The saturation of media coverage for the Newtown, CT tragedy is just too much. It isn’t healthy to watch the coverage constantly after a tragedy like that. At the beginning when we’re in shock and trying to find out what happened, watching in disbelief is understandable. But when it reaches a point of repetition with little new information from one broadcast to the next, it’s time to move on.
There is no danger of forgetting what happened, and I am not suggesting we do so. What is necessary is to get back into some semblance of normalcy in our routine – not to pretend it didn’t happen, but to get on with life in a way that brings healing. We still have families to take care of, jobs to performs, volunteer work to offer, classes to attend, plans to make, service to perform and much more.
I was chatting with someone Friday afternoon about our recollections from many years ago when the few major networks that existed signed off late at night and there was nothing at all on the air after that. Incessant coverage didn’t happen for anything anytime. Not so today with hundreds of 24-hour networks and each of them sacrificing truth in the early reporting in the sad attempt to be first to report something – anything – whether it’s verified or not.
In the effort to fill endless time on the air, we don’t need to see the young surviving children interviewed by the media. As a parent, I would never allow a child of mine who had just experienced such a thing to be interviewed by the media. I don’t understand why some are allowing it. It’s their call to make and not mine, but I think it’s just too much and unnecessary.
We mourn for the loss. We learn what we can from it. We do everything within reason to protect ourselves and our loved ones from such senseless acts. And we move on.
Leap year lesson #351: You must move on.
Next Practices 