The horrific shooting on the campus of Virginia Tech this morning isn't all sorted out yet. Early reports put the death toll at 21, or 22 counting the gunman, though it's not clear whether he was shot by police or whether he killed himself. Then it was 26, then 27, then 32, not counting the shooter.
Coverage at this point in the media lifespan of a tragedy is a very strange thing. There's misinformation and speculation, along with attempts to mark the events as somehow unprecedented. In this case, early reports called it the deadliest campus shooting in U.S. history, topping the famed University of Texas clock-tower murders in 1966, which claimed 16 victims before the gunman, Charles Whitman, was shot to death by police. The reports are also comparing today's Blacksburg massacre with the Columbine killings in 1999, in which 12 students and a teachers were shot to death, along with the two teenage gunmen. Then there was the 1991 Luby's Cafeteria massacre in Killeen, Texas, in which 23 people were killed and 20 others wounded. That wasn't on a campus, and so, for as long as the Blacksburg count was 21, that was still the worst mass shooting in American history. Now, it looks as though Blacksburg has topped Killeen.
This comparison business is a strange phenomenon. The Blacksburg shootings, obviously, are the worst shootings in American history for anyone even remotely involved: anyone who will end up with victims in their family, with friends who had victims in their family, faculty and staff at Virginia Tech, and even college-age students currently enrolled, who will feel a great deal of reflected terror and sorrow. But there's a need in media to comparatively weight things. Is this better or worse than the incident last September when a man killed himself and his two sons at a West Virginia college? Better or worse than Kent State? How are these things measured, anyway? By the stark casualty count? By the numbers of families affected? By the total amount of psychic pain? By the long-term effects on the communities? There is an entire industry -- Critical Incident Stress Management -- that handles assessment and treatment after these kinds of events. Is there any point in comparing them? And if not, why does the media do it? Is it just to bulk up ratings, or is it a professional version of the human phenomenon of not knowing exactly what to say?
Mo Rocca has appeared on a bunch of shows, including 'The Daily Show,' 'I Love the 80s,'...
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The Weight of Tragedy
Posted Apr 16th 2007 2:08PM by Ben Greenman
Filed under: Breaking News, Crime
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Reader Comments ( Page 2 of 13)
16. Thanks for NOT posting my comment regarding the guilt of the college. Are you in favor of irresponsible thinking, even if it is the elite college administrators? Let the blame fall where it belongs, on the shooter, the police and the college.
JP at 5:27PM on Apr 16th 2007
17. To all that has suffered a loss in this and any other of these herendas act of voilance our world has made a thing of entertainement..I am truly sorry for you..My words and thought will never be enough to comfort you..
To all those who look to the T.V in aww and amazement when something like this happens it is you who is to blame (all of us)These kids and angry people do this to tell us (the world) hey look at me look at what im doing..When all they realy needed was one person to look at them and say look..there is something wrong let me help you..or if you cant you call someone who can.Becouse not one person can say that there was not a sign that this person was going threw some thing. There are always warning signs. Its just us as a whole just dont care to see it anymore.we dont care for our fellow man anymore..its me me me...If we just started to at least care a little bit about our children insted of letting them run wild or our friends go off the deep end this stuff might happen.
And if we quit showing it on the T.v for 24hrs straight.When thats all you see it in a way lets the world know whats going on yes..but it also give the person commiting the crime what he or she wants..to be infamous..to live forever..WHY DO WE DO IT..????For shock value??? OR for the rateings???
For entertainement??? Insted of showing pics of the crimesceen or people being caried off all bloddy or even worse, for the next 24 hrs on the news why not show clips of the familys in there moment of greef show them crying,sad,upset about never seeing that person again,becouse someone didnt love there kid enought to know he or she needed help.Im sorry im just a little tired of the media taking avantage of some one elses misfortunes..And people start caring about your neghbors...
.Sorry about the type-o's I never learned to spell real well.
