Archive for January 17th, 2011
Write it: Reader’s Choice, Topic One
(Note from The Vinman: This is a long-read piece. It is a complex question on a specific incident and event that requires a deep read. But I asked for topics 
)
From New York, my beloved sister Co sent this:
I would love to read about your perspective of time as it relates to the internet. I was intrigued by the notion of needing to educate “at a break neck pace,” and it struck me because this morning in the NY Times they reported that they’d made a mistake in their coverage of Senator Gifford’s shooting and declared her dead erroneously, again because of this need to get the info out on the internet immediately. Do we all really need to be this sped up – and/or does the internet need to be cognizant of speed for some good reason? Or, could a news agency or website be known for being thoughtful, accurate, creative, not necessarily fast?
(VjK) I need to begin by saying the Arizona tragedy (like many similar) – and the question posed – makes me process a response quite carefully. Frankly, it gives me pause because in the fall of 1993 a crazed lunatic – much like the trigger man in this case – walked into a Family Fitness Center in El Cajon, CA less than a mile away from me and killed four innocent people there before turning the gun on himself. Having just put El Cajon’s The Californian newspaper to bed, it was my job to stop the presses (yes, I yelled, “STOP THE PRESSES!”) and collaborate by phone with our reporter on scene and write a front-page article to be delivered only hours later.
Unfortunately, that was not similar to Gifford’s shooting in one way: Police and medical staff on the scene confirmed quickly that those who had lost their lives were dead instantly. Chaotic as the scene was, in a similar shopping center, it was cleared and roped off quickly. And there was no instant ongoing reporting other than radio and local television, neither of which were in a 24/7 news cycle then. The national news picked it up within hours, and I will never forget the relief in my sister Co’s voice when I answered her call to the newsroom from the East Coast to make sure I (and my future wife Sheila) were okay. She had been worried the killer had hit our gym not knowing which it was.
