Shellshocked

 

“Many in legacy media love mass shootings. You guys love it.” —Dana Loesch, NRA vampire and national spokeswoman.

“That’s an inhumane thing to say, tantamount to suggesting that cops like mass killings because they earn a bunch of overtime. 

“The reality is that some days, the hardest thing a reporter must do is pick up the phone to call a grieving family. But that’s what we do. We seek primary sources and hold an honest mirror up to our communities.

“We don’t have the luxury of conspiracy theories or parroting talking points. We report. We cry. And we wrestle with our coverage decisions through sleepless nights and broken relationships and a seemingly unending parade of grief.”

—Trevor Hughes, reporter, “Reporters sound off . . .,” USA Today, Feb. 28, 2018. 

 

Image: Outside Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland, Florida, on Feb. 14, family members wait for word. Amy Beth Bennett/Sun Sentinel.

 

• Editorial Comment: And the NRA’s response at news of every mass shooting? Sad truth: gun sales always spike.

peezpix by Ted Pease

Coasties

FREE! Get TODAY'S WORD ON JOURNALISM in your email This free “service” is sent to 2,000,000 or so subscribers around the planet more or less every weekday morning during WORD season. If you have recovered from whatever illness led you to subscribe and don’t want it anymore, send “unsubscribe” to ted.pease@gmail.com. Or if you want to afflict someone else, send me the email address and watch the fun begin. (Disclaimer: I just quote ’em, I don’t necessarily endorse ’em. Don’t shoot the messenger.) 
 
Ted Pease, Professor of Interesting Stuff, Trinidad, California. (Be)Friend The WORD

“I don’t think writers are sacred, but words are. They deserve respect. If you get the right ones, in the right order, you can nudge the world a little.” —Tom Stoppard