Journalists shot, killed in Virginia during live shot

The social-media element of this story is what has interested, and disturbed, me the most about this incident. Because it's something I could see happening more and more -- the purposeful making of a show of your horrible, all-too-public misdeeds, or murders.

I didn't hear what was discussed regarding when another earlier poster about CNN comparing this to ISIS, but perhaps this is part of the reason. It's not the same situation/incident or scale, of course, but the shock-value-becomes-as-normal concept is the same as what ISIS counts on.

 

If it were a "normal concept," we wouldn't be spending 30-something pages talking about it.

 

And, I'd just like to thank exmediahack and PCLoadLetter for adding some good and knowledgeable perspectives to this thread.

 

That is so appalling that I'm not sure I'd be OK with it even if it generated enough outrage -- not bloody likely in a world run by the NRA -- to create meaningful legislative change.
At any rate, it'll be another great day for the NRA. Wayne LaPierre will get indignant and spew paranoid, hateful rhetoric and encourage people to buy more guns to coincide with any funerals for the victims. And buy they will. Just as they did for a promotional event the NRA ginned up to coincide with a National Victims of Gun Violence Day thing a few weeks back.
American Exceptionalism.

 

I meant I fear the becoming of it, and the pointed mass sharing of it, as normal. Social media isn't going away, and the concept of mass media has definitely changed, and reached a whole other level from when many of us first began our mass-media careers.

There's no longer going to be concern just about copy-cats, but about copy cats who will try to out-do the last criminal in terms of impact, reach and extremism, and it will all be done live.

That really is scary, and appalling.

 

I fear the same. We are living through an age in which everyone has an audience, in which everyone feels like they need an audience, or they don't exist. People joke about things being "Facebook official." They photograph and broadcast photos of their meals, for cripe's sake.

Of course it was going here eventually. Mass murder staged for maximum entertainment value, with the killer as the leading man.

 

Thanks, Write.

PCLL and I have had a good "go" here but I also think we're coming from the same place in our respective positions -- we both care... a LOT... about what we do and about our business. I'm speaking for PC (and correct me if I'm wrong, PC) but we are probably two people who want our newsrooms to do good where we live.

There are a lot of elements to TV news that I can't stand -- I've written about them plenty here. But I also know that we get thousands and thousands of people like Adam and Alison who join our ranks for crappy pay, high stress and, often, high-strung managers and co-workers who are nice to you on the first day and ready to stab you in the back the moment you get a better job and leave them all behind.

Just today, I was covering something with a healthy amount of young people covering it. As the only "old dude" there, these 20-year-olds were working hard in the summer sun, setting up live shots. Of course we all talked about the shooting today but once it was "game time" at our event, we were all zeroed in on the task at hand. That's why we do this.

I could never work an office job. I like the pressure of crating a "product" (anchoring a newscast or putting out a finished report) in the span of a few hours. It's not for everyone but some of us absolutely love it.

Even with I'm past retirement age, I would love to work part-time, writing newscasts for someone, in whatever platform we'll be doing in the year 2045.

 

I knew when they started taking pictures of food we'd eventually get to someone filming their killing of a TV reporter.

 

SnarkShark, indeed.

Not for the first time, I've thought, "We really do need a blue font -- or a replacement for it -- around here."

Jeff? Jeff...

That said, I think Dick was right and made a good point with that last line, which was a good, descriptive analogy.

 

Ex, I would agree with pretty much all of that.

 

They also found that he should not be put to death, so if they found he was insane the result would be the same.

 

"Victim?" Don't you mean "perpetrator?"