Like our colleagues in Annapolis, we care deeply about our community
“There is nothing more terrifying than hearing multiple people get shot while you’re under your desk and then hear the gunman reload." — Tweet from reporter Phil Davis of the Capital Gazette as a gunman murdered five of his friends and colleagues at the Annapolis newspaper.
It was a sickening feeling Thursday seeing the latest mass shooting in our country take the lives of innocent victims. People who were likely thinking about their next assignment, the rhythm of their day, what they'd have for dinner that night.
We've seen this story time after time after time: First the news and the available facts followed quickly by speculation on responsibility, potential blame, the introduction of political agendas of all stripes and the "thoughts and prayers" of politicians and others.
This latest outburst of gun violence hit close to home for all of us at The News & Observer. We do the same fact-based work. We live by the same ethic that getting important news and information to our readers and digital audiences must go on no matter what.
In Annapolis the newsroom produced a newspaper just hours after the killings. We both care deeply about the readers and communities we serve. And we also find ourselves regularly threatened whether it be by individuals with particular grievances or being falsely portrayed by the president and others as enemies of our wonderful country.
The mass killing also hit home in another way.
The N&O recently moved from its long-time home on McDowell Street to new space at 421 Fayetteville Street in downtown Raleigh. When we were looking for space one of the driving priorities was to be more accessible and connected to the communities, audiences and business partners we serve.
It is the same kind of approach The Capital Gazette took when it moved into its present location in 2014.
One of the so-called answers during the speculation and blaming phase of the conversation Thursday was to "harden" work space like ours, like The Gazette's and so many other business of all kinds who value collaboration and input. But should the answer really be to wall ourselves off from each other? Should we all be hiding away, further dividing and isolating us from each other? Should we all live and work in fortresses, cut off from the people we serve?
Our staff's safety is paramount to us and our parent company. We have taken many steps to insure a safe and healthy workplace and are taking more following the shooting.
But our nation's solution to this kind of ongoing violence can't and shouldn't be to "harden" everything. We as a society need connection and understanding. We need to hear many voices. We need to work together.
Those of us at The News & Observer believe deeply in the First Amendment. But we also recognize and understand that it is not absolute. You can't yell "fire" in a crowded theater. You can't use your First Amendment protection to lie or defame.
Gun violence in our country is an epidemic. In the week ending with the five deaths Thursday in Annapolis, there were 309 non-suicide deaths in the United States related to gun violence.
In its own way, just as sickening as the feelings upon hearing the terrible news Thursday is the knowledge that as a society we will quickly move on from this awful moment to await the certain news of another active shooter somewhere soon taking lives of the innocent. And the Second Amendment, with all its ambiguities, will be protected as absolute. Surely there is a better path that would help our communities thrive and be safe.