I sometimes think the media persists in broad and extended coverage of the aftermaths of such events so as to bring viewers to a level of subconscious sharing of guilt because as fellow human beings, we all bear some responsibility in what has happened.
This kind of coverage doesn’t necessarily facilitate a healing process as much as it tries, however enthusiastically, to develop a particular emotional connection with both the victims and the perpetrator.
Ann, I know you’re not anti-love or pro-hate...Some people would rather just feel than be brave enough to think and it’s not as though you can’t do both.
—I sometimes think the media persists in broad and extended coverage of the aftermaths —
It’s one of the things I gladly miss since dumping TV in 1997. That kind of stuff is not news. It is voyeurism and gossip.
I got chastised by a liberal acquaintance for not caring about what’s happening at Penn State. Why should I? There are worse travesties going on all over the country and world. The only reason everyone “cares” about Penn State is that it is what is being reported.
If I had children attending there or thinking about attending, I’m be interested. But I would then make the decisions I need to make and move on. The only thing that would have made this a bigger story than me is if the guy had been found not guilty. I’d want to know why everyone was so sure he was if a jury decided he wasn’t. But that didn’t happen. End of story.
Same with this. I know nobody in Colorado and a lot more people were killed in car accidents that same day. Sure, I want to know it actually happened, with whatever particulars there are, but the next day it is yesterday’s news.
When the jury reaches its verdict, it will be news to me that day too. But the day after that it will be “yesterday’s news”.
Dumping tv sure simplified my life...