>The Target Demo Responds
>To all the networks, newspapers, local affiliates, magazines, et al.,
For me, April 16th marked the date of a national tragedy. For you, it signified a major news event. Wall-to-wall coverage. Sidebars. Exclusives. Breakouts. Local angles. Follow ups. Trust me, I know all about it; not so long ago, I was also pounding the pavement in search of a lead. But now I’m a thirty-something mom in the suburbs and as a member of your target demo, I have something important to tell you.
While I’m interested in the killer’s prior police record, I don’t want to hear speculation from “experts” on his motivation. I don’t want to read his life story or his screenplays or hear from a candidate for student council president who once tried to give him a piece of candy. I don’t want to know what he used to wear to class or how he signed his name and I don’t care that he got up at 5am on the morning of the shootings, brushed his teeth and put on moisturizer. I realize that he was sick and twisted. What more is there to say? All of this focus on every minute detail of his life feels wrong, particularly since it’s exactly what he would’ve wanted.
I don’t want to know whether my local college campuses are safe from a gunman’s rampage. If someone wants to buy two guns and kill a bunch of people, he’s going to figure out a way to do it, whether it’s on a campus or at a mall, and it’s very likely that no one will be able to predict it beforehand. Most of us have known a “twisted loner” in our lifetime- What are we supposed to do, have them all locked up in cages?
I don’t want to hear from the victims’ parents, brothers or sisters. They are suffering unimaginable grief right now and it sickens me to know that their phones are ringing off the hook with interview requests from CNN and Dateline and Good Morning America, that reporters are showing up on their doorsteps with their cameras and their microphones and their fake concern. I can’t imagine you’d appreciate this kind of attention if you had just lost your child; why are you putting others in this position?
I don’t want you to harass the parents of the gunman. They don’t deserve the kind of media attention they’re getting right now. They sound like decent, hard working people. Leave them alone.
I don’t want you to rehash every other school shooting that ever happened and re-interview the survivors and family members of victims.
I don’t want to hear accusations about what Virginia Tech should have done differently. Hindsight is 20/20. Why not focus instead on what they’ll do next?
I don’t want stories on how “Tragic events have shaped Generation Y” or that it was an “Unsettled Day on Campuses Across the Country” or see an “Interactive Graphic on The Rampage”. I don’t want to hear what Le Ann Rimes has to say about the shootings. I certainly don’t care that the “Editor of Virginia Tech Newspaper Has Scooped the Major Media” or that the presidents of South Korea and the Philippines have offered their condolences. It’s all totally irrelevant.
I realize that you’re simply airing what you believe will get the highest ratings. The shootings are what everyone’s talking about right now, so you’ve come up with all that’s even remotely related to the event to help fuel the flames. But all I want from you is responsible coverage. I want to know whether any of the victims were supporting children and how I can help those families. I want you to help us grieve as a nation for the victims in a sensitive and non-sensational way. I want you to tell me relevant new details about the story without murking it up with celebrity reactions and investigative reports on how easy it is to buy a gun.
Will any of you step up and act in the public’s best interest, rather than react to the tabloid-style coverage of your competition? I’d give you my attention, but would anyone else?
>Amen! From one former journalist to another….I totally hear you.Knowing what a ratings frenzy this is – totally sickens me as a mom too.
>THANK YOU!!! Seriously, thank you. You’re SO RIGHT. I watched the news last night–one of the major network news shows, and I thought to myself, “this guy doesn’t care AT ALL!! I can see in his eyes that he’s THRILLED to have some “big news” to report on and nitpick.” This post puts everything that I’ve been thinking into words. Thanks again.
>this is why i never watch tv
>AMEN! Thank you!
>Very well said.Last night I was sickened to see the killer’s roommate and suitemate featured on a news story. I was in disbelief that the news considered their perspectives on living with Cho and whether or not they were scared of him newsworthy.I’ve watched the news very seldom lately because of the sensationalized reporting.It just feels wrong. I suppose the ratings must indicate that some section of the viewing population wants that kind of reporting.Why – is truly beyond me. Thank you for so eloquently stating what many of us are feeling..
