If you haven’t heard by now, a N.C. State Highway Patrol trooper was shot and killed Tuesday night after pulling somebody over along Interstate 40 near exit 31 in Haywood County. Everybody is referring to the Citizen-Times initial story for now.
It’s sad news. The trooper, David Shawn Blanton, was just 25 years old, married and had a two-week old baby.
The media is treating the trooper as a hero, and there will be no end to the media’s portrayal of the heroic sacrifices of law enforcement officers and their families. That’s all fine and good, but so much for the media’s claim of objectivity.
So the Citizen-Times is certainly huddling right now to plan blow-out coverage of this news event that will surely sell papers. That’s why they’re in the business, right?
So here are a few ideas that I imagine are being scribbled on a whiteboard on the second floor of the O.Henry office right now:
Trooper coverage
Proposed headline: HERO SLAIN
-profile of the trooper and his family; he was from Cherokee – go there and set the scene, tell the story of where he was from, why he got into law enforcement; had two-week old baby
-graphic of the scene, explaining how it went down. need a map, at the least
-who was the shooter? we need a mug shot
-bullet proof vests – do they work?
-should state troopers ride in pairs, instead of alone?
-boxes on all the wnc trooper’s killed in the line of duty since 1985
-I-40 in Haywood: The Deadly Highway — through the years, several troopers have died on this section of road. what’s going on?
-will this section of the road be named after the slain trooper? it’s been done before; what’s the process?
-funeral coverage — when is it? law enforcement from all over the state will attend. we’ll cover it with multiple photo galleries, a live blog.
-coping — how do families of law enforcement officers who have died in the line of duty cope with the tragedy? find them, talk to them.
-photos: get photos of David Shawn Blanton and his family; go to the scene of the shooting; is there a roadside memorial? get photos of troopers at scene Wednesday morning. (will traffic be affected?)
6 Comments
This officer was a hero in every sense of the word. A coward with a keyboard has no right to bring the officer into his personal battle against commercial media. While it is understandable that you may not agree with the type of coverage dedicated to an officer that gave his life in the line of duty (a concept you will never understand,) it is unbelievable that you would do so in such a disrespectful manner. Fight your fight against your former employer, but please do not use the REAL men of this country as fodder.
My cousin never had a chance to say goodbye to his wife, his mom or child. We (I) watched him grow up, held him in my arms, diapered him, feed him, the loss we ALL feel and the heartbreak is staggering. Was he a hero? In your eyes, and others like you, maybe not, in ours he was more, much more. A light, a boy then a man to soon. His dream to work in law enforcement where (before) he was married and had a son was the WORLD to him, Do you know how hard it is for young Cherokee Men to stay in high school, go on to college then achieve their dream? If you only knew, maybe you would realize what he done was monumental not for giving his life on the side of a road, but for just being someone who inspired us.
To all the ones who came and showed support, Thank You, to all the ones at the scene that night, thank you – No one knows if you held his hand, gave a word of comfort, Thank you to other patrol men for the love and support they have shown and continue to show.
Our boy is gone but he’ll Always BE our hero in our hearts!
Love and miss you,
Beanball
newspaper fan, i didn’t mean to imply that all the coverage would be "incorrect." personally, i’d be interested in a story examining the effectiveness of bullet proof vests, or a story examining Highway Patrol funding/staffing in relation to safety.
i did mean to point out that the coverage is absolutely standard. predictable. it’s giving me nothing new to consider. it’s all surface.
i’m interested in stories that aren’t framed in such black-and-white terms. an officer shot on the side of the road is portrayed as a "shining example" of law enforcement.
and it does verge on exploitative, which readers object to. just go back and read the more than 100 comments from readers on the Citizen-Times’ story about how it was going to sue to get the 911 recordings released. overwhelming, readers say the newspaper is just intruding.
The implication of your post seems to be that what the Citizen-Times may be doing is . .incorrect? over-reaction? exploitive? Aren’t the angles they might be pursuing the ones readers will want? What alternatives would you propose?
Geez, you did all their A1 planning for them! 🙂
The Citizen-Times rarely expends ink on calling a law enforcement officer a hero unless s/he has been killed in the line of duty. Of course, by then, it’s way too damn late.