Media haste is media waste

Ryan Lanza was mistakenly identified as a mass murderer.

The horrific events of Friday, December 14, 2012 will always haunt us, particularly with the festive holiday season looming over us. The shootings at Sandy Hook Elementary School in Newtown, Connecticut are tragic beyond imagination, and that it was perpetrated against so many children only makes it that much worse.

Of course, we are curious. Of course, we are concerned. We want to know what happened; no, we need to know what happened.

I would, however, like to ask that the mainstream media, with access to massive information-gathering resources, to please just get the facts right before reporting.

A breaking and developing story is by nature always evolving, but a traumatized nation should not be subjected to dribs and drabs of speculative nonsense. On Friday, I heard there were up to thirty victims, then twenty, and then twenty-four, before they finally settled on twenty-seven. Why not just report that there were an unknown number of victims and once the number is conformed, report that?

One report claimed that the alleged shooter Adam Lanza shot his mother at the school, when in truth she was shot at home. At one point, she was a teacher at the school, but she’s not. In the rush to find a motive, the media was speculating, and it got the facts wrong.

The problem was further exacerbated by reporting that the shooter’s name was Ryan Lanza. The police had mistakenly identified the brother of the shooter, and the name was quickly broadcast. Ryan, an accountant in New Jersey, had to take steps to make it clear that he was not involved.

In the wake of these tragedies, everyone must take a step back and allow the full picture to be formed before drawing conclusions. The 24-hour news cycle has driven us to a place where a talking head on the television has to keep talking, even if he doesn’t know what he’s talking about.

It also is getting somewhat sickening to see a reporter ask distraught people ‘why are you crying’, when the answer is obvious. And though children may be the primary witnesses of an event, could we give them a chance to breathe before sticking a camera and microphone in their frightened faces?

We naturally want answers and to understand, but the quest for knowledge has to be tempered with a sense of responsibility. Journalistic ethics should recognize when there is a time for haste, and when there is a time for decorum.