In reviewing how this horrible event is being covered by the media, we see some pretty typical and predictable elements in their stories. For example, there are tributes to the "naive and innocent victims."
And there are stories about the "heroes" that helped save the day.
CNN has a minute by minute account. And a look into the gunman's perch.
Fox has a story featuring the victims and this: Stories of heroism emerge following deadly Vegas shooting. And of course, they use this to attack a Democrat (duh): Hillary Clinton shamelessly politicizes Las Vegas massacre.
And of course, both have lots of video where you can watch the shooting happen. How sick is that?
I wonder how long it will take to face the reality of what is undeniably behind this--the presence of far too many guns in our society. Consider this, from the Washington Post:
Don't believe it has to do with the guns? Read this and tell me why!?!?!?! Gun violence in America, explained in 17 maps and charts
Yes, it has begun, the media questioning of why Congress does nothing. This from the New York Times: 477 Days. 521 Mass Shootings. Zero Action From Congress.
We just have to accept that, we simply don't care. I personally knew this was true when 20 six and seven year olds had their heads and faces blown off in an elementary school in 2012. Even that didn't cause us to do anything. And so this just keeps happening, over and over and over and over and ...
When I woke up October 2nd and checked my phone to see what time it was, the first thing I saw was the numerous alerts from the news app on my Iphone. CNN, The Washington post, Los Angeles Times, and many more all sent me notifications that were similar. "Mass Shooting" "Biggest Mass Shooting" appeared repeatedly in the titles. I proceeded to get up and get ready for class, cutting on my TV and turning it to the news channels to get more information about what happened.
ReplyDeleteAs I continue to read articles and watch news segments all I could think about was this class, Media and Crime for many aspects. One, being the mass coverage of the same thing with very little facts. Every news source had a story running about the mass shooting, but very little information to offer about the shooter itself. At the time, there were only 50 announced dead and they were calling it the "deadliest mass shooting in america" though it was only 1 more death than what occurred at Pulse night club in orlando. Fox news took the time to interview people who were there and helped, the "heros". This fits perfectly into what we discussed in class about narratives.
One thing that angered me is the coverage of the shooter, which some would argue is a direct reflection of white privilege. This man shot into a crowed of 30,000 people and is still being described as a "quiet" and "nice" guy, who minded his business and gambled excessively. I've seen the word terrorism once come up, and this was when they were asking if this should be counted as an act of terrorism, when I think it's safe to say if this was a muslim man there would be no question about it. In fact, the media would be going crazy, covering a "Terrorist attack on american soil". But, because it was a white american man, they are skeptical about calling it such. White Privilege?
Another thing that angers me is the immediate response of conservative americans ALREADY arguing about their rights to bare arms gun, almost like they foresee the conversation of gun control being bought up once again. And they are absolutely right in that the conversation will surface again, that it MUST surface again. I agree that there are far too many guns on the streets of america, and I also pose the question, How long will it take us to face this reality?
I agree with this. I believe that the way the media is portraying the events are taking away from the fact of what the causes and solutions of the problem can be. I was discussing with a friend about the event and he told me it was the deadliest that has happened in a while and I was like it probably is similar to other times with numbers but we are not sure yet. This also had to do with what we are currently studying which is the violence and race, because it is a white man positive and calmly things are being said. If it was a person of color they would not be so nice about their comments towards the man. I agree that there are too many guns in America.
ReplyDeleteThe media can turn a tragedy into full out entertainment in a matter of seconds. Where else can you watch minute by minute live videos of a shooting? Only in America. The media takes these victims and makes them into part of this entertainment. They use frames to make people into "innocent and naive victims" and there are "heroes" to save the day, just like this is a movie or TV show. They use this time to blame Democrats and others instead of noticing the real problem. GUNS. There have been more than 1,500 mass shootings since Sandy Hook, SINCE, aka there have been that many shooting SINCE 20+ children had their lives so brutally taken from them. I can't say that the problem is solely guns, but I can say that stricter gun laws would prevent just any type of person buying and carrying a gun. At the end of the day, do you really feel safe with everyone having guns for protection, because one simple disagreement at a gas station could turn into a shootout because we all have the right to carry guns but not everyone has a sound enough mind to determine when they are really necessary.
ReplyDeleteIt is very interesting to see these news networks using their frames and narratives in real life compared to reading them in our book. I see that the news networks try to take the complex situation and use a cookie cutter template in order to process the information faster and to be the first ones to report it. They also do this so that the amount of information that they are feeding us isn't too large for us to handle and are simplified in order for us to be attracted to it.
ReplyDeleteSince Vegas, there was also that mass shooting in the Texas Church about a month after. I agree with Smith, that it seems only here in the U.S. can you get video that's repeatedly played on news stations that overhypes the reality of the threat. With the sheer number of mass shootings and deaths, you're right that we just don't care enough to solve the problem.
ReplyDeleteIt's a predictable cycle nowadays: there's a couple days where there's outrage (people on the left talk about gun control, while people on the right talk about immigration if the person was a muslim, or "it's not the time to talk about gun control" if the person was white). Following the couple days of outrage from either side, we just push it aside and don't talk about it anymore. At this point, it seems that nothing will ever be done, and it's just something we will have to live with.
I was particularly interested in the article about gun violence in America. They presented several very interesting statistics and graphs. The one I found most intriguing is the chart that calendared mass shootings. It would seem as shootings do not occur in December and are more likely to occur in the summer months. This goes back to the potential correlations of heat and crime. I am surprised that there are a significant number of less mass shootings in December. I would think due to the number of people shopping (large crowds of potential victims) as well as the stressors of family dynamics that December would at least be on par with the other months if not more than other months. Very interesting indeed.
ReplyDeleteThis made the news because it it the deadliest attack on US soil since 9/11. almost every mass shooting makes the news but since this one was so big, it is a little different. It scares the viewers and readers into thinking that it happens almost all of the time. it has become a real problem in the country, but this topic also brings up any more topics such as gun control. the left side will always throw the gun control argument out after such an event making the topic remain in the news for what feels like an eternity.
ReplyDeleteOne of the many reason that this made the news is that this mass shooting was one the deadliest in US history and one of the greatest lost of life since 9/11. Another reason that this covered was people were genuinely interested in what happened. Finally its talks about gun violence. These articles are all related to one another in the way of gun violence.
ReplyDeleteI think the hard truth here is that neither side is willing to budge in the "war on guns". Liberals don't want anything short of a nationwide gun ban (which would cost an astronomical amount) while conservatives will continue to preach that "guns don't kill people, people kill people" and ignore that guns facilitate killing a whole lot more people. I find it disheartening that after every one of these mass shootings, the talk about guns only lasts a week at most. No news source is talking about gun control today and will continue to pick up the hottest news story until something like this happens again. The news sources just keep feeding into their own vicious cycle.
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