Morgan Freeman on the shooting and a song.

[ponder85]

Came across this on facebook. Something I agree with completely and had discussed with some friends of mine prior to hearing Freeman's words about it. This is copied and pasted.

MORGAN FREEMAN ON THE SHOOTINGS YESTERDAY:

"You want to know why. This may sound cynical, but here's why.

It's because of the way the media reports it. Flip on the news and watch how we treat the Batman theater shooter and the Oregon mall shooter like celebrities. Dylan Klebold and Eric Harris are household names, but do you know the name of a single victim of Columbine? Disturbed people who would otherwise just off themselves in their basements see the news and want to top it by doing something worse, and going out in a memorable way. Why a grade school? Why children? Because he'll be remembered as a horrible monster, instead of a sad nobody.

CNN's article says that if the body count "holds up", this will rank as the second deadliest shooting behind Virginia Tech, as if statistics somehow make one shooting worse than another. Then they post a video interview of third-graders for all the details of what they saw and heard while the shootings were happening. Fox News has plastered the killer's face on all their reports for hours. Any articles or news stories yet that focus on the victims and ignore the killer's identity? None that I've seen yet. Because they don't sell. So congratulations­, sensationalist media, you've just lit the fire for someone to top this and knock off a day care center or a maternity ward next.

You can help by forgetting you ever read this man's name, and remembering the name of at least one victim. You can help by donating to mental health research instead of pointing to gun control as the problem."

The only two things I disagree with him is:

A) He calls the punk bitch who did this a man.

that he blames the media. I would argue it has to be taken a step further, and the blame be put on those watching: society as a whole. You can't blame a company for producing a product when so many people are begging to consume it.

Unfortunately, I must admit I'm guilty of knowing the names of the Columbine shooters, but couldn't begin to name a single person who was deceased, or who lived through that tragedy.

A song from my favorite band (Tool) which speaks directly about this type of stuff. Despite our efforts to convince ourselves otherwise, we eat this type of news up. Maynard states it well.

"]www.youtube.com/watch?v=OUGbu6Jcrmw

[Rosemary]

Thanks for posting this, very interesting ............

It is a sad state of affairs to be sure, and I do agree with him about the sensationalising of the event - it is a tragedy, and to take it to this extreme is in very poor taste.

"You can't blame a company for producing a product when so many people are begging to consume it"

I am sorry, but I disagree, just because some 'sad' people want this type of sensationalism doesn't mean the media have to throw all morals out of the window and give them what they want, and I do blame them for putting the victims and the family of the victims through this, day after day after day. The media does need to be held accountable, but how that will ever happen - I don't know

I prefer a newspaper that does the research, states the facts, and moves on without giving the killer the headlines he craves. Those newspapers are few and far between, but they are out there.

Ethics ..... an under-used word in this world of sensationalism.

[Elyse]

That's why I love (most) news stations in my country...they did a whole feature on the victims and they didn't really focus on the shooter as much. They listed their names, their ages, and told us each a little about each victim.

[LittleLuka]

CNN stated they wanted to speak the shooters name as less as possible.

[Rosemary]

CNN stated they wanted to speak the shooters name as less as possible.

I would prefer them to say they 'Will not mention his name at all'

[Paranormal Wolf]

Me and my Oh was talking about this and I agree with it. The media does a lot to perpetuate the 'fame' of those who commit such acts of atrocity. Killers become infamous and their names, faces, and stories are plastered across the tv and on the cover of magazines. Like mentioned not only is it the media it is the viewers who eat up the news as well. If stories of such violence didn't sell and appeal to the masses it wouldn't be as prominently displayed.

[ponder85]

I am sorry, but I disagree, just because some 'sad' people want this type of sensationalism doesn't mean the media have to throw all morals out of the window and give them what they want, and I do blame them for putting the victims and the family of the victims through this, day after day after day. The media does need to be held accountable, but how that will ever happen - I don't know

The problem is all the networks are competing for viewers. So if networks A, B, C, and D sensationalize it and glorify the killer, networks E and F have to follow suite, or they lose out on viewers. It's all about ratings. That's why I blame the consumer.

Could networks be more responsible? Absolutely. But if one network decided it wasn't going to interview the kids, for example, another network would step right in and do it. The driving force behind it is that people would tune in which ever network did it.

its easy to place blame on big tv networks, but i believe what's on tv is a reflection of what we want to watch. The changes have to start with us -the consumers. If we become more responsible with our viewing habits, coverage of tragedies such as this will follow.

Will it ever happen? Doubtful, unfortunately.

[Storm Angel n Auroras Mum]

I agree with it except for the bit about guns not being the issue.