Email to CNN about hard news vs. sensationalism

[DCKit]

I have found CNN's relentless coverage of the VA Tech shootings in the poorest imaginable taste and it will be weeks before I can face tuning in again to see if you have finally gone back to covering actual, hard news. Interviewing the friends and family of the victims the day after the shootings is offensive to me on a level I can't begin to describe.

There are many things going on, especially on Capitol Hill, right now, that warrant serious attention. If you chose to ignore these hearings further, I will have no choice but to acknowledge that you have chosen the same path as your peers, are no longer interested in hard news and have no further interest in the stories that have an actual impact on the lives of your viewers.

Straighten up folks, your credibility has been seriously damaged. If you choose to become simply another news/entertainment channel as so many others have, I, many people I know personally and the thousands of decent people with whom I correspond via the internet will find other sources of information.

Thank you

[upi402]

1. yep, the media are co-conspirators in corporate fascism

and wasn't it Linda Ellerby who bemoaned the American citizenry for merely shrugging and saying "ain't it a shame".

distraction from real, hair-on-fire issues is one arrow in their quiver.

[MirrorAshes]

2. I havn't even been watching TV, but the pic on cnn.com is awful

i mean, its seriously disturbing, and its been there for most of the day. Congrats on making me not want to visit your website, cnn. great job!

[Wesin04]

3. I just wrote them, too

Right before I tuned in here, I sent an email to CNN via John and Chetry. They are playing right into the killer's hands by giving him so much face time. I have no desire to hear his voice or hear his diabtribes over and over and over. I asked if this was the only news in the world, or if they have turned totally tabloid. More ought to write them.

[Quakerfriend]

4. Good job!

I keep wondering when we are going to storm the station!

Anyone who works for any of the big stations should be ashamed of what they do.

[Chipper Chat]

5. I just emailed CNN.

TEXT:
"I had to turn on TV Land this morning to get away from "his" picture. Please return to covering important news like the Gonzales hearings and other topics. Bury this ugly and depressing shooting story as soon as possible."

Hopefully, they'll get a lot of these.

[Clark2008]

6. Too bad they won't listen to you as long as people keep

tuning into see it and feeding the advertisers.

[DCKit]

7. Thanks all for your kind words and additional emails. I knew I wasn't alone on this. nt

[KharmaTrain]

8. Dare I Say This Coverage Was Better Than Columbine

There's a fine line here when covering these kind of stories. Newschannels get stuck in the moment...trying to fill lots of airtime with what little info they have...and then when they get info, to rush it out and keep hamemring it. Yes, if you're watching 24/7, it's gonna burn...but not everyone is watching that way.

Yes, there are other things going on, but they don't make "good television". This is a visual medium that people tend to mistake for sensational. It's ideal for presenting a tragedy like VT, where issues like the USA scandals or health care crisis can't be so easily shown or keep people's attention. Regarding Iraq, do we need to constantly show exploding markets and carnage to "balance" the coverage? I sure heard about all the dead yesterday in Iraq and I read daily of the deteriorating situation. While CNN may not devote the coverage you want, there are many other sources now...and many people have found that out...that's why you're here, why I'm here.

The Columbine coverage was way more over the top than this. They kept rerunning the video of the kids fleeing the building, kept showing mouring families and went into detail on as many of the murders as they could. Atop that, they rushed in a special graphic and music package. While The VT story dominates the coverage, it was nowhere near the wall-to-wall we got in the wake of Columbine...CNN and MSNBC did go back to their regular programming and have discussed other news items.

This is the byproduct of living in interesting times...