Why is a local murder-suicide all over the news?

[Ron Green]

Shootings are so commonplace in this toxic culture; what is it about this one that commands wall-to-wall reportage pushing even the American railroad heroes off the front page?

Young and attractive victims? A disgruntled former employee? Sadly, these are not rarities in the ultraviolent USA. it seems the real difference here is that is was on live TV, and available for replay. In other words, it was ENTERTAINMENT.

This is where we're at, folks. There's no longer any difference between news and entertainment, 'cause it all serves the same purpose - whether it be senseless killing of young people beginning their careers or senseless rantings of old people trying to bring their malfeasance into political office.

[Agschmid]

1. Social media.

[Travis_0004]

2. It happened live on TV.

And things that are out of the norm get reported.

2 people get shot in Chicago. Nobody cares. It happens everyday.

News reporters don't get shot every day on live TV, so it gets media coverage.

[alcibiades_mystery]

8. People care when 2 people get shot in Chicago

[dsc]

27. honestly it is hard to make the case people do

if we did, then we might do something about it.

[phasma ex machina]

24. There's also a strong religious component to violence.

Facing the Myth of Redemptive Violence
By Walter Wink

The belief that violence “saves” is so successful because it doesn’t seem to be mythic in the least. Violence simply appears to be the nature of things. It’s what works. It seems inevitable, the last and, often, the first resort in conflicts. If a god is what you turn to when all else fails, violence certainly functions as a god. What people overlook, then, is the religious character of violence. It demands from its devotees an absolute obedience-unto-death.

[snagglepuss]

50. interesting.Walter Wink is going on my must read lsit.

[Ed Suspicious]

31. This.

[kelliekat44]

59. It happened to the media. nt

[PeaceNikki]

3. Because it happened on live TV

That doesn't happen everyday

[pintobean]

4. I wasn't entertained, and fuck you for saying that we were.

[Iggo]

10. .

[NutmegYankee]

28. +1000 nt

[seveneyes]

5. Too many people living in poserville

[Brickbat]

6. WTF is this shit right here?

[Texasgal]

7. Well, thank you for accusing

us that followed the story to be "entertained".

The absolute condensation of your post is beyond disgusting. So sorry that I am not as smart and bright as you are to just dismiss this debacle as "entertainment".

UGH.

[Ron Green]

12. Then help me understand why this particular killing

is playing so widely, and wildly. And I'm not accusing you of being entertained; I accuse the media of these decisions.

[jeff47]

14. Sure! Except for the part where you accused everyone of being entertained.

If that was not your intention, you should probably spend more time looking at your posts as an external reader.

[Texasgal]

15. Well, maybe

because it was a NEWS CREW doing a NEWS story that was recorded?

Really?

[Bluenorthwest]

9. I find this post to be sort of repulsive, but lots of your posts are repulsive so that's certainly

not news.

[cigsandcoffee]

11. Was the Hindenburg disaster - many decades ago - also entertainment?

Is that where we we were at then?

[Ron Green]

13. Dirigibles did not explode into flames every day.

But innocent people are shot to death in America, every day.

That's the difference, right?

[ScreamingMeemie]

38. Suicides happen every day...

...yet, when Pennsylvania treasurer Budd Dwyer killed himself on live television it was breaking, continuous news across the country. But this has been explained over and over again.

[cigsandcoffee]

62. Wrong. News reporters are shot on-air at about the same frequency as dirigible disasters. n/t

[Joe the Revelator]

16. Get off your high horse....

It was a shooting, live of TV, or journalists in America, where there has not been a killing (of journalists) for 8 years. It's a pretty big deal.

[Hekate]

17. I hope a couple of people hav Alerted on you. Really.

[ScreamingMeemie]

18. When Budd Dwyer shot himself on television in 1987, one station

in our town played it over and over, and it was all the national news did that day "Breaking News" stories even when there wasn't. They did not show the actual footage, but some played the audio. This is not new. When a murder/suicide happens on live television, it tends to be big news. Take a breath. And no, I was not entertained as a 17-year-old. I had nightmares about that televised suicide for years.

[Agschmid]

44. I'd never heard of that...

Wow, and it appears he was innocent?

