Morgan Freeman

Martin Ent Inc wrote: If the media didn't push these then would there be an audience for it?

This is a tough issue. Would you realy want a media that self-censors itself?

During WWII, the media did self censor itself and tried to not show dead GI's. And they also covered up disasters to keep American morale high.

The media is the free market. If people didn't watch their programs on this stuff they would not go looking for stories on these tragedies.

CNN pushed Obama through the election and said they were in financial trouble right after because they did not push what the people wanted. They tried to get him elected. MSNBC and FOX got ratings because lots of people want to hear their own point of view. So to ignore that lost them money.
Huff post, same thing after last election.

We all want to know about these parents. As you know, I live very close to a family that lost their son in the Aurora shooting. My next door neighbor was approached by media (it was a major network, just cannot remember who). They were desperate for anything because that is what the audience wants. Blaming the media is stupid except maybe one thing.... it was always known that media tried not to report suicides and that seems to have gone out the window. I was talking about this after the KC shooting.

CinnamonGirl wrote: The media is the free market. If people didn't watch their programs on this stuff they would not go looking for stories on these tragedies.

CNN pushed Obama through the election and said they were in financial trouble right after because they did not push what the people wanted. They tried to get him elected. MSNBC and FOX got ratings because lots of people want to hear their own point of view. So to ignore that lost them money.
Huff post, same thing after last election.

We all want to know about these parents. As you know, I live very close to a family that lost their son in the Aurora shooting. My next door neighbor was approached by media (it was a major network, just cannot remember who). They were desperate for anything because that is what the audience wants. Blaming the media is stupid except maybe one thing.... it was always known that media tried not to report suicides and that seems to have gone out the window. I was talking about this after the KC shooting.

And that has exactly WHAT to do with the OP that said Morgan Freeman said something that he didn't say? Is this another example of some "non-truth" that you think should be displayed or "taught" next to something that IS "truth"? ... for "balance"?

The online media does keep track of how many times people have clicked on certain stories. Sarah Palin stories would yield high click counts and so those media outlets purposely posted more Palin stories to raise the click counts so they could raise their advertising revenue.

Not clicking on the stories is one way to help make them stop reporting on the story. If no one clicked on Lindsay Lohan stories, she would disappear fast. Because the news has now become all about the almighty dollar instead of journalism.

Since the odds of folks getting hurt or involved in such an event are so much lower than so many other risks we take that day and because so many more people died that day on our roads by design (you know anyone can have a drivers license....and we debate guns, which rarely are used to kill vs. cars), I know the action item for this event.

Move on. It would have worked better than our reaction to 9-11 too.

And it does not matter if Freeman said things that make sense or not. He is not a hero or qualified to help us think better. If someone else wrote something that is good, who cares who?

But the media is not to blame, the guy that shot those people is to blame. I watch that crap all the time and I am never compelled to copy it. That is what screwed up people do and there is not viable way to ID them till after the deed is done, unless you are Tom Cruise in that movie (which will come true, because of the standard reaction to this stuff).

Since school shootings rarely hurt people vs. most other things, like shopping at the grocery store and eating their food. I am going to continue to treat this event in proportion to it's societal importance, with very low priority. It sucks they died. My best to their families, but I will also give my best to the families of the victims of the more numerous drunk drivers, victims of police abuse, or even victims abusive parents in Colorado - all these families suffered as much or more than the ones that got the media attention.

So again I say the action item for most of us should be to mourn and move on....unless you own a media outlet, and this sets you apart, because your action item is to cash in on the gold mine and get everyone to believe that these folks deaths are somehow more important than many many many more deaths and tragedies that happened that day that would have been more difficult to sell commercials in association with if you were reporting.

If all humans are equal, this event was not the biggest killer of Americans or likely even American children that day. There is no solution, we are human and human kill, we get them afterwords and you cannot fight a suicide mission, you have lost as soon as you inspire them to hate you, as soon as you connected your world to theirs.

Guns regs, kids in lockdown, TSA....they are punishments for the victims...but I guess to most the wrong action is so much better than no action, at least you are acting.

It only "does not matter" (if it's a lie or not) if the person(s) caught telling the lie is conservative. Otherwise you clowns are all over it.

I will pressure for gun regs; I will pressure for taking assault weapons and other semi-automatic killing-machines with large-cap magazines off the market. I will make it clear to elected officials that "doing nothing" is not an option...

There are more of "ME" than there are gun-nuts. The landscape has changed... Deal with it.

LadyJazzer wrote: It only "does not matter" (if it's a lie or not) if the person(s) caught telling the lie is conservative. Otherwise you clowns are all over it.

I will pressure for gun regs; I will pressure for taking assault weapons and other semi-automatic killing-machines with large-cap magazines off the market. I will make it clear to elected officials that "doing nothing" is not an option...

There are more of "ME" than there are gun-nuts. The landscape has changed... Deal with it.

Funny thing is that you and the gun nuts are not in charge. You cannot make it clear that doing nothing is not an option, because all you can do if they do nothing is just keep blablabla, especially if you don't have any good guns.

The only thing you can be sure of with gun control, even if you get every law you want passed ever, is that you can disarm yourself.

Gee what badger wrote about the birds and chess pieces is you - straight up.

"Deal with it" I honestly don't know anyone that has said that in person and not be subject to physical harm, usually via the fist. You know LJ, the govt is going after bullies now too, they might even use bully characteristics to ID who to lock up....

The landscape has not changed, some folks got shot and people are over reacting, this happens here and there. Just about nothing is more American than Over Reacting, this is really the same. Just like 9-11, the landscape did not change, we changed it. We may change it here, but I bet no. There are still no jobs, govt is working hard to kill all business and taxes are about to go up a lot. People have bigger fish to fry or we will fry your fish, the one's we were supposed to eat will rot.

Jus' keep doin' what yer doin'.... You get more irrelevant by the day...

LadyJazzer wrote: Jus' keep doin' what yer doin'.... You get more irrelevant by the day...

So are you doing your part and turning in your guns before someone steals them and uses them to commit dasterdly deeds?

Even a standard revolver can kill six without a reload.

Guns regs, kids in lockdown, TSA....they are punishments for the victims...but I guess to most the wrong action is so much better than no action, at least you are acting.

Bravo, on that note. This was posted on another forum I lurk - sorry I can't take credit for it:

"Group Punishment.

Collective "solutions" to individual problems.

They can't blame the shooter, he's dead, and besides he was crazy. Can't blame the shooter's mother; she's dead too.

Can't blame the psychiatrist, although he probably has more culpability than anyone else; it's "bad form" to blame practitioners and "doctors."

Who does that leave? Gun owners, gun sellers, gun organizations, anything that looks or smells like it has a gun affiliation.

Punish the group.

And even that isn't the real driving force.

The real driving force is the compulsion to disarm the nation. The real driving force is the stifling of dissent.

And armed and free population is a threat to total control of a population, so arms must go.

And if you have a "plausible" case for punishing everyone who's armed, you can just ride that wave."