‘Very high cost’ of news
The shooting death in Virginia of a reporter and cameraman on live television Wednesday morning shocked the nation and lit up social networks.
The shooting occurred during a routine interview with the executive director of the Smith Mountain Lake Regional Chamber of Commerce, Vicki Gardener, who was shot in the back and undergoing surgery at this writing. The reporter, Allison Parker, and cameraman Adam Ward were killed.
It was clear from the start the journalists were not killed for what they were reporting, and speculation on a motive may have contributed to the sensational coverage of the crime, along with the fact local TV reporting is normally not a dangerous job.
It is important to note many journalists do live dangerously, and many of them are held captive, tortured and killed every year without such sensational news coverage.
In 2014, 61 journalists around the world lost their lives reporting the news. So far this year, 39 were killed. For the most part, they died for what they were reporting.
We should remember news may indeed be gotten for free, but it sometimes comes with a very high cost.