Two soldiers, just back from basic training, were gunned down Monday morning in front of an Army/Navy recruiting station located at Rodney Parham and Reservoir Rd. in Little Rock.
Lance Luplow had just parked his car across the street when he heard the shots. "At least 6 or 7 good shots, loud bangs, big gun."
When he ran to the scene he found both soldiers on the ground in uniform and bleeding. One of them, Quinton Ezeagwula of Jacksonville, was still conscious and had been shot in the neck.
"The one guy was saying, 'I can't believe this is happening' and he crawled into the store," Luplow says. "And the other guy was sort of out of it. He just had a blank stare, just looking up at the sky. He wasn't moving or anything."
That soldier was 23-year-old William Long of Conway. He died an hour later.
Minutes after the shooting, Little Rock Police arrested Abdul Hakim Mujahid Muhammad, formerly known as Carlos Bledsoe. He faces a murder charge and 16 counts of terroristic acts.
Muhammad moved to Little Rock within the past few months. Police say he didn't know the victims. "I think he was targeting military personnel, and these military personnel were in uniform at the military facility and that's how they became targets," says Thomas.
Pvt. Long, 23, was from Conway. He joined the military in January and finished basic training in February.
Pvt. Ezeagwula, 18, is from Jacksonville. He is still in the hospital, but is expected to recover.
Lance Luplow had just parked his car across the street when he heard the shots. "At least 6 or 7 good shots, loud bangs, big gun."
When he ran to the scene he found both soldiers on the ground in uniform and bleeding. One of them, Quinton Ezeagwula of Jacksonville, was still conscious and had been shot in the neck.
"The one guy was saying, 'I can't believe this is happening' and he crawled into the store," Luplow says. "And the other guy was sort of out of it. He just had a blank stare, just looking up at the sky. He wasn't moving or anything."
That soldier was 23-year-old William Long of Conway. He died an hour later.
Minutes after the shooting, Little Rock Police arrested Abdul Hakim Mujahid Muhammad, formerly known as Carlos Bledsoe. He faces a murder charge and 16 counts of terroristic acts.
Muhammad moved to Little Rock within the past few months. Police say he didn't know the victims. "I think he was targeting military personnel, and these military personnel were in uniform at the military facility and that's how they became targets," says Thomas.
Pvt. Long, 23, was from Conway. He joined the military in January and finished basic training in February.
Pvt. Ezeagwula, 18, is from Jacksonville. He is still in the hospital, but is expected to recover.
Answer:
Media Gatekeepers Decide what's News
By RICHARD BENEDETTO
Which is more newsworthy — the murder of an abortion doctor in Wichita, Kan., by an alleged anti-abortion activist or the murder of an Army recruiter and the wounding of another in Little Rock, Ark., by an alleged Muslim convert who is said to hate the U.S. military?
Most people not involved in news-placement decisions would probably say they were equally newsworthy. But those in the news media actually making those decisions had a different view.
According to the way the two stories were played last week in the American mainstream news media, the shooting of the abortion doctor was far more newsworthy than the shooting of the two young soldiers, even though the two incidents occurred within one day of each other and seemed to follow a similar pattern: Both men were killed by men allegedly acting out their political, religious and moral disagreements with their victims.
Here’s how the media played the two stories:
• Murder of abortion doctor on Sunday — front-page news in most major newspapers and a lead story on network TV news shows on Sunday and Monday
• Murder of one Army recruiter and wounding of another on Monday — buried inside the same papers and newscasts on Tuesday
Meanwhile, follow-up stories and columns on the abortion doctor still got bigger play in at least four major newspapers — The Washington Post, USA Today, The New York Times and The Wall Street Journal — than the shooting of the soldiers got on its first day.
The Wall Street Journal had at least one story or column on each of the first four days following the abortion doctor’s shooting. It made no mention in its print edition and only two on its website of the Army recruiter’s murder in the first four days after it occurred.
