Christianity Today

I find many points in the article I strongly agree with. The first is the focus; the article is not about trying to force the media to change, nor keeping the focus on the media and its wrongs. He challenges us to take responsibility for our actions. He mentions our modern tendency to be addicted mental chatter and our failure to be still, silent- and then to respond in the Spirit from that silence. "How to be silent, how to be truly present, and then how to speak."

I agree with Rick Dalbey's post below. Laura, I understand your point. It does seem that people have a desperate need to understand the WHY of this tragedy (we've heard this question constantly, from all quarters). The ONLY thing that explains the WHY of ANY tragedy to me is the Word of God, period. I realize that if people don't know the Lord, they don't have access to His POV. In this particular situation, it seems the only people who could have told us anything concrete about Adam Lanza's mindset have died, or else aren't talking (like his dad and brother). It bothers me that a LOT of speculation has been reported (and accepted) as fact. Another major concern for me is the politicizing of this tragedy - one example of this is the listing of TWENTY-SIX victims, not TWENTY-SEVEN. I've seen/heard a lot of this in the MSM media. RE: this article's title - IMHO, True compassion requires intercession.

The comments here show what the real problem with the TV coverage is: we think if we watch, we will "understand". No amount of commentary is going to "make sense" of the story for us. No amount of expert analysis is going to prevent further tragedies. As for "needing to know" the families, the same applies: no amount of tv coverage is going to give me a relationship with them. It merely exploits already suffering people and makes me feel virtuous without cause. I do not watch TV coverage of these "big" stories because they are usually (especially in the beginning) inaccurate and repetitive. The Newtown tragedy is not a TV movie or a reality show, and I will not watch it as if it was.

The author has a point BUT we have to get to know the victims and their families. Otherwise these are just numbers devoid of meaning. I didn't watch ALL of Anderson Cooper's coverage but he did a wonderful interview of Chris and Grace McDonnell about their daughter Grace. It is truly worth a watch: http://youtu.be/ToQNVJE4xgk

I agree with Rob the newscaster. Non-stop news coverage only happens when the soul of a nation is touched, when we are faced with implacable evil like 9/11, Newtown or Columbine. It is a desperate attempt to understand the motivations of evil. It is uncomfortable because it re-states God's opinion of fallen man and in that respect moves us all towards needing a savior. It also moves us all towards prayer and comforting one another. These children deserved several days of non-stop coverage, presidential comment, analysis by ministers, psychologists, law enforcement officers and pundits and televised prayer services. The nation needs to share in this kind of grief. If it wearies you turn it off. Simple.