The Washington Post Has Got To Be Kidding Me

The Media is Strategically Sensationalizing School Shootings

I read something yesterday that disturbed me, to the point I knew I had to take the day off from publishing. I was afraid of what I might say if I wrote this in that moment. While I have no problem criticizing The Washington Post I didn’t and still don’t want to pick apart the article in question, nor its author. I don’t have a problem with the article. My issue is with the fact The Washington Post actually published it.

Yesterday, as I sat at my desk scrolling through Medium I came across the grossly sensationalized headline of If I Could’ve Gotten a Gun, I Would Have Been a School Shooter: If I’d possessed a rifle, I would have been a killer. If I’d known love, I would never have wanted one.

I’ll admit, it’s a fantastic headline. An attention grabber for sure. Mainly because school shootings happen on what seems like a weekly basis here in America these days. Which embodies my entire issue with the fact The Washington Post would actually print this. They’re not just profiting from the pain this Country, the victims of every school shooting and their surviving classmates and family members have tragically endured — they’re sensationalizing it. They’re converting it to cash via advertising money.

Though, I’m sure The Post will tell you the angle of the article they were looking to promote was the fact the author points to how “he would have never wanted a rifle, had he known love”. Please, just stop it.

On April 20th, 1999 I sat in my middle school classroom as news broke of The Columbine High School shooting. There were TV’s in every classroom. The teacher turned on coverage , which in retrospect was probably highly inappropriate.

Though the reports obviously shocked me, as I sat there watching the surveillance tapes of those two monsters , one word continually found its way to the forefront of my mind — cowards.

Anyone who brings a gun to school and opens fire because they felt they were mistreated or picked on, is nothing more than a coward without a conscience.

You can save the heartfelt story about how bad things were at home for them, I don’t give a fuck. They’re not martyrs, heroes, or victims. They’re heartless killers who never found a way to deal with the unpleasant aspects of life that the rest of us find a way to.