Heroes... interrupted.
Last night there was a shooting at a mall in downtown Salt Lake and five random people were killed by a teenager with a motive not yet known.
The first I heard of this was last night around 7:50 when I turned on NBC to get ready for "Heroes." The local news was on with a "Breaking News" banner and raw footage of the commotion outside the mall. Ben and I watched for a few minutes until we realized that they didn't actually know anything... they were just telling us exactly what we were watching on the screen (but in a very urgent tone).
My heart goes out to the people and families of those who were killed, injured and emotionally scarred. Apparently the crisis hotline has been jam-packed.
However, the chances that I knew someone shopping at the mall that night were slim, and I quickly grew irritated that the news completely superceded Heroes. Of course I feel shallow and guilty for even saying that, but come on--they didn't actually know anything that couldn't have waited for their in-depth coverage at 10. Here's a quote as I remember it:
"And now it looks like the police are guiding some of the mall customers off to the side to talk to them. They're wrapped in blankets and look very cold. You can only imagine what they're going through. Nothing has been confirmed about what happened in the mall, but there may be wounded people inside. It looks like the police are guiding the crowd further down the street now. We don't know if the gunman has been found or if there is a second one."
Seriously. Here is live-action confirmation that live news media coverage is panic-inducing. I understand this is a huge thing and hundreds of people were being effected, but don't they realize that they're not helping? A ticker or a half-screen notification would have been a lot better than just showing the same witness say the same thing every three minutes. I understand that these are randomly targeted people in a very public place, but how much do people really need to be inundated with repetitve information for which they can do nothing about? If you knew someone in the area and had just tuned in, a ticker would be enough to call them on their cell phone and ask if they're okay. Sheesh.
So this is a partial complaint that Heroes didn't come on until 8:23, and right before a commercial, to boot. I really hope I don't seem like an insensitive asshole for being irritated by this, but in the words of Jon Stewart, I agree that the Media is hurting America.
P.S. I can't believe Matt Parkman only had a scratch after that fall.
