Former CNN anchor and reporter Brooke Baldwin shares her concerns on an alarming trend she sees from television news companies decamping from coverage of mass shootings days after the tragedies occur.
In a column for The Atlantic, Baldwin states leading executives at major cable newsrooms are navigated by ratings and revenue figures instead of news significance and compassion for victims when they decide how long and what period they should cover mass shootings and their aftermath.
Furthermore, Baldwin worked at CNN for more than a decade and tapped into her experience at the network, covering several mass shootings, including at Virginia Tech, Las Vegas, and Parkland, Fla.
"After a week or ten days, the outraged public grows tired of hearing about the carnage, loss, and inaction," Baldwin wrote. "The audience starts to drop off. The ratings dip. And networks worry about their bottom line."
"And while the journalists in the field have compassion for the victims of these tragic stories, their bosses at the networks treat the news as ratings-generating revenue sources. No ratings? Less coverage. It's as simple as that."
Baldwin adds that these incidents stir political conversation, whether it's about mental health, school safety, or gun control. Still, at the end of the day, she says the news media machine will proceed and head to the next news cycle.
"The conversation has already turned to politics, as some pundits urge a focus on mental health and others on guns," Baldwin wrote. "Some journalists will try to hold our elected representatives' feet to the fire."
"A segment or two will go viral. Americans will share their outrage on social media. And then another story will break next week, and the news cycle will move on."
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