This past December, one of the worst school shootings in US history occurred in Sandy Hook Connecticut at a small elementary school. 20 Children and adults were murdered in cold blood that day. I remember being at work and all of the employees rushing in to tell those of us at work the terrible news. During that week, it was hard to see anything on television or the news that was not dominated by gun debates and school violence and what measures should be taken.
Here we are…it’s almost the end of April. I mean, that day will never be forgotten, but just like September 11th, the media craze has fazed out. That’s the problem with our media today. The American media is like “up the stories ass.” Literally, our media is dangerous in my opinion. And you are hearing from someone who has very drastic political views and ideas regarding daily ideology. Sometimes, I even get obsessed with these news stories.
The ironic thing about these sad stories is that the majority of them involve evil of some sort. Why is the human brain drawn to evil and bad things. Why are our brains so wired to want to view “bad news.” Well, there is actually scientific evidence that the human brain is attracted to these kinds of tragedies and disasters. The reason we are attracted to violence is because we fear and want to be able to protect ourselves. Unfortunately, today’s media and news sector takes these “bad occurrences” and blows them up tenfold. It’s like the News Media is relentless to one up each other.
It’s the battle of the fittest with the news trying to capture as much footage on video as possible. Many times in today’s society, this footage is actually filmed live. Unfortunately, the overpowering media has a way of desensitizing we as humans towards violence. I mean, I can remember so many people blaming heavy metal, rap music, video games and movies for causing violence. However, I feel that the news media is more dangerous and has a more telling factor in adding to the growing violence.
Think back to two Monday’s ago… The Boston Marathon Terror bombings. There was nonstop coverage from when the bombings occurred until Thursday and Friday when the suspects were nailed…one dying and one getting arrested in the hospital where he recovers from injuries sustained during a police standoff. Well, this just occurred two weeks ago and you are already seeing a media retreat from all of the epic footage and audio if the horrible tragedy.
On this Monday, two tragedies occurred on the same day. The Boston Bombings and the Texas Factory Explosion. It was almost like these were the only two stories being covered on television and “Nothing Else Matters.” It really was bad because children are wide awake at this time and If parents did not see them watching then they could be extremely traumatized by these events.
I respect the media and their quest to get us the most up to date news and keep us notified of what is going on around the world…especially locally. However, I feel that the media has become a dangerous avenue, almost like a cult. The media is extremely relentless and does not think of every persons different viewpoints when they cover these stories. They ask dumb questions like “Was being around the bombing scary?” This is just an outrage. Especially for someone who just dealt with this tragedy on a personal basis.
The Media needs to take a step back and go much slower with their coverage of these events. As I said, it’s like all or nothing. You are already not thinking about these bombings because the media did its damage already and now has retreated. Like if you also believe that our news media is dangerous. The media must realize this fact and look in the mirror. For all of our sakes. For the kids sakes. For the better benefit of society. God bless the people of Boston and Texas and God bless every other human that has personally been affected by all if These past tragedies…9/11, the Challenger Explosion, Hurricane Sandy, the school shootings, the shootings in the Denver Movie Theater, and all of the other tragedies if yesterday’s past.