Given that mass shootings happen nearly every day in this country, TV news programs might as well just add a new regular segment, "Today's Mass Shooting"--or "Today's Mass Shootings" since this seems to be an expanding phenomenon--to existing segments on national news, international news, sports, weather, human interest. I see a new job title in this: Senior Mass Shooting Correspondent.
They could have special graphics, music, a boilerplate in which only the blanks need to be filled in. A draft of the script could be ready in seconds with the help of an app with human intervention just to fill in the specifics:
- Where and when
- Status (active, done deal)
- How many dead and wounded
- Profile of victims
- Identity, and especially ethnic, religious and political background of the shooter(s)
- Speculative motive(s) (hate crime, personal disappointment, political beliefs, workplace grudge, terrorism, unfathomable)
- Footage of heartbroken, devastated relatives of victims
- Footage of shocked, mortified relatives of shooter
- What we know about the shooter(s) (gentle loner, resentful misfit, religious fanatic, political whacko, racist hater, violent misogynist, spurned lover, disgruntled employee/former employee, macabre fame-seeker, generic nutball, cipher)
- Visibility (on watch list, under psychiatric treatment, worrying to relatives, under radar)
- Type of weapon used (important as either product placement or cause for outrage that purchased legally, depending on worldview)
- If shooter(s) apprehended, dead, on the lam (insert car chase footage if available)
- If enough victims, statement by weary president lamenting yet another tragedy, pointing out that not normal in world, not a good thing
- If enough victims, "thoughts and prayers" of all political figures for victims
- If enough victims, statements by gun-critical political figures on need to "do something one of these days"
- If enough victims, statements by gun-industry-sponsored political figures that guns not "the problem," too soon to talk about possible policy responses, and despicable to use incident for political ends
- If enough victims, statement by NRA/supporters stating that guns the American way, the more the better