Every aspect of the coverage I saw has been a shining example of everything wrong with "breaking news" journalism. They don't know, but they are on the air live so they speculate. They put a voice on the air who says he was in the theater without verification. This morning ABC News reported someone with the same name as the shooter is registered with the Tea Party but they couldn't confirm it was the same guy but George Stephanopoulos felt obligated to report the rumor (rumor turned out to be false, by the way). And in what may be the most crass and exploitative thing I've seen since George Bush told Brownie he was doin' a heck of a job, I watched as TV news put teenagers on camera to talk about the nightmare they had just witnessed. One kid said he could talk about it but his girlfriend was off cowering in a corner somewhere. Do I need to repeat that? Instead of comforting his girlfriend, the kid was reliving the horror on camera. Not the kid's fault -- he's a kid. But the TV reporter who interviewed the kid needs an ass-whooping. The TV reporter who doesn't say "You know what, you guys have enough to deal with, take care of yourselves, here's my card. Maybe once things have calmed down we can talk" needs to be run out of town.
It happened. We don't need to see the aftermath. We need to know what happened, how it happened, and what the proper response ought to be (nobody in local news is qualified to explain why it happened). Instead we get another pointless non-debate on guns (I say non-debate because neither side listens). Instead we get reports of police in cities across the country sweeping movie theaters for weapons which provides the illusion of safety without actually making anybody safer. Theater shootings will be the next boogeyman. And the media will hype every fistfight over a box of popcorn to play off of people's fears. On Fri, Jul 20, 2012 at 10:56 AM, Bob in Jersey <[email protected]> wrote: > > Kevin M.: >> >> Watching breaking news of multiple shots fired (at least 10 dead and >> 39 taken away by ambulance) and some sort of gas used on theatergoers >> during a Dark Knight Rises midnight showing in Aurora, Colorado. If I >> may ask an exasperated rhetorical question: What the hell is wrong >> with people? >> > > It's an autoimmune imbalance, Kev. Different people believe in different > ways to address it. 'Nuff said. > > > > -- > BOB > > -- > TV or Not TV .... The Smartest (TV) People! > You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google > Groups "TV or Not TV" group. > To post to this group, send email to [email protected] > To unsubscribe from this group, send email to > [email protected] > For more options, visit this group at > http://groups.google.com/group/tvornottv?hl=en -- Kevin M. (RPCV) -- TV or Not TV .... The Smartest (TV) People! You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "TV or Not TV" group. To post to this group, send email to [email protected] To unsubscribe from this group, send email to [email protected] For more options, visit this group at http://groups.google.com/group/tvornottv?hl=en
