Pulse Nightclub, Orlando Domestic Terror

[VelociRapture]

9 hours ago, 47of74 said:

Yeah it used to be that reporters wanted to be first but more importantly wanted to be right.  I'm too young to really remember the attempt on Reagan but I've been told I was rather upset that Mr. Rodgers had been pre-empted.  That was back in the days when we had four channels and sometimes five if the weather was a certain way.  I read later how upset Frank Reynolds got when he didn't have the right information, and admonished his staff to get it nailed down, to get it right.

 

 

Yep. Now a lot of them don't care if they're right because ratings and money. It's a big problem, but especially with tragedies like this where rumor can become fact very fast. 

 I developed this criteria during the absolute insanity of reporting on Sandy Hook. I grew up (and was living at the time) two towns away from Newtown and knew people directly and indirectly impacted by the shooting. The hysteria and complete disregard for the privacy of the families affected by some of the national news outlets disgusted me and I quickly learned to only trust the reporting by local media (who, as members of our community, actually gave two shits about the people here.) I also only trusted information given by State Police Chief Vance, who was in charge of the investigation.

(Sandy Hook is also one of the biggest reasons I never pursued Journalism like I intended after college. The complete lack of ethics I witnessed and was told about upset me enough that I wanted nothing to do with the industry.)

All that to say, I just want to caution people from getting caught up in the reporting. Mistakes happen and we can't know what is or is not truth without a named Law Enforcement official stating it.

[SpoonfulOSugar]

On 6/12/2016 at 10:42 AM, SpoonfulOSugar said:

Source:  http://www.wnyc.org/story/breaking-news-consumers-handbook-pdf/

 

52 minutes ago, VelociRapture said:

Yep. Now a lot of them don't care if they're right because ratings and money. It's a big problem, but especially with tragedies like this where rumor can become fact very fast. 

 I developed this criteria during the absolute insanity of reporting on Sandy Hook. I grew up (and was living at the time) two towns away from Newtown and knew people directly and indirectly impacted by the shooting. The hysteria and complete disregard for the privacy of the families affected by some of the national news outlets disgusted me and I quickly learned to only trust the reporting by local media (who, as members of our community, actually gave two shits about the people here.) I also only trusted information given by State Police Chief Vance, who was in charge of the investigation.

(Sandy Hook is also one of the biggest reasons I never pursued Journalism like I intended after college. The complete lack of ethics I witnessed and was told about upset me enough that I wanted nothing to do with the industry.)

All that to say, I just want to caution people from getting caught up in the reporting. Mistakes happen and we can't know what is or is not truth without a named Law Enforcement official stating it.

I feel as if every breaking news story should come with a caveat or be preceded by the graphic above.  I do know that some on air talent makes a point of cautioning 'we are just learning" but it's very easy to "not hear" that.

I am probably going to start posting that graphic or something like it on my Facebook whenever a big story strikes. (And what a frustrating reality that anyone has to "plan" for stories like these.)

 

[treehugger]

I remember being truly amazed by American media reporting when we had the 2014 shooting on Parliament Hill in Ottawa.  

The Canadian media was reporting as it happened, and I was truly thankful for their ability to mostly stay on track and simply report the facts as it happened.  There were a few journalists, with the more sensational newspapers, who got a little carried away and suggested terrorism - but to this day, it is referred to as the Ottawa Parliament shooting - and most of the conversation afterwards focused on how easy it is for local youth to become radicalized and how to better help and support those struggling with mental health.  

Imagine my surprise, when my husband and I drove through the US a week later, that, completely unbeknownst to us here in Canada, we had just been through a massive ISIS terrorist attack (you know, the one where one soldier was tragically shot and killed, but no one else was hurt or injured except the shooter).  Everywhere we looked we were hearing ridiculous accounts of the massive terrorist attack in Canada, and we had to laugh and shake our heads a little bit, because that was definitely not what we were calling it up north.  

After that I learned to take most media reports with a very large grain of salt.  Sensationalism, not facts, seems to be what sells.  

[Cleopatra7]

The shooters wife was a special education student and appears to suffer from some kind of learning disability:

https://www.yahoo.com/gma/former-teacher-orlando-nightclub-gunmans-wife-had-difficultly-152304236--abc-news-topstories.html

This news doesn't surprise me. It makes sense that a man with masculinity issues would choose the sort of woman who would be unlikely to complain about ill treatment and comply with his orders. 

