News Report
School shootings have gained traction in the last few decades and assorted news medias have absorbed the idea of spreading too much information. Feeding off of devastating events, journalists want to keep their news alive by milking tragedies for months by going into deep and unnecessary details about these tragedies. To keep a story fresh, the news media dissects every aspect of an event, which has led to the spread of gruesome details about historical occurrences such as Columbine. Large amounts of media coverage about minute sections of this tragedy bring up subjects that should not be shown to the public eye as it can present new ideas that can infiltrate the viewers mind. When this happens, more and more ideas are put into peoples heads, helping them to possibly gain “inspiration” for their gruesome endeavors. Feeding details to the public only gives more access to harmful ideas, which I see is unnecessary in explaining the events. This is not something that can directly apply to everyone who watches as many people just want to know more information on what happened, but some take notes and gain inspiration from these news articles, which leads to an increase in violent ideas. This can be seen from groups such as the Trenchcoat Mafia, a group that felt Columbine was a beneficial event, or from other future school shooters sucha Adam Lanza, the shooter of Sandy Hook. A different route for journalists to take is to explain the situation, but not go into significant or unnecessary detail as some information needs to stay hidden from public eye. Instead, focusing on prevention of these situations and only speaking on the basic details to prevent an unreasonable and harmful amount of information spreading.
Example of what a real news report from this time would have been like:
BREAKING: Devastation falls onto the country as news breaks on a fatal school shooting. Columbine high school in Colorado lost fourteen students and 1 teacher from fellow students today on April 20th, 1999. The two young men who committed this crime were fellow students of Columbine high school, seniors Dylan Klebold and Eric Harris.
Dylan and Eric planned this event for a year prior, leaving every detail in notebooks and home videos. Targeting their peers, the two boys planned to make homemade grenades from a forbidden text called “The Anarchists Cookbook”, where they planted bombs within the school hours before the day started. In their writings, they say, “Walk in (before school hours). Set bombs for 11:09 and 11:17, and leave. Drive to Clement Park. Gear up. Get back (to the school) by 11:15. Park cars, set car bombs for 11:18. Get out (of the car). Go to the outside hill. Wait. When first bombs go off, attack. Have fun!” (New York, N.Y: Infobase, 2012). The two had gruesome plans. They were apart of a group called the “Trenchcoat mafia” which gazed on nazi ideas and targeted minority races and people who they felt oppressed groups such as the Trenchcoat mafia. By analyzing videos, it was found that for Eric, this mission was for fame and revenge. For Dylan, this event was about death and the final suicide. It has been said that these two students were heavily bullied and many wonder if the boys did thats as a form of revenge.
Heartbreak spreads as families and friends cope with this devastation as investigators continue to identify bodies. Students from Columbine high school join together for support.
Quotes from a real news report from this time:
“The entire school was booby trapped. Eric and Dylan had apparently committed suicide but investigators say they spent their final moments rigging the building and their own bodies with more than two dozen pipe bombs… Detectives now believe they entered the school through a back door and stormed down the hallways, they cornered students in the cafeteria and the library where there was nowhere to run…”
The “what if…” news article
BREAKING: Devastation falls onto the country as news breaks on a fatal school shooting. Columbine high school in Colorado lost fourteen students and 1 teacher from fellow students today on April 20th, 1999. The two young men who committed this crime were students of Columbine high school, seniors Dylan Klebold and Eric Harris.
Dylan and Eric planned this event for a year prior, leaving every detail in notebooks and home videos. Students recall their personalities throughout school. Fellow students say they appeared dark and quiet. Many noticed over the years that their personalities changed significantly. It was said that the two boys had interest in their futures, one was planning on continuing his education at the University of Arizona and the other was planning on joining the military. Students and community join together during this heartbreaking time.
Heartbreak spreads as families and friends cope with this devastation as investigators continue to identify bodies. Students from Columbine high school join together for support.
Works Cited
“1999 Columbine Massacre News Coverage (WABC-TV).” YouTube, YouTube, 18 Apr. 2018, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YKaFY8GWZ1o.
“Haunted by Columbine.” New York Times, 29 Sept. 2015.
