Two Tragic Events, Two Very Different Reactions, Same Number of Dead

[Warfish]

So we have the shooting tragedy. 12 (or is it 13 now) dead, many more wounded. Debate all over on our rights and laws.

And almost on the same day, we have a tragedy down in Texas where 23 people, all illegal immigrants, were crammed into a small truck that went off the road, killing 13 of them, and wounding badly almost all the rest.

And I've seen no talk, or debate, or ever a glacing mention of the second event, despite the same amount of dead.

I find that very interesting and enlightening as to how tragedy is played up in our media, and for polticial gain.

In looking at causes for these events, I think that the media needs to be examined closely for it's role in helping to create an environement of hype that potential killers see as their road to fame and eternal glory, and may in part help lead them to "going out as big as possible".

Guns have been around forever. 24/7 Endless Media Coverage of a mass killing, only in the last couple of decades. And Mass killing such as the one in CO are a relatively new phenomena.

You'll note also that no one of note is questioning the role of the over-the-top violence in our entertainment media, or in the coverage by our news media. Yet both clearly play a role in helping form these ideas in the minds of the potential mass-killer.

One is forced to wonder, if the right were demanding a ban on violence in movies (like Batman) and in News coverage, how would the left respond to those demands, while they demand all guns be removed?

And why, do you think, there is no talk of any kind about the 13 dead illegals on our highways, and the wounded we taxpayers are now paying to heal, from the crashed truck? Same numebr fo dead, no talk of any kind.

All very interesting IMO.

[DeanPatsFan]

Ban illegals.....

[FF2®]

Originally Posted by Warfish

So we have the shooting tragedy. 12 (or is it 13 now) dead, many more wounded. Debate all over on our rights and laws.

And almost on the same day, we have a tragedy down in Texas where 23 people, all illegal immigrants, were crammed into a small truck that went off the road, killing 13 of them, and wounding badly almost all the rest.

And I've seen no talk, or debate, or ever a glacing mention of the second event, despite the same amount of dead.

I find that very interesting and enlightening as to how tragedy is played up in our media, and for polticial gain.

In looking at causes for these events, I think that the media needs to be examined closely for it's role in helping to create an environement of hype that potential killers see as their road to fame and eternal glory, and may in part help lead them to "going out as big as possible".

Guns have been around forever. 24/7 Endless Media Coverage of a mass killing, only in the last couple of decades. And Mass killing such as the one in CO are a relatively new phenomena.

You'll note also that no one of note is questioning the role of the over-the-top violence in our entertainment media, or in the coverage by our news media. Yet both clearly play a role in helping form these ideas in the minds of the potential mass-killer.

One is forced to wonder, if the right were demanding a ban on violence in movies (like Batman) and in News coverage, how would the left respond to those demands, while they demand all guns be removed?

And why, do you think, there is no talk of any kind about the 13 dead illegals on our highways, and the wounded we taxpayers are now paying to heal, from the crashed truck? Same numebr fo dead, no talk of any kind.

All very interesting IMO.

Don't blame the media, they cover what will get ratings. It's entertainment not politics. The shooting was "innocent" white people killed by a crazed white person. Thats fascinating to us. We will make heros out of the victims and we already have the villain. We need the narrative. The accident was illegal brown people. We don't care. We just don't. Maybe on a slower news day. But they aren't "us". The media feeds us what we want to eat.

What will Snooki name her baby?

[shakin318]

Originally Posted by FF2®

The media feeds us what we want to eat.

If by "us" you mean liberals, then I will concur.

[FF2®]

Originally Posted by shakin318

If by "us" you mean liberals, then I will concur.

Nope.

Look at TV ratings. It ain't half the country watching.

We are all sheep.

[DDNYjets]

Because very few people care about illegal immigrants. Especially those dumb enough to pack over 20 people into a Ford pickup. How the phuck did they fit? Seriously.

The difference is that the people in the theater were victims of someone else's choice, not their own. And they are Americans. Whether you like it or not, we Americans care more about Americans. The dummies that packed into a pickup truck were "victims" of their own stupidity, which in my book makes them NOT victims.

