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Tragedy in Roanoke
Townhall.com ^ | September 1, 2015 | Cal Thomas

Posted on 09/01/2015 10:18:35 AM PDT by Kaslin

The horrible murder of two local journalists in Roanoke, Virginia, has affected me more than I thought it would. Journalists are taught early on to compartmentalize. As a local TV reporter, I saw bodies from plane crashes and victims of mass murder. I covered natural disasters and witnessed the aftermath of cruelty to children and other inhumanities.

The murders of 24-year-old Alison Parker and her 27-year-old cameraman, Adam Ward, by a deranged and disgruntled man whose shoulder chip was as big as a boulder took me back to my early days in the business.

At Alison's age, I was working as an Army private with Armed Forces Radio in New York. Most of us had civilian jobs on the side to supplement our meager military pay. Mine was as an engineer at WOR-TV in the Empire State Building. Most journalists start out at small stations or small newspapers, learning the craft and honing skills. The salaries are puny, but love for the profession and the prospects for advancement (and higher pay) keep most plugging away in hopes of a career breakthrough.

At Adam's age, I was working for an NBC affiliate in Houston, covering the space program, the medical center and general assignments. My cameraman and I were sometimes exposed to the elements and potential danger, but we never expected to be shot dead while working, not even during a prison riot.

President Obama and Virginia Governor Terry McAuliffe were quick to exploit the incident, predictably calling for more gun laws. Understandably, Parker's father echoed their statements. In fact, had an armed security guard been present at the shopping complex where the shooting occurred, there is a good chance the shooter might have been stopped before he got close to his targets. Laws do not stop lawbreakers, but good guys with guns can stop bad guys with guns.

News networks and some local stations now have security never considered during my early years in TV and radio, beginning in the lobby. There are coded passes for employees, elevator cameras and bullet- and bomb-resistant doors that can seal off management and the offices of network stars at the push of a panic button. Some of the best known media personalities even travel with armed security.

I never met Parker and Ward, but I can identify with their ambitions. Each appeared to have bright futures in journalism. Both were in committed relationships. Investigators want to know how Vester Flanagan acquired his gun. They will also want to learn why his mental problems, unprofessional behavior and displays of anger that led to his dismissal from more than one TV station and put fear into his colleagues (police were called to escort him from the Roanoke station after he refused to leave and began cursing his boss and threatening revenge) did not show up during a required background check. These are legitimate questions.

Perhaps this incident will cause some to reconsider the universal denunciation of "the media." Most reporters have families and many work for lower pay than they might receive in other professions.

Everyone working in local news no doubt has been affected by this incident. While notes and gifts of condolences are being received at WDBJ7 in Roanoke, TV viewers in other markets might want to send their local station notes of appreciation for the job they are doing in bringing needed information to the public. That would be one good way to honor Alison and Adam.


TOPICS: Crime/Corruption; Culture/Society; Editorial; News/Current Events
KEYWORDS: adamward; alisonparker; blackkk; blackliesmatter; blacklivesmatter; blm; media; murder; roanoke; television; vesterleeflanagan

1 posted on 09/01/2015 10:18:35 AM PDT by Kaslin
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Comment #2 Removed by Moderator

To: Kaslin

I get more depressed every day by the irrationality, crudeness and coldness of people here. Maybe it’s the Trump effect.


3 posted on 09/01/2015 10:25:49 AM PDT by livius
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To: Wilderness Conservative

Nailed!


4 posted on 09/01/2015 10:28:28 AM PDT by stephenjohnbanker (My Batting Average( 1,000) (GOPe is that easy to read))
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To: Kaslin
I just came from the funeral for Adam Ward. A really good, moving service with a great tribute to such a fine young man. May God be with the family and friends and comfort them during this time of grieving.

I posted this yesterday - Obituaries for WDBJ7 Reporters Alison Parker and Adam Ward

By the way, no protesters onsite, but a lot of counter-protesters and supporters just in case.

5 posted on 09/01/2015 10:28:30 AM PDT by Perseverando (For Progressives, Islamonazis & Totalitarians: It's all about PEOPLE CONTROL!)
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To: livius

Your point would have been better made were you able to make it without the gratuitous slam at the end.


