So I had a sort of personal experience with a newsworthy event. There was a rather traumatic automobile accident a few towns away on this past Friday evening. Because someone I know was a first responder to the accident I have been following the news story on various news websites. I find it very interesting that readers can comment on news stories even before all the information relevant to the story has been released.
These comment sections seem to be a virtual breeding ground for judgmental attitudes and statements from people who I feel have no place sharing their views. I say this because I really do not feel it is anyone's place to be commenting on news stories. The event should be documented by actual facts and not be marred by public opinion. It is not our job to be judge and jury on an event that we only have some of the information on.
The First Responder I know has been getting some additional information from what has been released by the media because he and his coworkers have been updated on the status of the victims. There may be more to the story than what was initially reported. We all know that as stories develop and all the facts have been collected and evaluated the story often changes somewhat from the initial reports. Sometimes a completely different picture is painted from what was originally thought or assumed.
With this said I do believe it is the responsibility of all socially conscious individuals to refrain from commenting on news articles of which they have no first-hand knowledge. This is not to say we should not comment on blog posts that have been written about newsworthy topics but I do not feel we should be publicly slandering individuals and events on actual news sites. I hope that eventually the media outlets will realize that it is not newsworthy to display the opinions/comments from individuals who have no first-hand knowledge of the news being reported.
Take a personal stand and remember that all thoughts/opinions/comments we share should be done with regard to respecting the individuals and events of which we are sharing our thoughts.
These comment sections seem to be a virtual breeding ground for judgmental attitudes and statements from people who I feel have no place sharing their views. I say this because I really do not feel it is anyone's place to be commenting on news stories. The event should be documented by actual facts and not be marred by public opinion. It is not our job to be judge and jury on an event that we only have some of the information on.
The First Responder I know has been getting some additional information from what has been released by the media because he and his coworkers have been updated on the status of the victims. There may be more to the story than what was initially reported. We all know that as stories develop and all the facts have been collected and evaluated the story often changes somewhat from the initial reports. Sometimes a completely different picture is painted from what was originally thought or assumed.
With this said I do believe it is the responsibility of all socially conscious individuals to refrain from commenting on news articles of which they have no first-hand knowledge. This is not to say we should not comment on blog posts that have been written about newsworthy topics but I do not feel we should be publicly slandering individuals and events on actual news sites. I hope that eventually the media outlets will realize that it is not newsworthy to display the opinions/comments from individuals who have no first-hand knowledge of the news being reported.
Take a personal stand and remember that all thoughts/opinions/comments we share should be done with regard to respecting the individuals and events of which we are sharing our thoughts.
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