Monday, April 16, 2007

School Shooting Massacre

Today, all eyes were on the campus of Virginia Tech as thirty three lives were lost, another dozen injured, in what is being described as the worst mass shooting in U.S. history.

The campus of Virginia Tech, located in Blacksburg, Virginia, is approximately four hours away from Raleigh. As you can imagine, TV crews from across the nation converged on this tiny town, as word spread of this devastating story.

The company that owns us also owns a number of newspapers and television stations throughout the southeast including WSLS-TV, in Roanoke Virginia. When word first broke of this shooting, we immediately began coordinating, not as individual stations, but as one big newsgathering operation. This meant sending reporters, photographers and satellite trucks from a number of Media General properties to assist.

Anytime major national breaking news happens, the company’s crews all work towards gathering and disseminating the latest facts and information to all of the stations and newspapers. The result is the ability to provide complete, comprehensive coverage.

I can’t say that I am surprised that a cell phone captured video that clearly depicts the sound of the gunshots that rang out on the campus. I will be interested to see how cell phones and other technology plays into main stream media coverage.

Check out video and coverage here.

I invite your thoughts and feedback, as always.
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