Anyone who ever took a journalism course knows this. The
same as they know that dog-bites-man is a non-starter, but man-bites-dog – hey,
that’s worth covering.
The shooting of the black parishioners in a church in South
Carolina by a white nutjob is terrible, no doubt. But he’s been caught. And he’s
just some crazy lone-wolf bastard, not representative of the people of South
Carolina, gun owners, Southerners, white people, or anybody else but himself. He’s
not part of some nascent movement by whites to murder blacks, either.
However, that didn’t stop multiple jerks – including Obama –
from making what happened about race relations and gun control. As someone
online said: “why is it always a white guy with a gun?” whenever a massacre
happens like this, and with Columbine, Aurora, and in Sandy Hook.
I’ve said this before and I will again: “black lives matter”
only when they are taken by non-blacks or police; if blacks kill other blacks,
it’s not newsworthy.
That’s not to diminish at all the horror of what happened in
South Carolina. What makes this even more reprehensible is that the murderer
joined a bible study group in progress, and then, when he started shooting, he intentionally spared one
member specifically to leave a witness to tell others what he had done and
why.
He is a monster. Deranged, racist – sure. Representative of anything else – no.
Now starts the ghoulish news cycle. The media will keep this
story alive as long as possible with endless interviews, opinion pieces, and
recitation of the events. I even saw a
news flash this morning that friends of this kid said he was a racist.
Well, duh. By his own words he claimed blacks were taking
over the country and “raping our women.” Is there some other interpretation of that
which would imply he wasn’t a racist?
While the media wallows in telling this tragic tale over and
over, and cynical politicians and race baiters like Sharpton selfishly and thoughtlessly use this to
advance their causes, they are keeping this asshole in the spotlight.
Which is what he – and all the other perpetrators of the
aforementioned massacres – always wanted.
Fame. Publicity. Notoriety.
That’s why they committed these crimes in the first place. They wanted
to be on the front page, above the fold, in print and online.
And the media has been happy to oblige, every time.
Then they have the audacity to ask “why” these things happen –
what motivates these people to slaughter innocents?
That’s disingenuous when the media knows exactly "why" already. All they have to do is look in
the mirror; the answer is staring right back at them.
I’m not suggesting events like this shouldn’t be
covered. These events are “news” after all.
But once the perpetrator has been identified and captured, it’s time to back
off. Otherwise we’re making stars of monsters and giving them exactly what they
seek.
And possibly inspiring the next monster to go after their moment
of fame and glory the same sick and twisted way.
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