for why the crash occurred. Sometimes the reasons are clear, sometimes > no > > definitive conclusion can be reached, and all the other incidents fall > somewhere > > in between. But the news media may only spend a couple or few days on > > a plain crash, depending upon spectacular or newsworthy it is considered, > > and people will learn and remember what they heard on these broadcasts > and > > NOT on the report that is issued maybe two years later. People will > think that > > they know what happened but this is just the illusion of knowledge. We > should > > not be surprised that similar things happen to other big news stories > like mass > > shootings. People have their own lives to live and unless they are > directly > > involved in the incidents will not really care to get the story straight > (i.e., do > > the hard work of following up what is learned and ultimately concluded). > > Paul Brandon > Emeritus Professor of Psychology > Minnesota State University, Mankato > [email protected] > > > > > --- > You are currently subscribed to tips as: [email protected]. > To unsubscribe click here: > http://fsulist.frostburg.edu/u?id=177920.a45340211ac7929163a0216244443341&n=T&l=tips&o=22546 > or send a blank email to > leave-22546-177920.a45340211ac7929163a0216244443...@fsulist.frostburg.edu > -- Carol DeVolder, Ph.D. Professor of Psychology St. Ambrose University 518 West Locust Street Davenport, Iowa 52803 563-333-6482 --- You are currently subscribed to tips as: [email protected]. To unsubscribe click here: http://fsulist.frostburg.edu/u?id=13090.68da6e6e5325aa33287ff385b70df5d5&n=T&l=tips&o=22547 or send a blank email to leave-22547-13090.68da6e6e5325aa33287ff385b70df...@fsulist.frostburg.edu
