Following big shootings where people die the official NRA spokespeople lay low. In comments sections or on twitter we are told, “It’s too soon to push any agenda, the bodies aren’t even cold!”
However the one group of people that it’s deemed appropriate to hear from following an attack are the survivors.
But what is the media to do when the survivor isn’t ready to make a statement? In general most people don’t know how to handle a media onslaught, but following a traumatic event it’s even harder.
Yet they are expected to answer questions, first to the authorities, to understand what happened, and then to the media.
In this case one of the attack survivors knows enough about how shootings play out to ask the media not hound him and his family. Above is the video from the Tennessean.
Since Steven doesn’t want to talk anymore, who will fill in the void? NRA gun loving types. But will the papers reach out to people who survived Aurora?
I know the NRA hides after shootings and we are told, “It’s too soon after deaths” but I think now is the perfect time to jump into this with a “political agenda” especially since Steven won’t. And if people try and get a comment from him they are dicks.
Here is the deal, now is never the right time to make political statements that the NRA doesn’t like.
Politicians are taught early on that all answers to questions make a statement, even “no comment” is as statement. So they are trained not to respond that way. People who talk to the press regularly also have know this.
But what happens when someone is thrust into a situation where they are the focus of the media’s attention?
What to do when your survivor isn’t ready to make a statement?
Who fills the story gap? All The Professional “Guns Everywhere” People. Because they spend years learning all the arguments and counter arguments.
On the other hand you have a traumatized novice who may now have a new view about guns. (To be fair they also might have joined the guns everywhere crowd, it would be interesting to survey survivors to see what their views are after a shooting.)
Emotional statements are powerful, it isn’t always what people want to hear, but it would be good to make sure both sides are heard from.
