The Austin American-Statesman and local television station KVUE in Austin were justified in publishing their obtained copies of video from the Uvalde schoolhouse hallway.
More than a month
Law enforcement in Texas has had more than a month to provide more transparency into what happened the day of the tragic shooting that left 19 children and two teachers dead while officers waited in a hallway to go into the classroom. The video shows that more and more officers gathered in the school building’s hallways as time went on but did not move en masse to take down the gunman. The new video shows one officer stopping to squirt sanitizer on his hand; at another time, two fist-bump one another.
Parent reaction
Frankly I don’t understand why parents are mad at the media, rather than law enforcement, for the release via the media of the video. Shouldn’t it have been shown to parents already? I can’t put myself in their shoes, of course, since I’ve never lost a child to such an incident of needless gun violence. But this smacks of unjustified protection of what was a very limp law enforcement response.
Replay and replay
I do sympathize with the parents for having to be exposed to replay after replay of the video on television and social media. But that would have happened whether the video had been released now or after a showing to parents on Sunday. At least the Statesman and KVUE removed most of the sound from the video, though shots can still be heard.
On The View
Whoopi Goldberg harshly criticized the Statesman for releasing the video and sided with the parents this morning, saying its release without the parents’ knowledge was insensitive. While I get that, two of her View-mates, attorney Sunny Hostin and journalist Juju Chang, seemed to take a more measured approach and felt the First Amendment and need for information were key factors here.
Firearm reform
Apparently many of the parents were in Washington, D.C., for President Biden’s ceremony concerning the recent firearms safety legislation passed by Congress. But we all know this legislation wasn’t enough. We need an all-out ban on assault rifles and more, as death tolls from shootings in various locales keep happening.
The media’s role
The Statesman defended its role in releasing the video by saying “unrelenting reporting is a way to bring change.” The needed gun reform legislation is one of those changes. Having appropriate law enforcement response–which this clearly wasn’t–is another. Thank goodness for the thorough reporting here.
My UOPx students
In one week of one class I teach for the University of Phoenix online, students are to assess the media and its ethics. My students, to my dismay, overwhelmingly blast the media for being biased and inappropriate. They say they turn to social media, instead of mainstream media, for their news. I wonder what they’d think of this.
Haven’t posed this question
I haven’t posed this issue to them and am not teaching that particular class just now. But I wonder what the public will think. I hope they side with the media. And I worry about a democracy that doesn’t support vigorous journalism.