amicus
Literotica Guru
- Joined
- Sep 28, 2003
- Posts
- 14,812
For those of you who do not know, I have had a long career in news; radio, television and print journalism and, by necessity, have become a news ‘junkie’ in terms of following the news as I no longer report it.
That means that I watch, incessantly, when a story arises, CNN, MSNBC, FOX and Headline News. In addition I search online CBS, NBC, ABC, NY Times, Washington Post, LA Times and I follow links to sources.
So…I have continually followed the development of the Virginia Tech Massacre, as it is now being called.
I have watched the news continuously since the story broke, as I did the first Gulf War, 9/11, Shock and Awe and the Katrina Disaster in New Orleans and the Gulf Coast.
As time has passed, the technological advances have made ‘news’ coverage, an entirely different animal than when I began in the news business.
As I watched the ‘satellite’ coverage, cell phone camera inserts, and a world wide convergence on the location of Virginia Tech by news agencies and bureaus from around the nation and the world, I realized that something fundamental has changed.
This is not a political thread. Had I written this concerning ‘Katrina’ it would have been, but not in this case.
As I watched the story evolve from the first reportorial and factual rendering of events, to the University President and Chief Security Officer, to the Governor of the State and then to the White House and the President of the United States and to the House and Senate and to World coverage, I began to think of the impact.
Then the incessant speculation by the Media as to each and every aspect of the event as the story deepened, I began to realize that truly, a new era has arrived.
I watched and listened as Media representatives interviewed college students on campus, EMT’s on the scene, Psychologists, Medical personnel from local hospitals, security experts, profiler’s, Police, SWAT, Homeland Security, Experts on the Columbine School disaster in Colorado, the Amish tragedy and a dozen more references and began to form a question in my mind which I am trying to resolve with this post.
It is now nearly 24 hours since the event began and I am still listening to the news as I write this and wonder just what it is I am trying to say.
I know that most do not have the time or the interest or the motivation to peruse the news as I do, thus you may not understand where I am going with this, and for that I apologize.
There has been, I propose, over the last decade or so, a quantum shift in the coverage of events and I, for one, am not quite certain how to deal with it. I appreciate, I think, the availability of the rapid dissemination of information, I even appreciate the aggressiveness of the press and the depth and breadth with which they proceed.
No statement, no judgment, just an acknowledgment that things have changed and I am not fully comfortable with those changes.
Amicus…
That means that I watch, incessantly, when a story arises, CNN, MSNBC, FOX and Headline News. In addition I search online CBS, NBC, ABC, NY Times, Washington Post, LA Times and I follow links to sources.
So…I have continually followed the development of the Virginia Tech Massacre, as it is now being called.
I have watched the news continuously since the story broke, as I did the first Gulf War, 9/11, Shock and Awe and the Katrina Disaster in New Orleans and the Gulf Coast.
As time has passed, the technological advances have made ‘news’ coverage, an entirely different animal than when I began in the news business.
As I watched the ‘satellite’ coverage, cell phone camera inserts, and a world wide convergence on the location of Virginia Tech by news agencies and bureaus from around the nation and the world, I realized that something fundamental has changed.
This is not a political thread. Had I written this concerning ‘Katrina’ it would have been, but not in this case.
As I watched the story evolve from the first reportorial and factual rendering of events, to the University President and Chief Security Officer, to the Governor of the State and then to the White House and the President of the United States and to the House and Senate and to World coverage, I began to think of the impact.
Then the incessant speculation by the Media as to each and every aspect of the event as the story deepened, I began to realize that truly, a new era has arrived.
I watched and listened as Media representatives interviewed college students on campus, EMT’s on the scene, Psychologists, Medical personnel from local hospitals, security experts, profiler’s, Police, SWAT, Homeland Security, Experts on the Columbine School disaster in Colorado, the Amish tragedy and a dozen more references and began to form a question in my mind which I am trying to resolve with this post.
It is now nearly 24 hours since the event began and I am still listening to the news as I write this and wonder just what it is I am trying to say.
I know that most do not have the time or the interest or the motivation to peruse the news as I do, thus you may not understand where I am going with this, and for that I apologize.
There has been, I propose, over the last decade or so, a quantum shift in the coverage of events and I, for one, am not quite certain how to deal with it. I appreciate, I think, the availability of the rapid dissemination of information, I even appreciate the aggressiveness of the press and the depth and breadth with which they proceed.
No statement, no judgment, just an acknowledgment that things have changed and I am not fully comfortable with those changes.
Amicus…
but the quantum shifts in journalism is not good. 