6 posted on 09/01/2015 10:29:21 AM PDT by skeeter
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To: livius

You lost me with the last sentence.


7 posted on 09/01/2015 10:30:10 AM PDT by SamAdams76 (We gave GOP the majority to take care of business and they let us down. Time for Trump/Cruz)
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To: livius

The Good Book says our attitude when perplexed should be “not despairing.”

Not sure what at all it has to do with Trump, though some of the debate over Trump can get that nasty as well. Trump personally doesn’t come across as cold, just resolute in a way that endangers some ephemeral warm fuzzies.


8 posted on 09/01/2015 10:30:16 AM PDT by HiTech RedNeck (Embrace the Lion of Judah and He will roar for you and teach you to roar too. See my page.)
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To: Wilderness Conservative

If it had been two sanitation workers in Tulsa, would the murders have received even a tenth as much attention?


9 posted on 09/01/2015 10:44:48 AM PDT by sparklite2 (Voting is acting white.)
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To: Perseverando

Thanks for sharing


10 posted on 09/01/2015 10:55:02 AM PDT by Kaslin (He needed the ignorant to reelect him, and he got them. Now we all have to pay the consequenses)
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To: livius

What does Donald Trump have to do with this?


11 posted on 09/01/2015 10:56:26 AM PDT by Kaslin (He needed the ignorant to reelect him, and he got them. Now we all have to pay the consequenses)
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To: sparklite2

Why in Tulsa, and why two sanitation workers? You make no sense


12 posted on 09/01/2015 10:58:16 AM PDT by Kaslin (He needed the ignorant to reelect him, and he got them. Now we all have to pay the consequenses)
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To: Kaslin

Because Tulsa is not on the east coast or the west coast and sanitation work isn’t as important as media, undeserving of so much coverage. The media loves the media.


13 posted on 09/01/2015 11:02:19 AM PDT by sparklite2 (Voting is acting white.)
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To: sparklite2

So, what’s your point?


14 posted on 09/01/2015 11:09:39 AM PDT by Kaslin (He needed the ignorant to reelect him, and he got them. Now we all have to pay the consequenses)
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To: Kaslin
In fact, had an armed security guard been present at the shopping complex where the shooting occurred, there is a good chance the shooter might have been stopped before he got close to his targets.

1. Only if he walked for a long distance away with his gun visible or had already started firing and missed his targets.

2. And what is the chance that a security guard would happen to be in the exact same part of the mall?

3. It's probably mall-owners rather than gun laws that is stopping mall cops from being armed.

15 posted on 09/01/2015 11:20:20 AM PDT by wideminded
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To: Kaslin

Perhaps a trivial point, but they were not killed in Roanoke. They worked for a Roanoke TV station, but they were not even in the same county as Roanoke when they were murdered.


16 posted on 09/01/2015 11:25:36 AM PDT by WayneS (Yeah, it's probably sarcasm...)
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To: livius
I get more depressed every day by the irrationality, crudeness and coldness of people here. Maybe it’s the Trump effect

Welcome to my idiot list.

17 posted on 09/01/2015 11:44:43 AM PDT by AAABEST (Et lux in tenebris lucet: et tenebrae eam non comprehenderunt)
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To: wideminded

4. How many guys getting paid 8 bucks an hour really want to “play hero”?


18 posted on 09/01/2015 12:24:21 PM PDT by Boogieman
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To: sparklite2
If it had been two sanitation workers in Tulsa, would the murders have received even a tenth as much attention?

Nope. It probably would not have been on live TV, either.

19 posted on 09/01/2015 3:49:43 PM PDT by Smokin' Joe (How often God must weep at humans' folly. Stand fast. God knows what He is doing.)
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To: Kaslin

While notes and gifts of condolences are being received at WDBJ7 in Roanoke, TV viewers in other markets might want to send their local station notes of appreciation for the job they are doing in bringing needed information to the public. That would be one good way to honor Alison and Adam.

...

I disagree. While they don’t deserve to be murdered, their industry is a disgrace.


20 posted on 09/01/2015 3:55:46 PM PDT by Moonman62 (The US has become a government with a country, rather than a country with a government.)
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