"Those who cannot remember the past are condemned to repeat it."
~ George Santayana
~ George Santayana
Columbine: What you think you know is probably wrong.
Ten years ago today, we all watched together as a terrible tragedy unfolded in Littleton, Colorado.
As a citizen of this world, I mark today as the anniversary of an indescribably sad event.
As a PR professional and a former newspaper reporter, I mark today as the anniversary of the beginning of the end of journalism.
Ten years ago today, media - professional and otherwise - were all so obsessed with getting the "breaking news" first-fast-right-now ... that we were inundated with speculation, half-truths and unconfirmed reports.
In the light of the tragic loss of life and the resultant loss of our collective sense of personal security, it might seem unimportant to some to "nitpick" the media coverage.
But - without downplaying the terrible events of that day - I disagree. I think it IS important to look at and understand how the media failed us ten years ago today. And how they continue to fail us every day by focusing on getting the story first instead of getting it right.
But it's also important to remember that the media are not doing this in a vacuum.
We - the consumers - are really the ones to blame. We want fast-food journalism. We demand it. We can't be bothered to take the time to actually learn about complicated issues and events ... just give us the Reader's Digest version, please. And make it snappy.
And so, the media delivers exactly what we want instead of what we need.
And we all live on in collective ignorance ... subscribing to the myths of misinformation that bloom from the seeds of shoddy journalism and an apathetic citizenry.
And we fail to learn.
And that only compounds the tragedy.
This is exactly why I stopped watching the news! I was a journalism major in college and objectivity does not exist. We are feed murder, arson, fears, rape...because it brings in good ratings. It's very hard to really know the truth anymore!
ReplyDeleteI hate how they try to cover a story non-stop for days. There just isn't enough real info to fill that much air time.
ReplyDeleteIt was a truly horrible event. I was only 19 when it happened, just one year out of high school. Scary stuff.
You know, this didn't start 10 years ago. It started in 1963, on a tragic day in November. Was Kennedy dead? Was Jackie? Was LBJ President???
ReplyDeleteNowadays we only see Cronkite speak the horrible truth, tear in his eye, but we forget that he was on the air within minutes of the shooting, and stayed there all day. TV viewers saw it all...as quickly as they could develop the film.
It only exacerbated since then, with Apollo 13, the George Wallace shooting, The Nixon election, etc etc. It reached a peak with 9/11, where the public demanded and needed news and fulfilled sadness every minute.
It won't ever stop, because new technology gets us closer to these things every second. Soon I think we'll be able to become our own journalists, instantly contacting neighbors or downloading data through microchips in our heads, even tho K is right. Sometimes the basics of the story are the entire story.
This is why Lindsay Lohan and Amy Winehouse fill the gaps between tragedies...we're insatiable, we are!