Cowardly killers and the Oh So PC abettors of cowardly killers

Very early on Friday morning on the other side of town a cowardly killer walked into a crowded movie theatre and shot down 70 people at close range.  You all know the name of the thing who did this and you know what it looks like because papers like the Denver Post published every detail of the thing's life and every photo they could find of it as quickly as they could.  The Saturday edition of the post even published full color illustrations of the weapons the thing used and what it was wearing when it killed, artfully done of course, glamorous even.  The Denver Post is a top level paper after all.

It is also a tool and an abettor of mass murder.  It breathlessly gave the thing what it wanted most, what all these things want most.  It gave it fame.  It made its face famous and it made sure its name will be known by all.  The Denver Post, and all those other oh so responsible news outlets, will ponder and comment upon every facet of this thing's life for days and months.  And every time it does, the thing's name will be mentioned and its photo will be shown, especially if an enterprising reporter can find a new as yet unpublished photo.  So the thing is happy now.  Everybody will know who it is, what it looks like and every little thought it ever had.  Thanks to the Denver Post and all those other serious news outlets that are only doing their jobs, because after all, its news.

Except they are not doing their job.  They are pandering to morbid interest.  All the facts of case can be reported, all aspects of the tragedy fully explained without once printing the name of the killer nor once showing a photo of it.  If they didn't print those, other potential cowardly mass killers out there would see that if they killed, nobody would know their names.  Nobody would know what they looked like.  They would just be an anonymous thing just as they had been before.  There would be that much less incentive for them to carry out their fantasies.   Not now though, if you want the world to know who you are and what you look like, just do what that thing did and papers like the Denver Post will carry out your wishes and feel good about themselves as they did so.  After all, it news!

I am going to cut one avenue of apology for the Post and other news outlets off right here.  The line will be that if they didn't do it others would.  The unspoken assumption is if others would, the Post would lose out, money or circulation.  They can't after all be expected to lose out.  Why not?  Why can't doing the right thing trump a loss of some kind.  That is why doing the right thing is admirable, because it is often hard.  

The other argument will be that the thing's name at least is going to be public record.  It will be in the police report and on the court docket.  Yes it will.  But it won't be on the evening news, it won't be on the front page and it won't be broadcast to millions.  If somebody wants to look the thing's name up in the public record that will take some work-time and effort.  But news outlets take the work out of finding out the name of a thing like that.  They not only take the work out of it they try as hard as they can to make sure the world knows the thing's name and what it looks like.  After all, it's news!

Of course all these outlets rent their garments and cry crocodile tears about the tragedy.  And all will pontificate at length about why this has happened and what must be done in the future.  Why something must be done!  But not one, not one will look in their figurative mirror and acknowledge that they are looking at a prime cause of a killing like this.  Not one of them will say I shall not be a tool of a killer.  And if this happens again, not one of them will say to themselves "I share the blame in this."  Not one.

You may be thinking I'm picking on the Denver Post unfairly.  But that is the only paper I get so that is all I've seen.  I am sure though that many other papers and broadcast outlets have behaved as shamefully, I just haven't seen them.  That doesn't matter anyway.  If you participate in a gang rape, you ain't less guilty because you weren't the only one.

If you think the Post was wrong about this you might want to tell the editor.  His phone number is listed on the Denver Post web site under Editor and he answers his own phone.  He will listen, at least until he figures out why you are calling.  Then he might abruptly hang up.