Heroes of Tucson

Jan. 13, 2011

Dear Leslie,

Many people acted heroically Saturday in Tucson. People reacted swiftly to stop the gunman without thought of their own safety. One man died shielding his wife.

The 9-year-old victim, Christina Taylor Green, was there to learn about politics. The significance that she was born on Sept. 11, 2001, should not be lost on anyone. She believed the time had come for the world to change. She was a hero for being there on that street corner.

Returning from St. Louis Saturday, I listened to radio updates about the shooting, expecting news at any moment that congresswoman Gabrielle Giffords' head wound was fatal. Yet as I write, she lives, though NPR, CNN and Fox News all reported briefly that she'd died.

My journalism students are not old enough to remember when all journalists cared fiercely about being accurate and objective. Today the multitude of news outlets are competing to get it first, and sometimes accuracy comes in second.

Journalists once understood that nobody is capable of 100 percent objectivity, but that objectivity is a tool that should be used to tell a story as accurately and as fairly as possible. I warn my students to listen and watch and read skeptically because whole networks are now devoted to promoting a political point of view. I show them examples of "news anchors" who are no more than political flacks.

Some of my students are unable to discern the reporting from the opinion in their own stories even when I pointed it out to them. Being exposed to biased reporting 24 hours a day must be partly responsible.

One of the heroes of this tragedy is Pima County Sheriff Clarence Dupnik, who repeatedly has spoken out against the verbal violence that currently passes for political debate in America.

He didn't blame guns, he didn't blame terrorists, he didn't question the role of mental health officials. The question he's asking is about us. The toxic climate of hatred on the airwaves has permeated our culture to the point that a political enemy is someone who is targeted for elimination from the debate. To an unstable person, the next step may be a logical one.

This could have happened to any one of our government representatives. Our own congresswoman, Jo Ann Emerson, is as approachable and likable as Gabrielle Giffords. Do we now live in a country where to be approachable and likable are dangerous?

The poet William Stafford worried for a community that must find a way to include everyone no matter what their beliefs or skin color or way of life. He wrote: "If you don't know the kind of person I am -- and I don't know the kind of person you are -- a pattern that others made may prevail in the world?" But that's the community America is.

All Americans are sickened by the violence in Tucson. Many of us also are sick of hearing good people viciously disparaged for their political views. This is a moment when we can say no more and turn off the bullying hucksters of malice and ridicule. Let them listen to themselves for awhile.

Snow covers the ground here. The winter may be a good long time to think.

Love, Sam

Sam Blackwell is a former reporter for the Southeast Missourian.