The killing in Littleton has brought about heartache, despair and fear. Yet this is not all that has come from this horrific event. Yes there are benefits and costs to everything and a school shooting is no exception. People have benefited not only economically but by other means as well. This is not to say that all are happy with the new found opportunities yet I dare say some may indeed privately relish the opportunity.
Each day the media slugged it out amongst themselves to be the first to present stories to their viewers. CNN reportedly sent out 70 staff members to cover the story. Fox News more than a week after the incident still had that delicious looking Shepard Smith reporting live from the scene each day.
Fox News Channel won the ratings prize with a total household viewing increase of 59%. MSNBC came in second with a 46% increase and CNN finished third with 41%.
Stores in the area are selling out of fresh flowers that people are laying around the school grounds. People are clamoring for columbine flowers but apparently they aren't in season. Stores across the state are sold out of columbine seeds. Enough blue and silver ribbons have been sold to stretch from Denver to Florida.
During the siege the local TV news helicopters tried to outdo each other in terms of who had done more for the police. The Channel 7 reporter couldn't help but remind us that when the police suspected they had a gunman on the roof CHANNEL 7 provided them with their helicopter to check out the roof in the CHANNEL 7 helicopter and CHANNEL 7 was happy to help them out in the CHANNEL 7 helicopter.
There was a picture in the Denver Rocky Mountain News showing some type of civil service workers releasing balloons in honor of the students at Columbine. Half of the balloon was taken up with the words, "King Soopers." (a local grocery store)
The TV stations continue to cover this thing ad nauseum. You can't turn on the local news here without watching at least 20 minutes worth of "How to Tell Whether Or Not Your child Is a Teenage Psycho" or "How To Sabatoge the NRA Convention" or "Does You Child Hide Under The Bed and Listen To Marilyn Manson?" or "Iff My Child Pulls the Legs Off Grasshoppers Does That Make Him Violent?"
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