Thanks for letting me vent
A Bad Speller
Matthew at 5:46PM on Apr 16th 2007
18. Hey #4 are you an idiot??? What school did you go to? If you're going to comment on something; read the facts, use spell check and don't turn it into a race card for anyone!!!! OMG are you kidding me?
an educated person at 5:54PM on Apr 16th 2007
19. #7 I agree with you from the getgo. The racism has got to go. It is people like White or #4 who perpetuate racism.With this tragedy and what is going on all over the world, Americans need to bind together and face this horror as one united people
Connie
C Campbell at 5:56PM on Apr 16th 2007
20. This is truly a tragedy for all people in America. I pray that one day we no longer have to fear walking down the street alone, that it will no longer be necessary to have metal detectors in our schools, and that kids never feel afriad when they go to school. Let a better world start NOW! It falls to each of us to make a difference, and it well may be now or never! Let us learn from this terrible loss and remember the fallen of this day through our actions!
SC at 6:02PM on Apr 16th 2007
21. This is truly a tragedy for all Americans. I pray that one day our children no longer need fear to walk down the street alone, that we no longer need metal detectors in our schools, and that we remember the victims of these awful events by making changes to prevent such a terrible tragedy from happaning again. Let us honor the fallen of this day by protecting our children in the future. Please, for the fallen in our schools, let's make a better world for the future. Let the changes begin inside each of us.
SC at 6:12PM on Apr 16th 2007
22. Please remember, "Tech coulda, shoulda, woulda"....TECH and these dead students...VICTIMS. Why should WE (normal people) always have to take such preventive security measures against the nuts? Let's talk about the MONSTER behind the trigger...where were the "prevention" measures and the security cameras in his life? Desperate people do desperate things...FOXNews reports that the shooter is Asian - not black. In fact, almost all of the previous school shooters were (and bombers) were young WHITE males. It is NOT an act of race - it is purely an act of EVIL. Now, having said that - why didn't "our" radar go off when the shooter was in middle school, probably on psychotropic meds, probably a bully or being bullied, probably killed the family pet, probably very "hi tech" and into some really intensely violent video games...hmmm, see a pattern here? Like one of the previous school shooters said (after the fact) "Wow, I really thought I would hear the words "Game Over" and the dead people would get up."
Brynda at 6:19PM on Apr 16th 2007
23. This is for #4 White. First of all, a tragedy occurred today at V-Tech. An estimated 33 people lost theirs lives. That means 33 families are in turmoil, yes, including the shooters family. What does race have to do with this? If a black man this...,if a white man that..?!?!
A true answer to your statement is that whether it's a black man, a white man, or any other race, no one person can commit such an horrific crime and "walk away free". Our judicial systems has many flaws, but since when does (or when has) Jessie Jackson or REV. Al Sharpton determine who's innocent and who's guilty?
Grow up. Ignorance is bliss, but education is better.
This article is about the media's comparison and focused attention on negative headlines.
Deadliest..Worse..Most prolific...
There are 33 families in Virginia today that don't want the loss of their loved ones to be just another death census. When casualties turn into such unfeeling headliners, we lose our empathy towards the victims that are gone and those that remain.
May God watch over the families and the survivors. May he also call the lost souls home.
Cammie at 6:25PM on Apr 16th 2007
24. This is very sad and It shocked me when my boss came and said 33 people were dead Unbelievable! and Horiffic!!
What has become of our NATION AS A WHOLE?
My prayer goes out to the family and the entire Virginia Tech Instution.
savethebes4last at 6:38PM on Apr 16th 2007
25. It my considered opinion that the 2nd most causetive factor re: VA TECH tragedy after the crazed shooter, is the ingrained laissez-faire attitude of many law enforcement personnel in the case of apparent domestic violence. I have many Qs. Early in the info on this tragedy it was reported that the RA (residence administrator?) was observed trying to diffuse an incident between a couple -- implied girlfriend and her boyfriend. He alledgedly left the building. It is not clear when the 2 victims in that bldg. were killed &/or found nor by whom? Also it is not clear as to the whereabouts of that girlfriend & other victim. Also who is the person arrested in the 1st incident? Is it the same person seen on the ground with police aiming a gun at him. It is not clear; nor when and why he was released.
Being in police custody may be a clue to the 2 hr. unexplained time gap between the two tradegies.
Think about it!!!
