Senator Patrick Leahy and others in Congress have criticized the Press for their coverage of the Arizona attempted assassination of Rep. Gifford and the crazy shooting rampage of a psychotic murderer. They are insinuating that the press is inciting violence and sensationalizing the event. The incident was certainly a terrible act of violence and I believe that every aspect of the incident and the crazy man that did this should be thoroughly investigated, REPORTED BY THE PRESS, and completely acted upon by law enforcement. Yes, the press coverage has been extensive and possibly even tiresome at times, but in my view it is necessary, and the Press, in most cases of reporting, has done a great job. Americans should be grateful and proud that we have a fine Press in both print and in broadcasting services.
It has also been suggested that the press is the cause of this violence by its political reporting. This is rediculous. There are always going to be psychotics who are going to do bad things unless they are discovered, treated, or imprisononed by law enforcement. By the way, both Airzona and Virgina have laws that allow citizens to petition the State to order a psych evaluation of persons who exhibit dangerous or violent behaviour. All states should have laws like this. So if a psychotic commits a murderous act of violence, who's fault is it, the Press, or the citizens who knew that the person was violent and did not report him or her to the officials? Some unscrupulous politicians would like to muzzle certain Press organizations that don't support their political views. Don't let these politicians to use the assassination attempt to restrict the Freedom of the Press! Write and call your Congressmen that you support the Freedom of the Press and they should protect this freedom!
I agree with you about the Freedom of the Press.
ReplyDeleteI am sure you know that the Society of Professional Journalists has a voluntary Code of Ethics. In the article of mine, which you read, I was only suggesting that newsrooms add a provision to this voluntary code that causes them to consciously consider the breadth of their audience and the potential consequences of providing free PR in the form of "air time" to individuals and groups that espouse violence. I see nothing wrong with asking journalists to be responsible in their reporting. This in no way detracts from their absolute rights guaranteed by the 1st Amendment to the Constitution of the United States.