Page 6 - January 2020 IIssue new year

The Spectrum of Death: Perspective on News Coverage

A million people in our killings by terrorists, the
country die annually of murders from street vio- And if we find ourselves B
cancer, heart disease, lence, the deaths in com- overloaded by this cover- R

stroke and diabetes, year bat, the fatalities of a mass age, we can turn away for O
in and year out. Daily, by shooting, the victims of a respite. But if we lacked W

the hundreds, the unlucky plane crashes. coverage, we couldn’t fill A
or in too many cases im- the void. R
prudent die in auto ac- This does not seek to as- D

cidents, the despairing at sail or denigrate or criti- So why raise this strong
their own hands in suicide, cize the important and concern about the differ- U

the elderly in falls, and the critical reporting of the ing levels, dare say drasti- N
young of prenatal compli- tragic and deadly incidents cally differing levels, of I
cations and birth defects. the media does cover, nor coverage of the diverse V

does this argue for any segments of the spectrum E
This larger, wider group of less coverage of terrorist of deaths? R

casualties does receive, at attacks, or natural disas- S
times, media coverage, as ters, or casualties among Why? Because if we truly I
well as periodic and in- our armed forces and first desire to prevents deaths T

depth special reports, and responders. This coverage and preserve life, we must Y
we react to these casual- pays respect and reverence check. We must check

ties with the same empa- to the unfortunate and in whether differing levels 2
thy, concern and sorrow too many cases innocent of reporting on different 0
as the more often reported and unsuspecting victims. causes of death and fatali- 2

types of tragedy. But And the coverage stirs us ties, whether those differ- 0
clearly, media reporting to action -- to strengthen ing levels lead us to miss,

of deaths from this latter our defense against terror, possibly unintentionally,
group of causes, deaths to donate, to volunteer, to critical and important
from cancer, or strokes, or improve safety, to hold lifesaving efforts. Do we

elderly falls, or suicides, our government account- neglect or overlook ac-
that reporting runs lower able, to demand better ac- tions and programs that

overall, and much lower tions of our corporations, could be taken to forestall
on a per death basis, than to improve our disaster and reduce casualties?
the reporting garnered preparations, to change

by the headline incidents our habits, or to simply The Attributes of News-
mentioned earlier -- the learn and understand. worthy

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