In the recent events surrounding the murder and injured bystanders at the Empire State Building, I was given an opportunity to reflect on the media and its balance of attention to tragedy. An acquaintance of mine argued that the concern people placed on an event killing “only one person” should be tempered. Her reasoning was the lack of importance people put on other murders in, as she referred, “the hood.” It got me thinking, “How much does the media alter our perception and do they indeed report a skewed balance of importance based on socioeconomic categories?”
“The News”
I don’t think the incident at the ESB is a fair comparison given the fact that it took place at one of the highest profile buildings in the world. The country is still traumatized by terrorist attacks and its my opinion that fear of further attempts causes knee jerk reactions. I wondered in her opinion, “How many people would have to die before this shooting spree constituted a fair amount of attention?” I do think every loved one, socioeconomic status aside, becomes scared and concerned when a murder happens in your own backyard.
I undoubtedly find concern in the country’s tendency to ignore or give less priority to violence in areas riddled with death. The truth is, our society pays attention when an act of violence happens in unexpected or unusual circumstances. Media is tied to ratings and sweeps, like it or not. I don’t think it’s fair, but continuous coverage in a particular area doesn’t sell ratings. The bigger story to tell in these instances is a human interest piece on concentrated or growing violence and death. We are fed stories according to media’s preference, which often hinders our view and frame of truth.
These of course are opinions and I unilaterally respect the opinions of others. There are many things beyond our control and we can only opine, accept or reject them. As they say, “the only certainties in life are death and taxes.” We can only pray that lives don’t end early due to human hate. Unfortunately, we will only hear some of these stories according to a limited source.
First and Ninth 