Violence is part of society and is here to stay. Video games, movies, newspapers, TV news, etc. It is everywhere. For better or worse. Sooner or later the onus has to be on the people to act a certain way and make the right decisions on how to act. We have free will. Nobody is holding a gun to someone's head, making them act a certain way. We need to separate entertainment from reality. It is not the movie studio's responsibility to do that for us. It is not Congress' responsibility or right to do that for us. We have to do that ourselves. A little self-control can go a long way.

[DeanPatsFan]

Originally Posted by FF2®

The shooting was "innocent" white people killed

So the media gave a racial breakdown? I must have missed that.

Eff'in libs and the race card....

[DeanPatsFan]

Originally Posted by DDNYjets

The dummies that packed into a pickup truck were "victims" of their own stupidity, which in my book makes them NOT victims.

Darwinism at work...

[Warfish]

Originally Posted by FF2®

Don't blame the media, they cover what will get ratings.

I agree.

However, that does not legitimize or excuse it.

It's entertainment not politics.

I disagree.

Politics is a factor in coverage or the omission of coverage.

The shooting was "innocent" white people killed by a crazed white person. Thats fascinating to us.

You know more than I, I had no idea the racial makeup of the victims.

The accident was illegal brown people. We don't care. We just don't. Maybe on a slower news day. But they aren't "us".

If that were true, one would think immigration reform would be easy than, no?

[doggin94it]

Originally Posted by Warfish

So we have the shooting tragedy. 12 (or is it 13 now) dead, many more wounded. Debate all over on our rights and laws.

And almost on the same day, we have a tragedy down in Texas where 23 people, all illegal immigrants, were crammed into a small truck that went off the road, killing 13 of them, and wounding badly almost all the rest.

And I've seen no talk, or debate, or ever a glacing mention of the second event, despite the same amount of dead.

I find that very interesting and enlightening as to how tragedy is played up in our media, and for polticial gain.

In looking at causes for these events, I think that the media needs to be examined closely for it's role in helping to create an environement of hype that potential killers see as their road to fame and eternal glory, and may in part help lead them to "going out as big as possible".

Guns have been around forever. 24/7 Endless Media Coverage of a mass killing, only in the last couple of decades. And Mass killing such as the one in CO are a relatively new phenomena.

You'll note also that no one of note is questioning the role of the over-the-top violence in our entertainment media, or in the coverage by our news media. Yet both clearly play a role in helping form these ideas in the minds of the potential mass-killer.

One is forced to wonder, if the right were demanding a ban on violence in movies (like Batman) and in News coverage, how would the left respond to those demands, while they demand all guns be removed?

And why, do you think, there is no talk of any kind about the 13 dead illegals on our highways, and the wounded we taxpayers are now paying to heal, from the crashed truck? Same numebr fo dead, no talk of any kind.

All very interesting IMO.

I think it's a version of "Missing White Girl" syndrome.

The Denver shooting was of people doing something any of the viewers could have imagined themselves doing. Going to a popular movie. There's a visceral reaction to that, an "it could have been any of us" (similar to the "she looks like my kid" or "she could be my kid" that glues viewers to the screen in abduction cases).

Very few people have the "wow, that could have been me" reaction to a story of a truck full of illegal aliens crashing. Thus, while it's certainly a sad story and people may feel bad for the dead, it's not going to generate the same interest - and therefore won't generate the same airplay.

[DeanPatsFan]

Originally Posted by FF2®

Don't blame the media, they cover what will get ratings.

No, they cover this sort of thing because the criminal liberal media is in bed with the Dims in wanting a ban on guns....

[doggin94it]

Originally Posted by DeanPatsFan

No, they cover this sort of thing because the criminal liberal media is in bed with the Dims in wanting a ban on guns....

Yep - apparently, "the media" are the only businesses in existence not concerned with profit

[Bonhomme Richard]

The truck full of illegals story was reported last night on World News with Diane Sawyer. I wouldn't call a report on a nightly half hour national news program "glancing mention."

[FF2®]

Originally Posted by Warfish

I agree.

However, that does not legitimize or excuse it.



I disagree.

Politics is a factor in coverage or the omission of coverage.



You know more than I, I had no idea the racial makeup of the victims.



