Questionable News Coverage of the Black Friday Trampling Tragedy

Valley Stream, New York became the unwelcome byline for a news story that has left an early-season cloud over what should be a joyous time of year. A young Walmart employee was trampled to death during what could easily be called a Black Friday riot, while at the same store an expectant mother lost her unborn child in the identical fracas.

It's simultaneously saddening and sickening that fellow members of our human race could act in such a way merely to save a couple percentage points off a TV set or DVD movie. However, what I found to be similarly disconcerting was a news report allegedly "covering" the fray.

In a two-and-a-half minute taped report entitled "Looking for Deals Can be Fatal", CBS' Michelle Miller began her story with phone video footage of the trampling incident, and establishing shots that included scenes of the store doors quite literally ripped from the hinges. She even briefly mentioned another, less fatal Black Friday episode that occurred in Missouri.

However, less than three quarters of a minute into the report, she began talking about how sales for several discount retailers, such as Walmart and Dollar Tree, have actually been on an upswing. Sound bytes from a market analyst and several consumers made up the next minute and a half, including a few soft plugs for bargains to be found at some higher-priced outlet-type retailers.

The following ten seconds mentioned that police are looking into whether or not charges will be considered in what is clearly some form of homicide; and the obligatory 'station identification' page made up the last five seconds.

When the clip closed, it was hard to discern whether this was a story of a tragic, sad testimonial to greed and lack of consideration for our fellow man, or if it was more like a lead-in to where one might find even more holiday deals. Seeming to be an additional endorsement for bargain shopping, the lion's share of the report did not point to the former.