Tuesday, April 24, 2007
We Will Return
A madman will run loose again.
Families will cry again, mourning their losses.
There will be another disaster. And yet again, you won't think it can get any worse.
Time may heal all wounds, but tragedy can open them up again. Ask the families of the Oklahoma City bombing what they thought about during 9/11. Ask the families affected by Columbine if Virginia Tech brought back the anguish of senseless loss.
The people will decry the handling of the story by the media again as they watch for hours on end the regurgitated facts from the faces on the cable news networks.
When will it end? When will Virginia Tech return to being just another school known for football in a rural setting?
There may be a lull now, but be prepared for an onslaught of media coverage in the future. For graduation. For the first day of classes. At 9:45 am on 4/16, 2007, 2008, 2009, 2010... and so on.
It doesn't end. The University of Texas is still trying to get past the bell tower. Kent State - an expression of horror frozen in time. No child can graduate Columbine without a hushed whisper and prayer.
When it happens, we'll be there, but not bearing gifts. We'll be bringing the sins of a dozen other madmen, trying to find sense in their madness. We'll try to equate one disaster to another, subconsciously trying to find whose grief is worse based on the body count.
The students at Virginia Tech have asked for peace. They've asked for privacy. They've asked for time to try to make sense of a senseless act.
As awful as it may sound, what Virginia Tech needs is another tragedy, or another astronaut going crazy. Perhaps another Imus. Something to move the spotlight from Blacksburg. Most importantly, it needs to happen somewhere else. Maybe then, when the attention is pointed elsewhere the members of the Virginia Tech community can grieve in peace and begin to heal.
Television satellite trucks will sprout like dandelions again in some far away place you've only heard about once or twice before. And yet we'll all watch. For a little while... until something else grabs our attention.
Families will cry again, mourning their losses.
There will be another disaster. And yet again, you won't think it can get any worse.
Time may heal all wounds, but tragedy can open them up again. Ask the families of the Oklahoma City bombing what they thought about during 9/11. Ask the families affected by Columbine if Virginia Tech brought back the anguish of senseless loss.
The people will decry the handling of the story by the media again as they watch for hours on end the regurgitated facts from the faces on the cable news networks.
When will it end? When will Virginia Tech return to being just another school known for football in a rural setting?
There may be a lull now, but be prepared for an onslaught of media coverage in the future. For graduation. For the first day of classes. At 9:45 am on 4/16, 2007, 2008, 2009, 2010... and so on.
It doesn't end. The University of Texas is still trying to get past the bell tower. Kent State - an expression of horror frozen in time. No child can graduate Columbine without a hushed whisper and prayer.
When it happens, we'll be there, but not bearing gifts. We'll be bringing the sins of a dozen other madmen, trying to find sense in their madness. We'll try to equate one disaster to another, subconsciously trying to find whose grief is worse based on the body count.
The students at Virginia Tech have asked for peace. They've asked for privacy. They've asked for time to try to make sense of a senseless act.
As awful as it may sound, what Virginia Tech needs is another tragedy, or another astronaut going crazy. Perhaps another Imus. Something to move the spotlight from Blacksburg. Most importantly, it needs to happen somewhere else. Maybe then, when the attention is pointed elsewhere the members of the Virginia Tech community can grieve in peace and begin to heal.
Television satellite trucks will sprout like dandelions again in some far away place you've only heard about once or twice before. And yet we'll all watch. For a little while... until something else grabs our attention.
Labels: journalism, Virginia Tech
