Lots of readers are responding to the assertion that the Minnesota school shooting is recieving less attention because the people involved are Native Americans:
> “It obviously IS because those kids are Native Americans…we’re going to pay attention to a woman who is still alive in Florida and disregard the deaths of more than 6 people at a High School…maybe Congress should do something about that!”
> “It’s the video people. There is no video available during the shooting (like those dramatic shots of kids climbing out of school during Columbine) but just have pictures of parents crying which isnt interesting.”
> “Could the lesser coverage of Red Lake have something to do not with the ethnic origin of the victims and shooter, but the fact that Columbine was a 30-minute drive from Denver, and Red Lake is 250 miles from Minneapolis?”
More after the jump…
> “I would bet if it occured in Lillywhite Suburbia we would have seen non-stop round the clock coverage with helicopters and team coverage and all that stuff.”
> “The main reason this story is getting less play has NOTHING to with the fact the shooter and victims were Native Americans. It has everything to do with its location. The school is in the middle of ‘No Where, MN’ and it takes time to get there. There’s no large television market in the area. Local affiliate stations are having to drive extreme distances to cover this story. If this had been in an area with instant news coverage, I imagine the 24-hour cable nets would have been on it all day and night. Just my two-cents.”
> “Maybe the school shooting is getting less coverage because the country is so crazily infatuated with Terri Schiavo.”
> “Up here in Vermont, we’re exposed to the Canadian news media as well. While the evening news last night (aside from CBS) and the morning news today led with Schiavo here in the U.S., the Canucks led with the deadliest school shooting in the U.S. since Columbine. I can’t help but think it was the race issue — but also the lack of any compelling video, since the incident took place in a remote location. But regardless, it’s sad that the Canadians can lead a newscast with an American story that was buried here.”