Virginia Tech...It happens once again...
Today, April 16, 2007, the nation is once again subject to horrific events. Sometime this morning (roughly 7:15 east coast time) on the campus of Virginia Tech thrity-two people are dead, thirty-one vitims and one shooter. Many more people are wounded between the two locations of the shooting. This is the largest school shooting in fifty years. Those are the details I have heard from news reporters and the cell phone videos I saw upon the news. These images are accompanied with the title of a "horrific event" and "the worst school shooting in US history".
This story really hits home for me. I am a college student. This shooting happened in a college. See the link? But seriously. It makes one wonder who this shooter was, what kind of person he/she was. Do I live with that kind of person? Is my roommate planning a mass killing of his own? What I fear more is that people would expect me to be this kind of person. On a regular basis I get a stream of remarks implying that my friends think that I am an asshole/jerk/dick/etc. Do they now fear me, after I have seen the "bravery" of another individual? Do my friends know so little about me that they would think that, or do I know so little about my friends that I am wary of them?
But now it seems to have subsided, at least that is for today. I pray to my God that nothing happens tommorow or the next day as a result of today. But now, the events are finished and it is time for really horrific events to start.
Please, do not get me wrong. I do not think that there is any thing good about what happened this morning. Please understand that I truly believe this was a horrible event, but I believe that what will follow is more horrible. I speak of what makes me question why I am a pre-journalism major. I speak of what I think about when I look in the mirror each day, when I look into myself to see if I am what becomes of a journalism major.
My qualm is with the media. I have always had a problem with how it works around tragic events. In specific, I have a problem with the longevity of coverage on a single event. Yes, I know the events were tragic. Yes, I know that many people suffered unjustly. Yes, I know the public has a right to know what happened. But I do not believe that the public needs to be reminded 24/7 for the two to three weeks following a major event. I do believe that if something new developes then yes we should be informed. But during that informing, we do not need an entire recap of what happened because chances are that we heard the story origionally when or around the time that it happened. Tell us the new facts and be done with it.
I remember September 11th. I remember hearing while I was in the locker room changing for gym class in 7th grade. I remember the teacher putting on the news during Language Arts/Social Studies so we could hear the details. Those are the details I remember. The ones I heard when they were new. There is no need to replay them. I also remember hearing on the news that night that some of the elderly and a few others who were not quite in their right mind that day thought that the attacks happened more than once. The reporter went on to say that it was because of the repeated showing of the clip of the plane hitting the towers. So obviously the press knew they were doing something wrong, they openly admitted that what they were doing resulted in something bad.
Sadly I can say with confidence that ever since and ever after this kind of thing has and will happen over and over. This is what worries me about me being a pre-journalism major. Will I end up being forced to cover something long beyond its necessity? Only time will tell.
This story really hits home for me. I am a college student. This shooting happened in a college. See the link? But seriously. It makes one wonder who this shooter was, what kind of person he/she was. Do I live with that kind of person? Is my roommate planning a mass killing of his own? What I fear more is that people would expect me to be this kind of person. On a regular basis I get a stream of remarks implying that my friends think that I am an asshole/jerk/dick/etc. Do they now fear me, after I have seen the "bravery" of another individual? Do my friends know so little about me that they would think that, or do I know so little about my friends that I am wary of them?
But now it seems to have subsided, at least that is for today. I pray to my God that nothing happens tommorow or the next day as a result of today. But now, the events are finished and it is time for really horrific events to start.
Please, do not get me wrong. I do not think that there is any thing good about what happened this morning. Please understand that I truly believe this was a horrible event, but I believe that what will follow is more horrible. I speak of what makes me question why I am a pre-journalism major. I speak of what I think about when I look in the mirror each day, when I look into myself to see if I am what becomes of a journalism major.
My qualm is with the media. I have always had a problem with how it works around tragic events. In specific, I have a problem with the longevity of coverage on a single event. Yes, I know the events were tragic. Yes, I know that many people suffered unjustly. Yes, I know the public has a right to know what happened. But I do not believe that the public needs to be reminded 24/7 for the two to three weeks following a major event. I do believe that if something new developes then yes we should be informed. But during that informing, we do not need an entire recap of what happened because chances are that we heard the story origionally when or around the time that it happened. Tell us the new facts and be done with it.
I remember September 11th. I remember hearing while I was in the locker room changing for gym class in 7th grade. I remember the teacher putting on the news during Language Arts/Social Studies so we could hear the details. Those are the details I remember. The ones I heard when they were new. There is no need to replay them. I also remember hearing on the news that night that some of the elderly and a few others who were not quite in their right mind that day thought that the attacks happened more than once. The reporter went on to say that it was because of the repeated showing of the clip of the plane hitting the towers. So obviously the press knew they were doing something wrong, they openly admitted that what they were doing resulted in something bad.
Sadly I can say with confidence that ever since and ever after this kind of thing has and will happen over and over. This is what worries me about me being a pre-journalism major. Will I end up being forced to cover something long beyond its necessity? Only time will tell.
posted by Danny at 3:01 PM
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