THE LAST WORD 08-28-15

THE LAST WORD

The slaying of two journalists in Virginia on Wednesday that played out on live TV and, later, on the killer’s social media feeds, sent shockwaves through the journalism community, including us here at Mic. In response, some outlets got it right with their coverage, while others got it very wrong. In fact, according to Dan Rather, nearly everyone in the media is getting it wrong by not being tough enough on gun violence and supporting reform. Here are a few words on the subject, from a few that got it right: Farhad Manjoo at the New York Times contemplated what happens when murder goes viral (paywall), Joel Achenbach wrote for the Washington Post that this sort of horror has become the new normal, and Jaye Watson’s blog post discussed what every journalist was thinking. The situation has raised new questions: Is it ethical to watch murder caught on tape? It’s important to note that there actually aren’t perfect policies in place to keep this kind of video from hitting your social media feeds again.