News Coverage as Shocking as News Itself

I find myself as slack-jawed by the news coverage as I am by the news conveyed. Every news franchise – every minute – every news segment – rehashing the same ugly incident over and over. If I were actually at the incident, might this merely reinforce any existing post-traumatic stress? Yes, it hits close to home, but by continually telling us every nuance of what happened – or might have happened – from every bystander’s perspective, do we inure ourselves and our children to even worse future events? Worst is when they show us how the perpetrator did it. Now every sad sack off his meds knows how to do the same, giving us copycat fame-seekers. What was once nationwide atrocity is suddenly common morning news.

It may seem callous, but there is other news in the world. Yes, I know it should be reported, but shouldn’t news franchises figure out what is an appropriate limit to what should be reported? I’m not talking about censorship – I’m just asking — “When is it appropriate to move on to the next very important news item?” Every franchise reports the same item over and over because they’re afraid if they stop covering it, they’ll lose viewers to the franchises who are still covering it. Supposition about movie theatre door exits, and theorization about why the perpatrator did what he did is not news. It’s malingering, embellishment and yellow journalism. When is the news no longer news, but simply bloviated ugliness we are compelled to continue to watch? I am thoroughly disappointed in the decline in actual news reporting and journalism in the United States today.

Actual news from a local TV Station with photo credit to this url.