Irresponsibility is built into American news

It happened again. A guy (whose name I won't include in this post) killed a police officer in New Jersey so he could become famous. He went into a drug store with no intention of robbing it. He simply accosted the private security officer, took his gun and waited for the police to arrive. They were his quarry.

When Officer Melvin Santiago, a 23-year-old who'd only been on the force for six months, pulled up in a police car outside the drug store, the perp shot him in the head, killing him.

In the subsequent news barrage, the media helpfully informed us that the perp had told people earlier in the day that they should watch the news tonight "because I'm going to be famous."

He was right. The news media complied immediately with the killer's wish, plastering his name and image all over the TV stations and newspapers. He got what he wanted: they made him a star.

This is stupid and irresponsible but media heads don't consider the effects of their coverage. They just blast it out there, heedlessly. It doesn't have to be this way. They could easily make a simple decision to call these idiots "Coward 1" (and Coward 2, etc.) and never show their image. If the creeps don't get the media coverage they hunger for, they won't think it's "fun" to kill more cops. You think they want to go into prison and shout "I'm coward number 23!"? I seriously doubt it.

The media fosters these murders as surely as if they put an ad on Craigslist that says, "Wanna kill cops? We promise to cover the event and make you a star! Go for it!"

It's sickening. Wake up, news media. You play a huge role in these murders. But hey, I'll bet that doesn't even bother you. The money keeps rolling in, so why should you care?

And that, in a nutshell, is what's wrong with America: money is god, and all else bows before it.

It's not a game

I'm always surprised when media sources fail to be proactive. I'm not sure if this is news everywhere, but in NYC the media can't stop talking about the "knockout game". Game?

Police are investigating whether a rash of cowardly sucker punch assaults in Brooklyn is all part of a sick "knockout game."

The latest victim — a 78-year-old woman in Midwood — came forward on Tuesday and told police she was hit in the back of her head while walking along E. 5th St. and Ave. L earlier this month.

That woman, along with seven Orthodox Jews who were attacked in Crown Heights, could all be targets of a mean-spirited knockout game in which people are punched in the back of the head and onlookers post video of the assault to the Web. [Emphasis mine.]

I get it. Some kids call this the "knockout game". But that's no reason for the media to spread the terminology around. For Dog's sake, don't call it a game.

[Note: I have to give credit where it's due: the above-linked NY Daily News article at least managed to provide one mention of this being a "cowardly suckerpunch assault". But then they reverted to calling it a "game". Sigh.]

Call it a "knockout crime" or a "cowardly suckerpunch" or simply "sociopathic behavior" -- but don't call it a "game". The consequence of using this innocent term is that you're creating a playful meme; you're telling the public that this is a simple, childlike behavior. It diminishes the heinous nature of the crime.

In the US, the news media rarely feel responsibility for the news they present. I remember that it took about ten years for the media to stop saying that this or that organization "took credit" for a bombing or shooting. Credit is what's given for a laudable act. And then one bright day, the media got some sense slapped into it, and began to say that this or that organization "took responsibility" for the crime. Phew. Was that so hard?

Why can't the media wake up at the beginning of a terrible trend in terminology? Why can't they see right now that calling this cowardly suckerpunch crime a "knockout game" is a terrible idea? 

The media act like irresponsible children. And that's an accurate call. They led us into a false war, they don't provide accurate information about who's lying and who's telling the truth, and they spread damaging ideas on a daily basis -- without a qualm. I guess they like to play the irresponsibility game. That one's hurting us, too. Every day and in every way.