The Whole Story
As the Internet evolves, so to does the way humans communicate with one another.
Most news media outlets that have a Web presence now have the technological capability to allow visitors to post comments about stories they read at the site. This provides near-instantaneous feedback from the public on issues of the day. In some respects, this is a sign that we are drifting back to the core of an ideal democratic society: one where issues are debated and the public arrives at a consensus decision based on the best-informed argument that represents the greater good of the people.
This comment function, which you’ll find at the end of this and every FIRE CHIEF article, also serves as a barometer of public opinion. There will be those who use the anonymity of the online comment posting to write untrue and outrageous things that they would not if revealing their identities were required. This is why many magazines and newspapers do not publish anonymous letters to the editor. Likewise, the same anonymity will give some the courage to write the truth that fear, perhaps of retribution, would have kept them silent on. This is why anonymous surveys are so revered. Assuming these extremes will more or less cancel one another out, you are left with a sense of where public opinion resides on a given issue.
Like many in the fire service, I’ve been following the events in Charleston, S.C., since nine firefighters died in the Sofa Super Store blaze in June 2007. The Charleston Post and Courier, and specifically reporter Glenn Smith, has done a very good job covering this hometown tragedy. The Post and Courier also has a comment section at the end of each story. And these comments can be as interesting as the story itself. Particularly unsettling, are the comments deriding the paper for continuing to run stories on the fire.
Following a story earlier this month about Charleston prosecutors weighing criminal charges, a person who logged in as Reality_Woman wrote that enough was enough and she was tired of seeing this story. Another commenter wrote that it was time to move past this story. And commenter going by SomeTruthPlease called the issue a worn-out news story.
When it works as it is supposed to, the news media provides a vital component to a democratic society. It gives information untainted by personal interest that enhances debate and ultimately leads to better decision-making.
There is a compelling argument that having the public revisit the Sofa Super Store fire via the media drags up pains that those closest to the situation are trying sort through, that it slows the healing process. However, a more compelling argument is that learning from this tragedy and taking measures to prevent others like it takes precedent over healing.
There is still much to be learned from the Charleston tragedy, and that knowledge can have a positive influence in communities around the nation. Allowing the story to die either out of desire to speed the healing process or out of a feeling of news overload, removes the information, lessons learned, debate and decision making from the public sphere. And that does not serve the greater good of Charleston, the fire service or our country.
January 1st, 2009 at 12:29 pm
Excellent points Rick. We have innumerable examples in our history of tragic fires with loss of life–civilian and firefighters–that quickly faded from the public eye without all of the information coming forth and the proper lessons being learned and positive changes coming forth. Let’s hope that this does not become the case with the Charleston fire and the tragic loss of 9 brother firefighters.
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