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Super_Cyan  ·  3199 days ago  ·  link  ·    ·  parent  ·  post: Shooting in chattanooga, 5 dead.

    I want to hear about memorials for the victims, community support, calls for law changes, I want to see news about shit actually changing. I am so sick of knowing more about the shooter than ANY of the victims.

The media shouldn't really say anything. They should make it a normal story, give a factual rundown of the events, and show a community response. They shouldn't turn it into a headline and immediately go into 24/7 coverage with "experts" and witnesses. They should report it like any other daily homicide and move on.

Mass shootings are too rare to really prove that sensational news coverage causes more people to pick up guns and start mowing people down, but why risk it? A twisted person looking for some quick fame doesn't turn on the TV and see a shooter get punished, they see them get their name in lights. They see a name and face plastered over every channel - their entire life exposed for everyone to see. For a person that wants to "go down in style" or "die to send a message", grabbing a gun and taking a few people out seems the best way to accomplish their goal. A loss in extra money seems worth more than putting innocent lives at stake.

Think about the families of the victims. If you had a loved one that was brutally murdered, would you want to see the killer every time you turn on the TV, while you're still trying to grieve? Would you want to live knowing that your best friend or close family member's death really doesn't mean anything, but what the shooter ate for breakfast is considered breaking news? It's the reason that bringing up 9/11 every single year is so brutal - it throws salt in wounds that might have not yet healed. The media is doing nothing more than torturing people who lost a loved one for no other reason than more money.

The last thing this country needs is more fear mongering. It doesn't need a "Killer of the Week" to showcase with day and night coverage. It doesn't need another person to "show" how Americans are fighting death every time they go to work. It doesn't need a new threat that's going to kill us all. The only thing that this country needs is news media that isn't trying to scare them.