Media Meditation #4 Will We Ever Know?

I will be the first to admit that I do not keep track of the news. After the discussions in our Media class I avoid it all the more. Before our Media class I believed that the news was always depressing. It was rare to see stories with a positive message reported on. Now I believe that most of the messages aren’t correct to begin with so why should I follow depressing AND misleading stories?

However, my attention was grabbed at one of the latest stories. The mass shooting at Fort Hood, Texas interested me because of my history with the military. I first heard about it on a talk radio show that the shuttle bus was playing. I had no idea what they were talking about, but they had some interesting interviews from “top military officials” about the shooting. The more I heard the more confused yet angry I became. One of the things said was that lower ranking military enlistees often make racial remarks and slurs to others, and we discourage that. There are two things very wrong with that. The first was singling out lower ranking enlistees from officers and higher ranking. That statement in itself is very untrue from a lower ranking enlistee’s past experience laden opinion. I rarely encountered racial remarks however when I did, they were spread from all ranks, officers and enlistees. The second was that the “top ranking officials” did not actually discourage it. While everyone is taught the same class on equal opportunity, when the remarks and slurs occurred, no one addressed them. In fact, much the opposite, they would laugh right along with the person making the comments and the whole thing would blow over.

I did some research on the topic and found out the “media specifics” on the shooting. A Muslim officer in the Army had opened fire on fellow troops. Within three days of this event the news media had linked this man with terrorism and on a jihadist mission. When this was reported on, I simply laughed. I knew the stories would state that he was linked to terrorism. This event is a very serious issue for the military. A high ranking officer, who was also a psychiatrist, opened fire on fellow soldiers on US ground. The public was outraged and the Army has a lot to answer for. However I could predict they would place a terrorist label on this fellow because it is easier to apologize for missing a terrorist infiltrating our military than it is to explain the event was due to lack of proper actions and treatment to the warning signs that were there prior to the shooting.


The media has now shifted the attention of this “investigation” to the emotional side of saying goodbye to the victims and moving on. The story has passed and while it is still mentioned, it is considered old news. There is the promise of an internal investigation and a senate committee meeting, however the energy behind the story has dissipated in true infotainment style. Despite the media’s surge forward, I am still shaking my head at this coverage. I find it sad and depressing and will never truly believe 100% that the shooter actually has links to terrorism.