What is Wrong With… Media??
This post is about the Virginia Tech tragedy, (I refuse to label it a massacre out of respect to the fallen and their families and call it what it truly is… a tragedy) and the response of the Media (specifically the television).
Seriously, what has happened to the ethics of news reporting in this country (I already know the answer and will inform you after you've considered all the facts). Seriously... WTF!? The topics that instantly arose on all media outlets, from Nancy Grace's baseless opinion show that has only been talking about Anna Nicole Smith (may she rest in peace), to MSNBC's sensational leftism to Fox News' "Fair and Balanced" Right-ness, were; violence in Hollywood and video games (the usual suspect); gun control; the reaction of the police; and speculation about the murderer (who I shall refer to only as "monster" from now on) and the least focus was on the victims.
I imagine the media getting the call from whomever it is that calls these things into the stations and the boss saying to the most famous anchors, correspondents and camera crews "Get the ******** down there, I want to know everything about everything!", then I imagine them all getting into their satellite-clad vans and helicopters and racing down to the campus in lightning speed, frothing at the mouth the whole time. It invokes reactions in me that only Don Henley's hit "Dirty Laundry" (midi, lyrics) can explain. Once there, the news crews set up camp. They interviewed everyone, broke into dorms to show how easy it is to gain access, and exposed every loophole in security on the campus to rub it in. But the real problem that I have with these events is the commercialization of it.
Think about your typical news broadcast. The good looking news man 
or woman reads from the teleprompter with a dismay in his/her eye, spewing out the latest insensitivity, 33 dead reports one station (counting the monster), 32 from another that has a little more of a proclivity to ethics in not counting the monster amongst the victims. Then they chew out the words "We'll have the latest for you after this break". And this is the part that really rips my heart apart… After the fade out and some news music consisting of trumpets, other horns and bass drums, (accompanied by a graphic that is usually of a flag waving or the logo), you hear "EATINNNNNN GOOOOOOOD…. IN THE NEIGHBORHOOOD" or "COME ON DOWN TO TIRE SHACK AND YOU'LL GET HALF OFF THIS WEEK ONLY!!!". Let me just get one thing out of the way, I am a major proponent of capitalism, I love it, but there is a line, it is not even a fine line, and we have made it more than OK to cross it, we have made it necessary for media to survive and thrive. The TV shows will tell you that they are deeply saddened and send their condolences and sympathies to the families and loved ones of the fallen, but then they play a commercial about how good your next vacation could be. In situations like this, in tragedies, in any national story, there is always one winner… the MEDIA, how many millions they have made off this most recent tragedy is only known to those who know, that is the bottom line in all tragedies, it is the bottom line in all things, it is a thing that is great, yet awful at the same time… that thing is….....................
YOU GUESSED IT!
$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$.
This is especially true in the Virginia Tech situation with the "Multimedia Manifesto" which was sent to NBC, where it was slightly redacted, yet it still gave the monster what he wanted and was extremely disrespectful to the victims. Of course they have the right to show whatever they want, but there needs to be some form of ethics, sadly, in my estimation, the only thing that will be remembered from this sickening event will be the monster's multimedia manifesto. It is, of course naive to think that it could have been kept away from the information super-highway that is the internet, especially with the rise of YouTube, et al. But the manifesto should have been made available only to the psychiatrists/ psychologists, and law enforcement officials to study, I fear that it will inspire others, in the way that this monster was inspired by past monsters such as the Collumbine monsters, and other mass murderers who pray upon the defenseless.
Yet, now this monster is immortalized, just like he wanted, and a week has gone by for us still alive, and the deceased have just begun their eternity.
There is one more tidbit I'd like to add: My father once told me "Son, believe half of what you see, a quarter of what you hear, and none of what you're told" that was in 1992, I would like to amend that statement to fit today's time because I am a cynical jerk.:
"Believe none of what you see, none of what you hear, none of what you're told
and believe all of what you read on this blog."
Now I have to apologize for that post but its just something I had to get off my chest, there is so much more to say, but you probably will not read that either. Tune in soon for a post about Imus, The Presidential Race and Global Warming! You'll be shocked! ALSO please do not click on my links while this post is on the front page, to avoid hypocracy (I have deleted a few that I could to make it easier)
Oh yea... Ethics in this country have gone down the toilet.
As always...
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