Bloodbath at Virginia Tech

I'm not saying "don't care"... I'm saying don't panic and don't make such an extremely big deal out of it. This thing will be in the news for weeks, while the deaths of 100 Iraquis or even 100 US soldiers in Iraq will only be in the news for a day or two.

Tsk, tsk, tsk.

 

Yeah, but you don't need to pretend that that is how "american's" think... that is how our media thinks, not the everyday people.

 

very welll said.

 

Just because something does not effect you directly doesn't mean you can't feel bad about it. I am against people being lined up and shot, and people creating unnecessary suffering

 

oh, pfft. i'm not going to waste more than ten minutes on the actual "drama." shit happens. i'm actually with rubin on this. sensationalisation of the whole thing just makes people stupid and paranoid. there's still more people being killed by reckless driving than shooters on school campuses. you can't start tripping out on it or you'll never leave your house.

 

I am currently on a campus and no one is freaking out and thinking we are all getting shot. So just because the media is freaking out, doesn't mean we all are.

 

of course you're not, christine. but that's what the media is trying to make happen. and it WILL happen to quite a few people...until everyone goes numb. which is, i think, a pretty healthy way to live.

 

You do not realise to what extent the media contols the lives of people here. You live in a fairly liberal college town... you would expect less panic from fairly educated young liberals than from other people.

Take 9/11 per example... would it have had the same extreme effect if the media did not make a big deal out of it?

 

how is the media trying to make people panic,

I haven't seen a tv today, but online it just seems to be reporting the facts that are currently known. I haven't noticed anyone panicking today

Its big news, 30 people being killed in a classroom, of course people are interested to find out more about it, and of course the media is trying to get more information.

I guess i don't get the controversy, the comparison to the Iraq war, and the reason that so many of you seem all pissed off

 

it's the relentless coverage of ONE PARTICULAR MEDIA SEXY bloodbath. there's so many things going on in so many places. BIG things. HUGE. and here for the next few weeks will be a nonstop onslaught on every station of this incident. they do it for ratings, i know. which is why i quit watching tv news.

 

"Biggest school shooting ever"... I'm just predicting the future... this WILL be blown out of proportion.

 

I don't know how you blow the largest US shooting out of porportion. It IS news worthy.

 

It is not more news worthy than the death of 30 U.S. soldiers in Iraq, or the death of 100 Iraquis, or practically anything else.

 

in a sense i think it is,

there is a war going on, and of course people are being killed, soldiers and civilians, its to be expected. There have also been stories of the Iraq war for about 4 years now.

A gunman killing a bunch of people randomly at a college is out of the ordinary and unpredicatable, and the motive is unclear.

What should the media do, ignore it?

 

Ofcourse it shouldn't ignore it... it deserves coverage... you must understand that my rant is about more of a general topic than just this shooting. I dislike how the media undermines some tragedies while only picking out others, and I am constantly amazed by how far away from reality Americans are... living in their little bubble worlds, and then not being able to believe their eyes when something "tragic" happens to them. Another thing that truly bothers me is how Americans can't let go and forget such tragedies. Yet again, take 9/11 per example... the media practically forced people into not forgetting about it with messages of "We will always remember"...

In other words... shit happens... sure, mourn it for a bit and then get over it... while this whole fiasco is going to be televised and "remembered" for ages, and will probably result in policy changes throughout the entire US... out of fear.

 

I agree. Of course the media is stupid. All of us here know that.. yet they should still report on the subject! It IS newsworthy, and tragic. Just because a school shooting is considered to be tragic doesn't take away from other tragedies such as the Iraq war and the deaths involved.

Also, Pavel, I think it is unfair for you to generalize so much, ie. stupid Americans. Many Americans also hate the media as much as you do. Many think the war in Iraq is bullshit. Lot's of us aren't stupid, mind controlled sheep, though many are. I don't even have television and I can't remember the last time I have watched it. Don't throw the educated and mindful in the same category as the helpless and stupified just because we happen to reside in the same nation.

 

If a comparison needs to be made, I think a better one than Iraq (which, it has been pointed out, is in the news every day) would be Rwanda. There was precious little news being reported here on that horrific genocide.

But again, I state, to Americans, the largest mass shooting in US history is news worthy.

 

I did not make the Rwanda comparison because it has nothing to do with America, while Iraq is a direct result of American actions.

Dear lady, many people on here misunderstand me on this point. I have never said "All Americans", I said Americans... I am in no way implying that the entire population, or the wonderful minds of this forum are so influenced by the media... but I am implying that many Americans are, as is evident by American history and politics.

 

Spring!!!!!

 

so far the media hasn't made too big of a deal out of it, but it took a day for the whoel Anna Nicole thing to gestate before it became the century's biggest story =/

we will see

and it is already resulting in policy changes here in Pittsburgh campuses =/