Reader: I put the blame squarely on the media

Latest Word -- and all of Westword, in fact -- is taking off today and tomorrow (and again January 1). But the web never sleeps, and so during breaks in your holiday activities you can still log in and comment to your heart's content. Those comments are the gifts that...

By Patricia Calhoun

December 24, 2012

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Latest Word -- and all of Westword, in fact -- is taking off today and tomorrow (and again January 1). But the web never sleeps, and so during breaks in your holiday activities you can still log in and comment to your heart's content. Those comments are the gifts that keep on giving.

For example, here's the lump of coal just left in our stocking after a post about Diana Degette's call for weapons legislation. Says concerned citizen:

With all the copycat and follow-up shootings that happen in this country, I put the blame squarely on the media. It's the media that gives these shit-stain gunman GUARANTEED IMMORTALITY by making damned sure that EVERYONE knows exactly who the shooters are, their pasts, and even what they had for breakfast. The Media has way more blood on their hands than does the firearms industry.

Do you agree with cc? Should the media limit coverage of these tragedies -- or quit covering them altogether? Post your thoughts below.

From our archives: "Newtown, Aurora and Columbine: Mass shootings, gun hysteria...and MK Ultra?"

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Patricia Calhoun is editor-in-chief of Westword, the alt-weekly she co-founded in September 1977. She’s been inducted into the Colorado Press Association Hall of Fame, the Association of Alternative Newsmedia Hall of Fame and the Colorado Restaurant Association Hall of Fame. She’s also received dozens of local, state and national awards for writing, including first place for feature writing and first place for column writing with the Society of Professional Journalists. Patricia is a weekly commentator on Colorado Inside Out, PBS 12's public affairs roundtable, which has won two Emmys.

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