[Geechee Girl]

Today is tears of joy for turnout at the Lake Eola vigil was 50k strong. http://www.orlandosentinel.com/

I'm proud of the creativity used by Orlando Theatre Company to shield mourners from hate speech by Westboro types.

[devoe364]

17 hours ago, Cleopatra7 said:

The shooters wife was a special education student and appears to suffer from some kind of learning disability:

https://www.yahoo.com/gma/former-teacher-orlando-nightclub-gunmans-wife-had-difficultly-152304236--abc-news-topstories.html

This news doesn't surprise me. It makes sense that a man with masculinity issues would choose the sort of woman who would be unlikely to complain about ill treatment and comply with his orders. 

When they talk in the article about her not understanding cause & effect relationships. I automatically think ADD/ADHD or ASD. Cause and effect relationships are still tricky for me as an adult, and I'm high functioning. 

[MatthewDuggar]

Now a guy is saying he was the shooter's lover:

http://www.univision.com/univision-news/united-states/orlando-massacre-was-revenge-not-terrorism-says-man-who-claims-he-was-gunmans-lover

[iweartanktops]

"Two people are dead and at least 14 others injured after a shooting at a Fort Myers, Florida, nightclub, according to Captain Jim Mulligan of the Fort Myers Police." 

http://www.cnn.com/2016/07/25/us/fort-myers-nightclub-shooting/index.html?sr=fbCNN072516fort-myers-nightclub-shooting0855AMStoryLink&linkId=26897744

Why, why, WHY? 

ETA - these victims are kids!! From what I'm reading, they're as young as 13/14. 

[RosyDaisy]

MOTHER FUCKERS KILLING KIDS!!!!! DAMN THEM TO HELL!!!!

[samurai_sarah]

May the loved ones of the victims find peace. May the victims never be forgotten. May the murderer be forgotten, and the victims be remembered.

My thoughts are with those affected and grieving.

[Imagine20]

Notice they do not call it a terrorist attack. Any act worth mass casualties like this is terrorism. I can't imagine the feelings of these young people's lives ones so heartbreaking and unnecessary. 

[bashfulpixie]

My guess is that it wasn't an "other" doing the shooting this time, hence the lack of the terrorism label.  I'm so tired.  Waking up to these news alerts every day is exhausting and I don't understand this path the world is on.

I feel for all the victims and their families.  Trying to find something safe for teens to do during the summer and something like this happens.  It's heart wrenching. 

[Howl]

Noor Salman, the widow of the Pulse Nightclub shooter, has just been acquitted of the charge of being an accomplice in the attack.  It seems apparent that she was not an accomplice, and the defense decimated the prosecution with evidence. 

Pulse Gunman's Widow Found Not Guilty

[hoipolloi]

VERY glad to see that justice has prevailed. She should never have been charged. 

This long article from HuffPo on the case is pretty good, and includes a lot of background:

Quote

 

Outside the federal courthouse, on a lunch break from the trial, Salman’s cousin was seething. Susan Adieh, didn’t recognize the one-dimensional cliched caricature the prosecution had described, and she didn’t understand why Salman was on trial. The wives of other terrorists and mass killers never faced charges. She wondered if her family’s religion played a role, even though Salman was not religious.

After all, they were Muslim.  

Adieh, 59, who owns several convenience stores in Mississippi, has known Salman since she was born. She attended every day of the trial, sitting a few rows behind her, along with Salman’s uncles and other cousins. Salman’s father died in 2012, and her mother, who currently takes care of Salman’s young son in California, couldn’t attend the trial because of health issues. In her absence, Adieh stepped up as a momma bear figure, advocating on behalf of her cousin in interviews with the press.

 

 

[Howl]

I'm going back in my mind to the aftermath of the shooting.  I was pretty clear that Mateen was a closeted gay man who picked up various men at Pulse nightclub in the past.  Now I find out that, based on evidence in Noor Salman's trail, he had not been to Pulse before and had at least two female lovers on the side.  Gay lovers and a previous connection to Pulse were not mentioned.  Can anyone clarify this discrepancy?