One angry Washington Post reader wrote in a letter to the editor published on Saturday, “The doctor received front-page coverage June 1 and 2 and several opinion pieces, but the soldiers received five paragraphs in the June 2 Nation Digest (on Page A16).”
These obvious, big differences in media play of the two incidents raise questions about not only news judgment but also, and more important, media bias. Abortion rights have long been a signature issue for the liberal left. A strong military has largely been a bedrock issue of the conservative right.
One might conclude that news editors, the gatekeepers who choose how to play stories, are more attuned or more sympathetic to the views of the liberal left than the conservative right and make news placements accordingly.
Moreover, many news stories, editorials, columns and TV talk shows last week were devoted to trying to place blame for the abortion killing on Christian extremists and conservative commentators who condemned late-term abortions performed by the murdered doctor. There was little similar media finger-pointing at militant Muslims for the shooting of the Army recruiters.
Even President Barack Obama apparently was more appalled by the killing of the abortion doctor than the Army shootings. Within hours of the doctor’s murder, he issued an official statement: “I am shocked and outraged by the murder of Dr. George Tiller as he attended church services this morning.”
It took the commander in chief two days to issue a statement on the shooting of the soldiers. But rather than express “shock and outrage,” Obama was “deeply saddened.” And instead of sending the statement as an official news release to all media, as he did with the abortion doctor statement, it appears to have been released only to The Associated Press.
Perhaps the delay and softer language were intended to avoid appearing critical of Muslims on the eve of his June 4 speech in Cairo seeking a new start with the Muslim world.
Tom Rosenstiel, director of the nonpartisan Pew Research Center’s Project for Excellence in Journalism, which tracks news-story placement, said he was surprised by the media’s downplay of the shooting of the Army recruiters.
“The shooting of the Army recruiters is related to a larger threat to national security and the war on terror, while the intensity of the abortion issue has been fading,” he said.
Tell that to the gatekeepers.
By RICHARD BENEDETTO
Which is more newsworthy — the murder of an abortion doctor in Wichita, Kan., by an alleged anti-abortion activist or the murder of an Army recruiter and the wounding of another in Little Rock, Ark., by an alleged Muslim convert who is said to hate the U.S. military?
Most people not involved in news-placement decisions would probably say they were equally newsworthy. But those in the news media actually making those decisions had a different view.
According to the way the two stories were played last week in the American mainstream news media, the shooting of the abortion doctor was far more newsworthy than the shooting of the two young soldiers, even though the two incidents occurred within one day of each other and seemed to follow a similar pattern: Both men were killed by men allegedly acting out their political, religious and moral disagreements with their victims.
Here’s how the media played the two stories:
• Murder of abortion doctor on Sunday — front-page news in most major newspapers and a lead story on network TV news shows on Sunday and Monday
• Murder of one Army recruiter and wounding of another on Monday — buried inside the same papers and newscasts on Tuesday
Meanwhile, follow-up stories and columns on the abortion doctor still got bigger play in at least four major newspapers — The Washington Post, USA Today, The New York Times and The Wall Street Journal — than the shooting of the soldiers got on its first day.
The Wall Street Journal had at least one story or column on each of the first four days following the abortion doctor’s shooting. It made no mention in its print edition and only two on its website of the Army recruiter’s murder in the first four days after it occurred.
One angry Washington Post reader wrote in a letter to the editor published on Saturday, “The doctor received front-page coverage June 1 and 2 and several opinion pieces, but the soldiers received five paragraphs in the June 2 Nation Digest (on Page A16).”
These obvious, big differences in media play of the two incidents raise questions about not only news judgment but also, and more important, media bias. Abortion rights have long been a signature issue for the liberal left. A strong military has largely been a bedrock issue of the conservative right.
One might conclude that news editors, the gatekeepers who choose how to play stories, are more attuned or more sympathetic to the views of the liberal left than the conservative right and make news placements accordingly.