>Amen, sister.
>wow. way to give them the smack down.WHY don’t they get it?
>Yes, yes, YES! You have said it so much better than I tried to yesterday.
>Concur 100%! Could you send this to some paper – a “letter to the editor” type thing?
>”Will any of you step up and act in the public’s best interest, rather than react to the tabloid-style coverage of your competition?”,Don’t hold your breath.
>Well said Lindsay … very unfortunate that they won’t hear you though.
>Life’s totally different on this side of the news desk, isn’t it?I’m glad to be away from the business at a time like this.
>It’s almost as if we want to fast forward a week to when the dust settles and we can come up with some hard facts rather than mere speculation and drama – there’s quite enough real drama and misery without having to milk it.Best wishes
>Ironically, this post has been picked up by Internet Broadcasting Systems, which means it’s running on TV stations’ websites across the country in the section covering the VA Tech shootings. So some of them are unwittingly running the message!
>Thanks for this.
>I knew none of this, because?I HAVE HAD ALL NEWS MEDIA TURNED OFF. That’s what we all need to do. JustTurnTheGODDAMThingOFF.Go on a News Diet. It’s good for the soul.
>Ugh. Well said. I have way too many thoughts on this to leave in a comment.
>I’d not only give them my attention–I’d be in awe. I have been disgusted by almost all of the coverage. It’s actually bordering on the obscene.
>AMEN sista, AMEN.You touched ALL the points my husband and I have said over and over with this…and every OTHER major happening…the media likes to beat the horse TILL it is dead…and then beat it some more.
>I don’t watch televised news anymore for this very reason. It’s sickening. What’s really sad is so many people are complaining about it…yet continue to watch.
>Longtime lurker and former reporter, assignment editor and video editor here to say, “Word.” I’ve had the news *off* nonstop to keep my kids from hearing this stuff. When I was fresh out of school, I asked a veteran reporter how he dealt with interviewing grieving parents. He assured me that it was easier than it might seem: “You get them while they’re still in shock.” I still get chills thinking about that. So glad to be out of the industry.
>I totally agree with you. I don’t watch television news either because I can’t stand the sensationalism. I won’t watch internet videos either. I want to say, “Stop giving criminals so much attention! It just feeds the monster!” Ugh. I feel so awful for the families of the victims and the killer. I wish the media would just leave them alone to grieve and stop talking about healing all the time, too.Very well-worded post.
>The line has now totally blurred between “legitimate” news and tabloid news.
>My mother is both an alumnus of Virginia Tech and a former producer for ABC’s World News Tonight. Yesterday was the first time she realized how irresponsible the media can be. Not only was her alma mater struck by horrible tragedy but she also felt betrayed by her own colleagues. It was an awful moment for her. Thank you for saying what most of us are feeling.
>I agree with most of your post. I haven’t turned on the tv news for reports of this tragedy, but even my beloved NPR has been resembled mainstream media when covering this story. I’m totally confused and haven’t been able to put a coherent post on my own blog about this horrible tragedy. In other news, almost 200 people were killed by car bombs in Iraq today.
>In light of the horrific loss of life (I have a child at a different university and how can I not be affected) I felt a little guilty for channel surfing to find some innocuous, funny movie to watch instead of the saturating coverage which served only to further the careers of certain folks.I second what someone else said–Amen, sister!
>Where is the rest of the news? And I pretty much agree, except for the investigative reports on how easy it is to buy a gun. How about pushing for some gun reform to possibly prevent this from happening all over again?
>Amen!
>Well said! I can’t even bear to turn on the news anymore…
>It’s Sports Center or the Weather Channel for my son and me from now on. I will not give this deranged boy any more of my thoughts and time. It is what he wants and I will not be complicent in his plan. Shame on the media and shame on me for taking this long to turn it off. I know a student at Tech who was personally affected by this and she and all of the Hokie family need our prayers not our morbid curiosity. Thanks for the reality check.
>Thank you very much for stating the obvious, it’s so sad that the networks and the news professionals just don’t get it, I guess we all just have to turn off our tv’s, that’s the only way they will get the message.
