I live about 40 miles from the campus of Northern Illinois University, but my only connection to it is that I spent a week there at a math conference about 20 years ago. Nonetheless, having walked the campus, stayed in their housing, I feel some connection to it, so yesterday's tragic shooting resonates more with me than some of the other horrific shootings that we've had. I can't add anything more to anyone's understanding, I can only hope that one day we will figure out a way to identify behavior that leads to these terrible events and forestall them.
I will say something about the media, though. In general, they do a credible job sifting through the information, separating rumor from fact and presenting it to us. But the attempts to cover breaking news are the acid test for any organization, and it's always interesting to see how they step up.
The ABC affiliate in Chicago, WLS-TV, is the highest-rated news station in the city. I'm not sure why, since they don't seem to do anything particularly well, but viewers appear to have a comfort level with their anchors and reporters. Yesterday, however, they really didn't fare too well. Visually, having Chopper 7, their ballyhooed news helicopter, provide static pictures of the scene contributed very little. And isn't there some kind of vetting before eyewitnesses are allowed on the air, maybe a production assistant to try to find out what was seen? 7 put a young woman on the air, live, who, as it turned out, hadn't seen anything, didn't know anything. I know these stories are tough to cover, but there still needs to be some basic news-gathering skills applied.
I will say something about the media, though. In general, they do a credible job sifting through the information, separating rumor from fact and presenting it to us. But the attempts to cover breaking news are the acid test for any organization, and it's always interesting to see how they step up.
The ABC affiliate in Chicago, WLS-TV, is the highest-rated news station in the city. I'm not sure why, since they don't seem to do anything particularly well, but viewers appear to have a comfort level with their anchors and reporters. Yesterday, however, they really didn't fare too well. Visually, having Chopper 7, their ballyhooed news helicopter, provide static pictures of the scene contributed very little. And isn't there some kind of vetting before eyewitnesses are allowed on the air, maybe a production assistant to try to find out what was seen? 7 put a young woman on the air, live, who, as it turned out, hadn't seen anything, didn't know anything. I know these stories are tough to cover, but there still needs to be some basic news-gathering skills applied.
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