Surreal and Horrific

My wife asked me if I had heard what happened in Virginia this afternoon and I said no. 21 people have been killed at Virginia Tech. What?!

I jump online and there it is. Then I tune in to CNN television. First Headline News, then the other CNN channel, then MSNBC, then Fox News and I realize that they are all claiming slightly different things. All of these news outlets seemed to be racing to be first. The first to say something that further differentiates their channel from the competition. The worst shooting on a college campus in U.S. History, then comes the alert that 31 people are confirmed dead...now it is Thee worst shooting period, and it is positioned as "record breaking"--does this make it even more newsworthy? What kind of message does this send? Record Breaking? These News channels are putting students on the air via phone asking them inane questions...I wonder if any of these are real...one guy is laughing (maybe nervously as the anchor is quick to point out-laughing is a natural reaction to something as horrific as this).

Then angles begin to quickly develop. There was a bomb threat in August, there was an escaped convict who shot a deputy near the campus, why was there a two hour window between the first shooting and the massacre that occurred, what was the Security situation at this campus and what was being done since the August threats? The shooter was Asian, the shooter was looking for his girlfriend so he lined people up and began shooting them, the shooter had a vest and was wearing belts of ammunition, the shooter chained the doors of the second dormitory from inside---where does all this come from? Are these confirmed facts from on site reporters or random ramblings of whoever is available on campus calling in on their cell phone?

"We have Tiffany on the line, tell us what happened! Are you surprised that you were allowed to go to class after news of the first shooting two hours earlier?" ---digging, looking for fault and blame, looking for an angle to run with...this IS CRAZY!

It is surreal. A horrific act of violence. Senseless. I cannot believe that I am viewing or hearing these news reports and wondering if some of the facts are distorted or just plain wrong.

Then it strikes me like a big iron frying pan up side of my head...advertising. I am trying to wrap my head around what is going on, a terrible shooting on a college campus, a massacre really--31 people are dead and between unconfirmed reports I am looking at Geico, Immodium A.D. EZ Chews, Mazda and Embassy Suites Commercials. Bigger ratings, more advertisers, higher rates, the pressure to deliver revenue budgets, the pressure of answering to stockholders, the pressure to be first...what are these organizations willing to do to be first? What happened to ethics in Journalism? Why can't we take the time to confirm the facts before reporting?

We have a WAR in Iraq that is being sanitized by the news media and to most News organizations the four year old war fails to generate ratings. Do we really care more about Anna Nicole Smith and who the father of her baby is? Are we willing to watch breaking news stories whether some or all of the facts are true or not? Is this what our society has become? Authors who plagiarize, News reporters who stretch facts, Reality Television that celebrates dysfunction? Obscenity, indecency, racism, stupid people tricks and misogyny on Morning Radio Shows and Network TV? Weather Reports that border on Armageddon? Video game war? Now I am hearing a news story that School Bus drivers could be Terrorists...what!?

It's ironic that advertisers pull advertising from MSNBC, CBS Radio and the Don Imus Show because of a poor choice of words, yet let it ride with CNN, Fox News and any other News channel reporting unconfirmed facts related to breaking news stories or making headlines out of nothing. What could be worse than "manufactured news"?

Should our news and information be tainted by advertising? Remember Yellow Journalism? Has it raised its ugly head once again...push the envelope on what is the truth, go ahead and report it, everyone else does and we will work through the facts and the truth later. Does this make your skin crawl? I am not saying this IS happening, but I do perceive it to BE happening...and I am sick over it and needed to write about it.

I just heard yet another student on the air that said, "I am not sure what is true or what is not..."

My feeling exactly...I don't know.

Who will hold our News Media to a higher standard?