Beverly Carpenter Mason at 6:23PM on Apr 16th 2007
26. #4,you have no heart and no compassion for human suffering. my thughts and prayers go out to the victims and their families and for those who have a long road to recovery. it does not matter what color the shooter is, this is going to affect alot of people for a very long time. their are students from all over the world that go to VT. #4 you are a piece of #2.......
kathy at 7:00PM on Apr 16th 2007
27. Why call race in this of black or white it was a young asian man in his 20s heavily armed, My thing is the first shooting in the other buliding when they found out why didn't they go from building to building and clear all them out as far to the other end of where the shooting was going on they had 2 hours to get people out of the other ends they already had bomb threats why didn't they have extra security on every building in that tech they should have known that he wasn't gone but going to another building because in most times they want to kill themselfs or get killed and don't stop till they do. That's one reason why I am against the use of being able to carrie guns but riffels for hunting and I don't mean hunting people. So get off this race thing of B&W he was asian.
cv at 2:12PM on Apr 18th 2007
28. First of all, in replying to #4 White...unbelievable message you left for us to be entertained with..your thoughts are absurd, not too mention your spelling...thats the way to drop out of the 4th grade buddy!
Second, though crazy people with guns can NEVER be properly policed, something VERY serious needs to be done about the gun laws in this country. I am originally from Canada and i can say this for a fact..there are WAY less guns issues up there then here, just because of the fact that this country likes to press (and hide behind) its open liberal laws (in particular gun laws). Come on allready! Its getting worse, not better. Punishments need to start fitting the crime as well. We need to build more jails and get the 'bad guys' in there for a long time. Not only that, we need to bring back the death penalty across the entire country. Why should we care about someone's life when they don't care about the victims life!? Once a person is convicted of murder, the judge should take that persons 'last meal' request right then and there, have it delivered that evening and kill the bastard first thing in the morning. Agree or disagree?
al at 6:43PM on Apr 16th 2007
29. CAN ANYONE TELL ME WHY THE SCHOOL WAS NOT LOCKED DOWN AT 7:30 OR EVEN 8:00 AM? 2 PEOPLE WERE SHOT, "HELLO", LOCK DOWN THE SCHOOL!!!!!!!!!! DAM, LOOK AT THE LIVES THAT COULD HAVE BEEN SAVED. SOMEONE MADE A BAD CALL AT VIRGINIA TECH. NOW IN ALL 33 ARE LOST FOREVER AND MAYBE EVEN MORE(I PRAY THE DEATH TOLL WILL NOT RISE) BUT THEY NEED TO REVIEW THEIR EMERGENCY PLAN BAD. MY HEART GOES OUT TO THE VICTIMS AND THEIR FAMILIES AND I PRAY THAT THE WOUNDED RECOVER QUICKLY. BUT I FEEL THIS COULD HAVE BEEN PREVENTED AT THE SECOND BUILDING.
kathy at 7:04PM on Apr 16th 2007
30. I am deeply troubled by this entire situation. And yet I have mixed emotions about some of the comments posted on here. Specifically #2: These people do not set out to kill people to generate media buzz and find themselves in the spotlight for thier 15 minutes of fame. These are deeply deeply troubled people, sociopaths, who have had traumatic pasts and kill just for the thrill it provides them. These "killings" serve to suffice some sick desire they hold within them to inflict pain on other, to punish others, to satisfy themselves. We could stop with the media attention and people will continue to kill for the sake of killing. That is just what this world has come to.
#9, in response to your comment. I don't know how long it's been since you've been on a college campus, but I am a 26 year old graduate student on a college campus and I can speak volumes about the security they have. Measures are taken on a day to day basis to protect the lives and/or overall wellbeing of the students the college serves. But just as 911 proved, just as bank robberies prove and just as other mass killings have proven you can never be sure when and where this type of incident will occur. The only other option would be to body check each and every single person that comes onto the campus. There is simply no cost effective way to do that, nor a way that wouldn't infringe upon people's civil liberties. These college campuses are safe, and measures are taken to ensure this. Something, as in the case of this incident, are by far not that frequent but are only exaggerated by the media. And I, as a college student feel entirely safe on my campus. There is just no logical way to prepare for something like this. The only thing the campus authorities could do was respond. Sure, they could have kept the lock down in effect longer, but they had no way of knowing where the shooter was. And I don't know how successful you have been at keeping 10-20,000 college aged student locked down in dorms rooms and classrooms, panicked, but I assure you it would be a daunting task.
My prayers are with these people as they overcome this tragedy. And my disgust lies with the people who are going to use this to lobby for extremist legislation pertaining to college campuses, gun laws etc as a result.
Disgusted at 7:08PM on Apr 16th 2007