>Yep. Though do you think they care what we think? & how we’d like to see these stories covered?
>I could not agree more!!!! This type of “coverage” only will inspire others.
>This is really a concise essay as to the problems with our media as a whole. Perhaps it’s the 24-hour news cycle that’s the problem; perhaps it’s that, as consumers, we tune in. We did after 9/11, and why not? As a nation, our collective grief was unimaginable. We tuned in for something, anything, to give us hope and comfort. We saw journalists break down; we saw, temporarily, divisions broken down. But one of the downsides of the 9/11 coverage, most of which I think was pretty good, is that we now have this pervasion of grief porn. Instead of focusing on things to help remedy what little we can remedy, we have exactly what you pointed out in your post. Accusation, hyperbole, details about the sad life of a mass murderer, attention on all the wrong things. Well done.
>Like the kid they interviewd for the news who said “I just can’t get over it – I said “hi” to a killer.” Wow – that was pushing it for an interview, you think? Someone who said “hi” once!?I cry seeing roadkill nowadays, so I stay far far (FAR) away from the news. Mine comes from the headlines when I check my mail. I agree with kelly on her “grief porn” comment. The same with Katrina…the tsunami? I think so. Not everyone, but lots exploited it for all it was ‘worth’. Well written, Lindsey…glad you turned the comments on!
>Amen! I won’t watch or listen to any more stories about the gunman, because that not only dishonors the dead and grieving, it gives him just what he wanted…..to be the center of attention, whatever the cost. My prayers go out to his family, as well as the families of those he murdered and injured. The media are irresponsible in focusing on him and the details of his acts (ratings above responsibility!) and should be held accountable if some other psychotic person decides to copycat what they are seeing and hearing. For God’s sake, for the sake of the victims, drop the story line about the shooter! He wanted to make it “all about him” and they are doing just that!
>Thank you! You put words to my feelings…
>AMEN! I actually grew up (and still live close to) the town where the gunamn went to HS and 2 of the vitoms also went to HS. You cant even go to the grocery store near there without seeing satellite trucks everywhere. Its ridiculous the way the media has spent most of its time on the gunman and his motives. What I want to know is what I can do to help my community heal.
>Families have pulled out from interviews…GOOD FOR THEM
>A-FREAKIN’-MEN.
>Reuters just picked up this post, too. They’re actually listening! More than 20,000 people have read this post now via TV news and newspaper websites. I really believe that most news people feel the same way I do (having been a news person myself), but they feel powerless (like I did) to take a stand because they’re desperately afraid of losing the jobs they fought so hard to get.
>AMEN!!!
>Thank you. Well said.
>Thank you, Lindsay. I continue to be appalled at what passes for news and the constant “crawl” that now is ubiquitous. I’m not watching much of this.My daughter was a student at a small idyllic college in the Berkshires when there was a campus rampage some years ago – several people were killed & wounded. Words can’t begin to describe this – the impact of this kind of event – and not just on those who lost family members, but the long-term ramifications. The media coverage, style, tone and second-guessing are ghoulish and irresponsible. It turns these horrible events into a cliche, and just ‘inspires’ more crazies who have a grudge against the world. Unfortunately, the more people watch, the more it will continue.
>you speak my heart… thank you,.erika
>AMEN SISTER! This is what I have been thinking all week!
>According to this link networks are now restricting how much air time the videos and photos are able to be aired to 6 minutes and hour. I still think even that is too much, but at least the networks are responding to the public’s cry to knock it off already.http://www.startribune.com/484/story/1132567.html
>Amen.
>If it bleeds, it leads. Surely none of us is a stranger to that media credo. On the one hand, I think it would be awesome if the media knew we didn’t want this kind of coverage, but on the other hand, I also wonder if they even give a damn what we want.They’ll run what they want to run because they’re in competition for ratings. And if one network takes the high road and doesn’t run it, someone else will. ~Monica
>May I say, among your 20,000 other readers, amen sister, I couldn’t agree with you more if there 3 of me.