There are too many mass shootings for the U.S. media to cover

[Nevilledog]

Link to tweet

https://www.washingtonpost.com/media/2022/07/09/us-media-mass-shootings/

No paywall
https://archive.ph/P5o23

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“Unfortunately, there are just so many shootings around the country that we have to be smart about using our resources,” Erickson said. “We can’t tell every story. All shootings affect a community, but we look for the impact on a community and beyond it.”

The reality is, some mass shootings are considered more newsworthy than others. A school shooting is different from a fight that leads to gunfire, as is a hate crime targeting a specific group or an act of terrorism.

NPR’s acting managing editor Vickie Walton-James said shooting stories that rise to the level of national attention are usually attacks “targeting people in places where people expect to be safe,” such as a school or a church, or targeting people of a specific race or religion. And editors have to figure out which can be featured, given limited airtime on regular radio broadcasts. “There are so many things going on,” she said. “There’s a war in Ukraine. There’s the Jan. 6 hearings. There are these horrific acts of violence. And we are trying to balance them all and give them all the coverage they deserve, as well as remembering that we need to provide some joy for audiences.”

There’s also an issue of logistics, with smaller news operations more limited in journalistic resources. “PBS NewsHour,” for example, sent journalists to Uvalde and to Buffalo in May but not to Highland Park this week, partly because many employees were off for the long holiday weekend. “With mass shootings, it does come down to size and horror and scope, but it’s also the timing and who is available and when we can get there and the resources we are taking away from other shows,” said Sara Just, the show’s senior executive producer.

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[mucifer]

1. I think the Highland Park one freaked so

Many out because so many people go to 4th celebrations.