The Struggle for Answers in the Aftermath of Reporter Shootings

It’s happened in schools, shopping malls, military bases, and now the for the first time, routine story scenes for the early morning local news program. Friends, family, colleagues, as well as the greater community, mourn Wednesday’s tragic shooting death of two journalists while on air.

WDBJ- Roanoke, Virginia reporter Alison Parker and her cameraman, Adam Ward, were on site at a Virginia waterpark conducting an interview with a local city official concerning tourism in the area. While on live broadcast, a former colleague, known on the air as Bryce Williams, fatally shot Parker and Ward before turning the gun on himself during police standoff later that day.

Vicki Gardner, who was being interviewed at the time the gunfire started, was also shot and taken to a nearby hospital where she is currently in stable condition, according to reports.

While hearts go out to TV station WDBJ as well as the victims’ families for the loss of two individuals with so much promise in their respective careers, the nation, specifically the Journalism community, continues to search for answers and tries to make sense of what nobody could have predicted to take place.

Following this story, one can sense a climate of solidarity between fellow journalists in the wake of what has transpired, as CNN anchor Brooke Baldwin labels the shooting as one “that hits close to home.”

Within any news setting, there is a close relationship between reporters of all types, accumulating to an accomplished status that falls under a certain quality comparable to family.

We look at the world together much like a family.

We take note of the issues and conflicts we face together, much like a family.

We interpret the trends and values of society together, much like a family.

Regardless of opinion or professional philosophy, there is a bond over the vocational duty we share in bearing; we know the trials, the tribulations, and the celebrations. We understand the milestones of gaining a following or the value of having a painstakingly drafted piece recognized with great admiration.

Because of this, we feel the same joy and we feel the same despair. Whoever commonly labels journalists as stereotypically self-centered and competitive narcissists who thrive off the failures of others has simply not witnessed the encouragement, warmth and camaraderie that I have personally felt, along with many others in our line of work.

One of the best support systems one can experience lies in the hands of working in the profession that Alison Parker and Adam Ward found and consistently loved with the support and guidance they received until that fateful day last week.

A day when so much appreciation for doing what one loves and dying while doing so seemed more real than it could ever be put into words.