A Rare Rant

This morning I sat in my living room, trying to keep my monster puppy from nibbling on my feet and attempting to watch the news like I do every morning before work. However, this morning I came across the same coverage I’d seen all weekend. If you’ve turned on your television since Friday, you know what I’m referring to.

All weekend long as I flipped through channels, the faces of the precious children and staff who lost their lives last week greeted me or a reporter stood in front of the school, making some claim on the “latest breaking news of the case.” But instead of thriving on the latest facts, I simply felt sorry for the poor families who are forced to see their lost loved ones or the shooter on television every single day.

Don’t get me wrong, I am in the news industry and I understand the importance of “breaking news” first. However, I think there is a line that the media has crossed and it frustrates me a lot. Since when have the (often inaccurate) goory details of the shooter’s life or the crime scene taken priority over the silent respect that should be given to help these families move on?

Speaking as someone who has lost a loved one recently, I can’t imagine how much more difficult it would have been to move forward when I am constantly reminded what I’ve lost. There is no need to play ominous music every time CNN comes back from a commercial and show the face of the shooter. We have sensationalized tragedy so much in this country that we no longer respect the situation. Ratings have taken the place of respect in our media today.

This will be my one and only rant on the topic. I know I am only contributing further to the “sensationalizing” of the situation by writing a blog post about this. However, this is something I feel strongly about, having gone through what these families are going through without the constant reminder by CNN or NBC.