If that were true, one would think immigration reform would be easy than, no?

You and I see these 2 events and discuss them in different ways. You, the political, me the sociological.While I know there is a huge political part to this, it barely interests me anymore because of its predicability, everyone playing their roles. Did anyone thin the NRA and the gun control advocates were going to react any differently than they did? It's mind numbingly boring.

Each incident gets the attention WE give it...its assigned importance based on our own myopic view. The Mom from Peoria can see herself going to the movies. She can't see ourselves as illegal immigrants. So the media feeds her what she wants to watch so they can sell commercials. They want her to watch 20/20. A truckload of illegals isn't going to pull her in. She'll switch over the The Bachelorette.

And those with certain political views can use it a political football to prove whatever point they want. As if either horrific event actually "proves" anything. And we spin around in circles.

[DeanPatsFan]

Originally Posted by doggin94it

Yep - apparently, "the media" are the only businesses in existence not concerned with profit

If the "criminal liberal" media were concerned with profit, they wouldn't slant so far left and lose conservative viewers....

Ratings wise, they have been circling the drain and bleeding viewers for years....

[parafly]

In my opinion, the biggest factor of selective coverage is nothing more than prioritizing "more dramatic" over "less dramatic." We can discuss the choices which are made for political reasons, but at the end of the day, the story that attracts more attention from the layman is the story that gets the most coverage.

In a sense, we are all drawn toward the extraordinary and what we can relate to the most. A dozen people dying in a car accident happens every day, a dozen times over. A massacre in a movie theater has never happened in my lifetime.

[Warfish]

Originally Posted by parafly

In my opinion, the biggest factor of selective coverage is nothing more than prioritizing "more dramatic" over "less dramatic." We can discuss the choices which are made for political reasons, but at the end of the day, the story that attracts more attention from the layman is the story that gets the most coverage.

Ignores the fact that coverage leads to attention, attention does not in fact lead to coverage in the immediate aftermath of any event, as the power of the masses "attention" is diffiuclt to guage or measure in the short term after an event transpires.

In a sense, we are all drawn toward the extraordinary and what we can relate to the most. A dozen people dying in a car accident happens every day, a dozen times over. A massacre in a movie theater has never happened in my lifetime.

And yet, in the aftermath, many wish to have a serious discussion on fundamental change to our basic rights as citizens over the shooting, but no coversation of any kind of the "dozens" who die in car accidents "every day", or the issue of 23 illegal immigrants in a single truck.

[Jungle Shift Jet]

Gun grabbing over lone wolf episodes is a liberal meme. If they can tie in associations with the military and "right-wing" groups the better.

Any Occufilth links Holmes has will be buried.

Illegal aliens are only to be presented in a positive light.

Why do you keep asking the obvious - amnesia?

[parafly]

Originally Posted by Warfish

Ignores the fact that coverage leads to attention, attention does not in fact lead to coverage in the immediate aftermath of any event, as the power of the masses "attention" is diffiuclt to guage or measure in the short term after an event transpires.

I agree, it's a two way street and a self-sustaining cycle.

And yet, in the aftermath, many wish to have a serious discussion on fundamental change to our basic rights as citizens over the shooting, but no coversation of any kind of the "dozens" who die in car accidents "every day", or the issue of 23 illegal immigrants in a single truck.

In the aftermath of 9/11, we waged war to the tune of trillions of dollars and created a behemoth security agency. The country experiences five 9/11's every single year due to drunk driving fatalities, but little to nothing is done on this front.

Is this due to selective media coverage leading attention? Politics based on power, profits, and defense contracts? An extraordinary, dramatic event that captures the attention of the layman?

In the end, it's all of the above to a certain extent.

[Warfish]

Originally Posted by parafly

I agree, it's a two way street and a self-sustaining cycle.



In the aftermath of 9/11, we waged war to the tune of trillions of dollars and created a behemoth security agency. The country experiences five 9/11's every single year due to drunk driving fatalities, but little to nothing is done on this front.

Is this due to selective media coverage leading attention? Politics based on power, profits, and defense contracts? An extraordinary, dramatic event that captures the attention of the layman?

In the end, it's all of the above to a certain extent.

Agreed.