Mainstream Media and National News Choices

A gunman killed 4 people plus himself at Northern Illinois University today, three days after a similar incident at a Memphis high school, and a week after a woman killed two students at Louisiana Technical College. Yet MSNBC's 24-7 political analysis drones on. Last year, the Virginia Tech shootings blanketed the mainstream news for weeks. What changed? Does a Thurdsay between some primaries necessitate the revisiting of the same campaign questions ad nauseum? Hillary or Barack. Barack or Hillary. Yes a compelling story to be sure. But no top mention of these rash of shootings. No analysis for this pattern.

My point is that news producers have a responsibility when they set the agenda for their nightly newscasts. They have more power than they know in terms of what the country is talking about and what issues need to be addressed. I realize the Va. Tech shootings were on a much larger scale than these recent ones, and there are sexier stories out there right now (or so their ad people tell them) but the residue of gravitas the mainstream media leaves in its wake seems callous here.