Across the country, newsrooms have been shaken to their core. Alison Parker and Adam Ward were doing a live interview for the WDBJ Mornin' show when a former employee fatally shot them. Every journalist's worst fear came true this morning and it happened on live television by someone who was one of us.
Every day I send reporters out to cover stories. I go out and cover stories a few times a week myself. While I've never found myself in a situation I didn't feel safe in, we have had some scary situations pop up. Our policy has always been safety first. No story is worth one of our people's lives.
I didn't know Alison or Adam but their deaths have still had a great impact on me. In this business, maybe more so than other industries, everyone is connected somehow. We all work together regardless of if we've ever met face-to-face or even talked over the phone. I can't even imagine what the WDBJ family is going through right now.
A lot of people are sharing the video of the shooting. It's readily available on every social media site. But as a journalist I encourage you not to watch it. Instead watch and/or read the tributes to Alison and Adam. Over the course of this day we'll learn a lot about their killer, but for once - and maybe for the first time - let's focus on the victims. It's time to stop giving people like Vester Flannigan/Bryce Williams what they want.
1 comments
I knew you would post about this today, dear Ashton. I am shaken, too, and very sad. Even though I haven't worked in television news since 1984, this tragedy had a tremendous impact on me as I'm sure it had on news staffs across the nation. It requires courage to put yourself out there for public scruitiny and criticism every day. It takes even more courage to remain cool, calm and professional and get the job done in the wake of an incident like this one.
ReplyDeleteThis is yet another "date which will live in infamy," a painful reminder that senseless acts of violence can take place anytime, anywhere, even in your town.