Staff Editorial
We witness the world through the eyes of the media. As the years progress, we become more aware of the amount of change in the world. Unfortunately, terrorist attacks have been featured in headlines many times throughout the past couple of years. After a string of terrorism-related assaults, the media’s attention toward new attacks has altered, as well as society’s.
The number of terrorist attacks that ISIS has claimed responsibility for has steadily increased over the decade. After being exposed to large acts of terrorism, the media has gradually shortened focus on recent terrorist attacks such as the London subway attack on Sept.15 that injured around 30 people. The 2016 attack in Paris had a fatality rate that received widespread attention from people on social networks. Coverage on Paris extended for a long time, and support on social media was widespread. Since then, with every added attack, the coverage and attention given to these tragedies seems less and less. Even when fatality numbers are high, such as the 13 people who were killed in the Barcelona attack earlier this year, the media seems to glaze over the occurances. This appears troubling when given a second thought.
Not only has the media become desensitized to terrorism, but so have we as a society. We need to come together and discuss how to deal with the impact of terrorism, and how our views on the subject have changed overtime. Meaningful conversations are the anicdote to both to ignorance and desensitivity. The tragedy in Las Vegas gave us the opportunity not to sit and let another tragedy pass by. As the world changes, and terrorist attacks become seemingly routine, we need to not dwell on the past, but be sure to remember and honor the victims of these horrors with our thoughts, prayers and conversations, as well as with hope for a better future.