On Sun, 23 Dec 2012 15:12:33 -0500, Beth Benoit wrote:
The count of victims seldom includes Adam's mother and, of course,
himself.
I hope that most of us on TIPS can dig a little deeper than to join the
thoughtless, unprofessional armchair psychologizing that blames Nancy
Lanza
for her son's actions, with no knowledge of actual facts.
Andrew Solomon (author of the new book that's getting attention called
*Far
from the Tree: Parents, Children and the Search for Identity - *I just
ordered it but haven't yet read it*) *has a very thought-provoking column
in today's New York Times.
He decries the blame game. ("Blame is a great comfort, because a situation
for which someone or something can be blamed is a situation that could
have
been avoided - and so could be prevented next time...trying to wreak
vengeance by apportioning blame to others, including the killer's family,
is ultimately counterproductive. Those who make comprehension the
precondition of acceptance destine themselves to unremitting misery.")
Perhaps this is a teachable moment though not exactly the one Beth intends.
I would like to suggest another book, Dave Cullen's "Columbine", portions
of which can be read on books.google.com; see:
http://books.google.com/books?id=ZQONT3jE1-sC&printsec=frontcover&dq=columbine&hl=en&sa=X&ei=ZFrYUKvvLuSz0QHvkIHgAw&ved=0CDQQ6AEwAA
In the aftermath of Newtown Cullen's perspective was provided in a variety
of media outlets, the following is just a small sample:
http://www.latimes.com/features/books/jacketcopy/la-et-jc-newtown-tragedy-reading-dave-cullen-columbine-20121217,0,2274168.story
http://www.slate.com/blogs/xx_factor/2012/12/18/in_the_wake_of_newtown_read_columbine_and_we_need_to_talk_about_kevin.html
http://www.cbsnews.com/8301-505263_162-57559727/columbine-author-media-often-gets-the-story-wrong/
http://www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/2012/dec/22/media-wrong-about-mass-shootings
Cullen's main point is that in situations like Columbine and Newtown, most
of the initial information about what happened is just wrong. As the
Guardian
article above points out, journalistic rules get tossed and "gossip" serves
as
"news". What actually happened in Columbine or Newtown or Aurora or
other places involving gun violence takes a long time to figure out as well
as getting the details right. But an "infotainment"-driven news media has
no patience for such things because it works in "news cycles", that is,
limited
time periods that can be devoted to one story until the next big story
appears.
In my methods class, I point out that when an airplane crashes the National
Transportation Safety Board (in the U.S.) it usually take 18-24 months for
them to conduct an investigation, reach conclusions, and present their
report
for why the crash occurred. Sometimes the reasons are clear, sometimes no
definitive conclusion can be reached, and all the other incidents fall
somewhere
in between. But the news media may only spend a couple or few days on
a plain crash, depending upon spectacular or newsworthy it is considered,
and people will learn and remember what they heard on these broadcasts and
NOT on the report that is issued maybe two years later. People will think
that
they know what happened but this is just the illusion of knowledge. We
should
not be surprised that similar things happen to other big news stories like
mass
shootings. People have their own lives to live and unless they are directly
involved in the incidents will not really care to get the story straight
(i.e., do
the hard work of following up what is learned and ultimately concluded).
-Mike Palij
New York University
m...@nyu.edu
P.S. Two last points:
(1) After 9/11, news accounts of how many people died usually excluded
the terrorists who committed the crime.
(2) The novel and movie "We Need to Talk About Kevin" are things some
might want to look at. A brief description and context is provided here:
http://blogs.clarionledger.com/msstyle/2012/12/17/is-we-need-to-talk-about-kevin-another-prophetic-work-of-fiction/
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