[Ron Green]

19. I just turned on a TV set, did a lap around the channels, and

it's still on everywhere. Why is this so big? Because it was TV reporters? Journalistic standards would not allow that particular occupation to be specially treated. The only real difference is the live immediacy of the event.

And to those in this thread thinking they're being accused of something, get a grip. I'm talking about the actions of media producers.

[pintobean]

20. Everybody knows exactly what's going on.

We have a grip. No one is that dense.

[ScreamingMeemie]

21. You've been answered several times.

[Texasgal]

22. I think it's you that

needs to get a GRIP!

Would you say the same thing about Daniel Pearl? Reported wildly WITH A VIDEO! Hello?

Your condensation is CRAP.

[Ilsa]

23. For-profit media covering for-profit media. It bleeds,

It leads. They treated it as the only bad thing to happen in 24 hours, but I doubt these two are the only people murdered over the last day.

[steve2470]

25. Would you rather be viewing Kim Kardashian ?.....

To address you seriously, it is not entertainment and it is shocking. It illustrates the lie of the NRA in vivid gory horrible live action. It's a horrible shocking event that happened to two innocent people, and on live TV to two completely innocent journalists.

I don't have an issue with this. You certainly do. Turn off your TV.

[Go Vols]

26. :/

[Don Lemon]

29. You're getting a lot of shit for speaking the truth

Looks like some people here are a little too defensive about the entertainment they got out of today.

Yes, America, you love watching this shit, but you don't ever actually do anything about it.

[Ron Green]

33. They (the media) can't help it. I just saw a piece on CNN

in which a kind of media critic-pop psychologist went on about the killer's motive and why these guys keep breaking new ground, etc.
Then they touted an upcoming Trump segment, went to a Cialis commercial, and now they're back with an unbelievably mawkish and weepy piece about the murdered young people, as if to honor them in a high school sort of way but in my view just invasive and exploitative.
I'm in the hospital, which is why I have access to a TV. I'm appalled not only at what broadcasters have come to, but the apparent gullibility of many folks in this thread.

[ScreamingMeemie]

36. Why are you picking and choosing who you respond to?

I was honest in my assessment (which doesn't meld with yours but was respectful), and you skip right by it. Several people have spelled it out clearly for you. Appalled is a rather heavy word. Part of taking part in a discussion is actually "listening." That doesn't appear to be happening here. What I see is a talking over.

Best wishes for your health.

[Ron Green]

45. I remember the Budd Dwyer event, and also thought

it was overdone at that time. So what that says to me is that the horrific excitement is what the producers go for. And now that it's a 24-hour deal, there's no escaping it. What about the real issues a democracy needs to thrive?

[ohheckyeah]

32. Moneta, where

the shooting occurred, has a population of less than 10,000. The biggest city nearby has only about 100,000. These type of things don't happen often and many people know each other. Not to mention it happened on live tv.

People from all over the world travel here for the fall foliage so it touches people from all over.

[phylny]

48. I live in Moneta, on the Bedford side.

This is absolutely unheard of in this area (gun-loving, hunter's paradise, I might add).

The homicides we've had in the past are almost always due to a domestic dispute/domestic violence or "love triangle" types of situations. Plus, Bridgewater Plaza is such a family-oriented place. I was just there Friday with some of my nieces/nephew.

And I agree with you and others that say the fact that it happened on live TV is probably the main reason it's been so televised.

[jberryhill]

34. It was a newscaster and there is video

Otherwise, you are right. People get shot every day.

[melman]

35. How could this not be a big story?

Seriously, how could it not?

[Ron Green]

40. I think that's my point. The fact that it HAS to be wall-to-wall,

even though many others are killed every day, depends only on its videotaping. What does this say about journalism? What are the elements of this story that put it in the same rotation as Trump vs Ramos?

[madinmaryland]

37. The NRA. Anyone who supports that industry of death does not belong here

FUCK THE NRA

[sarisataka]

39. ENTERTAINMENT???

Seek help- seriously

[davidthegnome]

41. Could have maybe worded that differently.

Others have pointed out that - yes, this happened live on TV - and that is indeed (fortunately) a rarity. I do understand what you're saying in regards to the media and to some extent you are right. Yes, murder-suicides that happen on live tv probably boost their ratings, much like the Trumpgasm the stations seem to have been having lately. You will find though, that these things often make people sit up and pay attention - and we need people to pay attention. We need people to care about these things, to be willing to do what can be done. Many are trying, whether through gun legislation or outreach programs, whether in their personal or professional lives.

