Will it ever end?
I find myself asking this question every time I turn on the news and see another story about a mass shooting. I think we are so desensitized to mass shootings in the United States, and they happen so often, that we are becoming numb to them. I am 24 years old and I do not recall a time in my life when mass shootings didn't happen. I've never experienced what it would be like to live in a country that is not ravaged by gun violence. Will I ever know what that feels like? Probably not.
In this weeks post, I will be discussing both the Atlanta spa shootings and the Boulder Colorado grocery store mass shooting. They happened within 6 days of each other. I will be looking at articles from both NBC and Fox News, and discuss key differences in the headlines of their articles reporting on the each of the shootings.
The Atlanta Spa Shootings occured on March 16, 2021, when Robert Aaron Long, a 21-year-old white man, walked into 3 different spas in metro-atlanta and shot and killed a total of 8 people. In total, seven women, six of whom were Asian, and one man were shot dead in the attacks.
A week later, on March 22, 2021, another 21-year-old man walked into King Soopers grocery store in Boulder, Colorado, where residents had gathered to shop and receive COVID-19 vaccines. 10 people were shot dead, including a policeman, as the gunman opened fire on people inside the store. The victims ranged in age from 20 to 65.
A Fox News article about the Atlanta spa shootings headline reads:"Atlanta shooting suspect tells police attacks not racially motivated, was purportedly driven by sex addiction--Robert Aaron Long, 21, may have 'sex addiction,' authorities said."
An NBC news article about the Atlanta shootings headlined with: "8 dead in Atlanta-area spa shootings, suspect arrested--Six of the victims were Asian women, officials said. The shootings occurred within an hour at three spas."
A Fox News article released after the Boulder mass shooting read: "Dems' gun control agenda after Boulder shooting 'can't usurp reality': Colion Noir--President Biden is considering executive action on gun control, Psaki says."
And an NBC News article published after the Boulder shooting read: "Biden calls on Congress to tighten gun laws in wake of Colorado shooting that killed 10."As president I’m going to use all the resources at my disposal to keep people safe," the president said on Tuesday."
Fox News reports on both shootings with right-leaning headlines, dodging questions of racism and dismissing gun-control, where as NBC does almost the opposite with their headlines promoting calls for gun control and acknowledging race in the Atlanta shootings.
What do you think? Do we have a gun problem in this country? Racism? Sexism? Fetishism? Do you think it is right for media politicize mass shootings? Where do we go from here as a country?
Sources:
https://www.foxnews.com/politics/colion-noir-democrats-gun-control-boulder-shooting
https://www.nbcnews.com/news/us-news/3-dead-shooting-georgia-massage-parlor-suspect-loose-n1261262
https://www.nbcnews.com/politics/congress/unfathomable-pain-democrats-demand-action-gun-control-after-back-back-n1261797
https://www.foxnews.com/us/atlanta-shooting-suspect-police-attacks-not-racially-motivated-sex-addiction
No comments:
Post a Comment