Moral Compass in the News.

Robert Vollman
rv361115@ohio.edu

No form of violence is ever right. It just seems like a very uncivil way to handle life's problems. It often occurs when folks feel like they have nowhere else to go or no one to turn to, and that desperation becomes the end of one's life.

This couldn't have been more apparent than last week when a former reporter, who felt that he didn't have it all going for him in life, decided to take out his anger on two up and coming talents who had a whole career ahead of them.

Source: thesleuthjournal.com

The fact that it happened isn't the frightening part. We live in a world where this type of thing happens all the time, everyday. It's not a great way to think about it, but you just get used to hearing it. Shootings have happened for so long, and will continue to do so for many more years to come. The frightening part about the whole ordeal was how it happened. How the shooter waited until they were on camera and even shot footage of the incident from his own view, and then posted it online for the entire world to see.

Based on what was said in the text, everyone has set of morals that they should live by. However in today's social media based world, delivering news with the utmost care can be a very hard thing to do. Anyone can just go online, watch a video and give their own opinions on it no matter the situation. A video that was censored on TV can appear online and draw in many viewers.

With the shooter's video now online, people can take that video and watch it again and again for many years to come. But should they?

In then end, it really all comes down to a sense of morals, what's right and what's wrong. In the past the TV could help sort that type of thing out for you, but in the age of the internet you're pretty much on your own. It doesn't just go for a certain type of video either, it can be any video like a hurricane, or a high school fight.

If you want to watch whatever it is that may cause distress to others, you have to go in with the morals of knowing what's right and what's wrong.

The same goes to those in journalism. While you may make the decision to put some disturbing video up onto a news site of some sort, understand how you go about it. Understand that there is a certain way to enter into it. What to show and what not to show is the most important thing. While we may go by the motto "If it bleeds it leads", we really need to think about how much blood we should actually see.