Modified to better reflect what I wanted to say and the intentions of the original article.
(I left too much unsaid the first time out.)
H Samuel 16/04/2012
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Tragic yes, horrific and shocking, definitely... But in all it's violence and wasteful senselessness, let's not allow the crime today and those in recent years threaten to return us to the bad days of open persecution of religious and cultural practice along with those that openly follow their Faith and Beliefs.
The Media and those that report on the events around us have a direct responsibility to the society they serve. In modern reporting and using far too many "throw-away" excuses, this is too often ignored at the expense of feeding the dramatic and the perceived "need" of the people for big, eye catching headlines. To all you reporters, bloggers, politicians and media owners... It is just as dramatic to have a headline that reads something like "Mass killing at School. Many Dead and Injured!" and use a focus on the family and community, loss of potentially great minds, etc. over the motives of the murderer.
We do not "need" to glorify the crime and provide an inferred platform for the miss-directed ideas of a few to attract viewers/readers to our words. Nor do we have to use the current approach to maintain free speech. A more sympathetic and community focussed approach can work just as well. There are good examples of this in the press today, they are just not often given the prominence they deserve.
If the media were to start switching focus towards this way of thinking, they would, in my opinion grow their audience, whilst serving to undermine justification of the "cause" of the criminal.
