Wednesday, February 21, 2018


I just saw a press conference with Rick Scott concerning ways to make schools safe from being shot up. So-called newspeople beating the same old drums. I suppose it's safe for them to base the debate on the tip of the iceberg, the guns – very nebulous subject, so many aspects, constitution and all. As usual nothing will happen and nobody will be clearly to blame for this. The whole discussion is getting creepier by the day – more and more of this weird pantomime dancing around the very obvious fact that the fault for these shootings and their escalating rate of occurrence lies squarely in the lap of the “news” media. If you're someone steadfastly clinging to the “lack of gun control” argument, I suggest you look to a simpler solution.  The pathway to celebrity must be blocked.

Let's just start small – no reward for the deed. No naming of the killer in the press. No images of him. No profiles. Just low-key reporting of the event. Nobody making money off it – no extra newspapers sold, no added revenue for the tv news sponsors. It's easy – maybe even an executive order is all it would take.

I would like to know why this argument is not being made. Is it really because the entertainment value of mass shootings offers an economic boost that cannot be turned away from? Or am I just missing something?



 


Sunday, February 18, 2018

getting to be old hat


Relating to the latest mass shooting, having observed the various newspapers fighting for newsstand dominance with the catchiest headline and tv networks outdoing each other in quest of audience share with the interminableness of their coverage, I couldn't help realizing this was the perfect, most elegant hypocrisy. Forget about gun control as a solution to the mass shooting epidemic. It's the media coverage that is the reward for these actions. Without the headlines and celebrity there would be little reason for these lonely white boys to carry out their fantasies. Surely the newspaper and television people know this, yet they continue providing the incentive. With every word of calculated regret and expression of horror, with the very same breath, they are setting the stage for the next one.

As I ate my public breakfast this morning surrounded by tv's, a woman down the way said in disgust of a talking head, “It's them that's causing it.” It was the first time I'd ever heard anybody point out that very obvious fact.
 
The only logical conclusion to draw is that it is intentional, else why would they do it? To take it a step further, maybe we, the people subconsciously enjoy the whole circus. Maybe deep down somewhere we get that good old relief that it wasn't us, wasn't our kids. If not, why do so many people buy the papers and watch the coverage when we know that encourages the media to continue the cycle?

I think we should face this fact: that mass shootings fall in the category of entertainment and therefore big business. If we face this, and feel wrong enough about it, then maybe something will be done to prevent them.