As sad as it is... this is often what it takes to get the attention of the American public. I don't think it's entertainment though, I think that anyone who watches (or participates in) mass media has seen, heard, and read so much terrible shit that it takes something different, something terrible, to make us sit up and say "what the fuck?"

All that being said - the media does indeed love it's ratings. I'm sure there are cynics and sadists out there who's first thought is "damn, that's going to give us a great boost!" I'm sure that some people find it preferable to watching whatever other crap they normally watch on tv, perhaps it offers a break in the boring routine of their daily lives.

What we need to ask ourselves, I think, is why we are even having this discussion. How did it get so bad that it is even conceivable? What can we do to alter it?

[hfojvt]

46. the local news seems to be almost ALL entertainment

they even do segments about Dancing with the stars or whatever other show they are using the news to promote. So what am I watching? The news? or access Hollywood?

Then some of the other stories though. Whenever there is a shooting - that is a story. Fatal or serious car accident - also a story.

What, really, is the point of those stories? Will I run into a friend and ask "Did you hear about the accident on I-35, some people neither of us know got killed". Is my friend gonna say "I did NOT know that. Damn, I gotta start watching channel 5 to keep informed."

Then, of course, at least 5 minutes of the 22 non-commercial minutes is taken up with sports. Lots of people ARE interested in sports, but that is just entertainment.

Entertainment, people do not seem to understand, is not always entertaining. Sometimes it can be sad, like "Where the Red Fern grows" or the famous doggie snuff film - Old Yeller.

Probably not much we can do about it. Myself, since the TV quit picking up a month ago or so, I hardly watch any TV, have stopped watching two hours of news most days. I do not really miss it, but I haven't finished my book yet either.

[Beta Male]

42. Don Henley nailed it in 1982

It's interesting when people die/Eat your dirty laundry

[Spitfire of ATJ]

43. They're putting every reporter doing a remote in danger with that snuff film.

[Laffy Kat]

47. I brought this up earlier and was called "cold"

Had me double-thinking myself for a while and yet I still have to agree with you. The entire tragedy will be reduced to entertainment for a couple of days and then it will back to the current Trump-A-Thon.

[Recursion]

49. Live TV. Attractive white female victim.

It's the entire theory behind Lifetime Movies of the Week.

If Ward had been the only one shot, it would have been somewhat noteworthy because it was on live TV, but it wouldn't have gone viral like it did (and I probably wouldn't know his name).

[applegrove]

51. Journalists are a community.

[valerief]

52. Blond white woman. nt

[Nye Bevan]

58. Right. Had she been a brunette this would not have been a story.

[merrily]

53. Obviously, media tend to cover people in their own profession disproportionately, even in ordinary

obituaries, and this happened on camera, while the killed and injured were broadcasting news, which is not the case in most shootings. Those are the only legit things I can think of.

[romanic]

54. "Entertainment"

are you for real?

[malaise]

55. Are you watching this non-stop interview with the boyfriend on CNN370?

Shaking head.

[Oneironaut]

56. It's funny that ppl here think news stations actually care. It is "entertainment" to them.

They want ratings. They're going to milk this disaster for as long as they can and then return back to your regularly scheduled Trump love-fest.

There's some executive somewhere who jumps for joy every time something bad happens because he knows a ratings boost is going to happen. Then, they'll reach into their pool of insufferable commentators to talk about the disaster like they know anything about it. This usually includes some NRA loser who wants us to leave his precioussss alone.

[ibegurpard]

57. Did anyone ever actually watch "Bowling for Columbine"?

It wasn't an anti-gun screed...it was a scathing indictment of the media and the NRA.

[djean111]

60. TV news is really just entertainment, ratings, and money now.

It really does not matter what the viewers want.
And this is why so many people do not bother with the news at all; I cannot remember the last time I watched the news on TV. No one in my household watches TV except for me. And I mostly do not watch network TV. And I click past the commercials, and will likely not see even one campaign ad.

I would say we are in the "bread and circuses" phase of civilization here, except the bread is pretty much processed crap and no one is giving it away. JMO and all that.

[Vinca]

61. You're correct. Another incident in Louisiana is getting crickets.