Moreover, many news stories, editorials, columns and TV talk shows last week were devoted to trying to place blame for the abortion killing on Christian extremists and conservative commentators who condemned late-term abortions performed by the murdered doctor. There was little similar media finger-pointing at militant Muslims for the shooting of the Army recruiters.
Even President Barack Obama apparently was more appalled by the killing of the abortion doctor than the Army shootings. Within hours of the doctor’s murder, he issued an official statement: “I am shocked and outraged by the murder of Dr. George Tiller as he attended church services this morning.”
It took the commander in chief two days to issue a statement on the shooting of the soldiers. But rather than express “shock and outrage,” Obama was “deeply saddened.” And instead of sending the statement as an official news release to all media, as he did with the abortion doctor statement, it appears to have been released only to The Associated Press.
Perhaps the delay and softer language were intended to avoid appearing critical of Muslims on the eve of his June 4 speech in Cairo seeking a new start with the Muslim world.
Tom Rosenstiel, director of the nonpartisan Pew Research Center’s Project for Excellence in Journalism, which tracks news-story placement, said he was surprised by the media’s downplay of the shooting of the Army recruiters.
“The shooting of the Army recruiters is related to a larger threat to national security and the war on terror, while the intensity of the abortion issue has been fading,” he said.
Tell that to the gatekeepers.
Up until someone posted the latter article on the debate board, I had not heard about the soldier shootings. I have a total of four television channels which I barely watch and have heard more than a fair share about the abortion doctor. Not to mention the flashing headlines every time I logon to the internet. Nothing about the soldiers.
This is ridiculous. I am outraged by it, and can't believe the amount of disrespect towards our military that has been formed on our own homeland. Where is the pride, and the support? It amazes me how [a certain group of people] can direct the views and knowledge of the rest of the country, by controlling the media and overshadowing everything they don't agree with.
Two soldiers fresh out of basic can't even be safe on their own home front. They never even had a chance to deploy, to fight, to do what they signed up for. THAT, my friends, is news worthy. THAT is something the whole country should be up in arms about. But no, we will brush it off our shoulders and move on, and focus solely on the abortion doctor that was obviously contributing something much more important to our society. Bite me.
This is ridiculous. I am outraged by it, and can't believe the amount of disrespect towards our military that has been formed on our own homeland. Where is the pride, and the support? It amazes me how [a certain group of people] can direct the views and knowledge of the rest of the country, by controlling the media and overshadowing everything they don't agree with.
Two soldiers fresh out of basic can't even be safe on their own home front. They never even had a chance to deploy, to fight, to do what they signed up for. THAT, my friends, is news worthy. THAT is something the whole country should be up in arms about. But no, we will brush it off our shoulders and move on, and focus solely on the abortion doctor that was obviously contributing something much more important to our society. Bite me.
4 comments:
OMG...That just makes my heart wrench...Damn I hate seeing such young deaths in the military...This is so sad and definitely should have had more coverage...I didn't know of this until I read your post! My heart is hurting for both of those young men and their families....Sighs...
Oh my... I hadn't heard of either of these stories (we don't watch the news, but we probably should) It is absolutely absurd the way these were shown to the public. Freedom of speech and press is more tightly guarded than people think- stories that make people afraid are less likely to be published- terrorists in America gunning down innocent people, for gods sake. Thank you for sharing this- I am dually outraged and disheartened by this. :(
I live in Kansas, and the coverage of the shooting of Dr Tillman was...well, ridiculous. Yes, it was awful that he was murdered. I agree, but it's not like he was a messiah or someone who was out doing wonderful things for our community. He was breaking the law every single day and murdering unborn babies. He was facilitating sin and murder. And yet he is being idolized by the media. So sad.
I couldn't agree with this post more!
My husband is in the recruiting command. I can not tell you how many emails they get with this exact worry. Not a day goes by that I do not worry about him sitting behind the big window that reads Army from the main road. Thanks for posting so sad.
Post a Comment