Less than a week after the tragic events in Virginia wherein a TV reporter and cameraman were shot dead during a live story, the topic is still a very sensitive one for many of us.
As an aspiring journalist myself, I”ve already learned about countless horrifying acts of violence in our nation”s recent history. It had been enough to desensitize me to it. But this one in particular hits home for me, as it does for many other reporters.
Tragedy always strikes the hardest when it involves people we know. And while I didn”t know either the cameraman or the reporter personally, when I heard about the tragedy in Virginia I immediately thought of the people I work with at the Argonaut.
Erin Bamer
I honestly can”t say I know how I would have reacted if I were placed in the situation of the rest of the crew at WDBJ7 News. Through working together on a near daily basis, the team of Argonaut editors is more like a team of friends, and the same goes for the remainder of our staff. We”re a family, and I can only imagine the staff at WDBJ7 feels the same way about their crew.
The reaction from the anchor and the rest of the employees during the live shooting was incredibly admirable, as well as the way the station handled coverage of the story after the fact.
Just thinking about the possibility of being forced to report on the deaths of my colleagues and friends is enough to make me feel sick. I”m in awe of the level of professionalism these reporters have displayed in the past few days.
WDBJ7″s response was admirable, and ought to be recognized by people outside of the journalism community as well. Too often we don”t realize the full impact of tragedies when we don”t have a personal connection to them.
This situation could be an exception though. This incident was recorded on video and broadcasted live to an unprepared and horrified audience.
In the last year or so, multiple other violent and grotesque events have been video recorded and posted publicly, much to the horror of the rest of us. The element of videotaping things of such a graphic nature certainly elicits a more extreme reaction from the audience that views it.
There”s also the factor of this violent act happening on what is generally believed to be safe soil. Sadly, many journalists other than Alison Parker and Adam Ward have been executed before now, but most of these killings happened in more dangerous territory, like in the Middle East.
But Parker and Ward were not in an area that was war-torn or ravaged in chaos. They were in Virginia. Neither of them had any reason to fear for their lives – they were simply going about their jobs like they”d done every day beforehand.
This random, tragic event may just have enough of an impact to enact actual change. But that”s also not the most important thing to analyze just yet.
The most important thing for all of us to do right now is try not to forget about these victims, because that”s how we become numb to the possible unfortunate events like this one. Remember Alison and Adam, and appreciate the things you have and the people you love.
Erin Bamer can be reached at [email protected] or on Twitter @ErinBamer