STORY: "Aurora and the Template of our grief, by Garance Franke-Ruta, published in the Atlantic on July 23, 2012. (" Garance Franke-Ruta is a senior editor at The Atlantic, where she oversees the Politics Channel). Thanks to Joe Gamso for drawing this insightful "template" to our attention in his Blog "For the Defence."
GIST: "The way mass casualty stories unfold in America has taken on a chilling familiarity. "As New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg again calls for gun-control efforts from our national leaders and critic Anthony Lane examines whether the shooter in Aurora, Colorado, could have been inspired by the villain in The Dark Knight Rises, it's clear that we as a nation have developed an awful template for reacting to our growing catalog of domestic mass-casualty events. The age of new media being now well-established, it goes a little something like this: First we get the shaky camera phone videos and the tweets. Then the distraught eyewitness interviews and 911 call recording. Quickly, the shooter is identified. Politicians issue statements of shock and sorrow. The shooter's parents, if interviewed, are confused and abashed or else hide. The social media forensics begin........."
PUBLISHER'S NOTE: "This brilliant all-too-realistic template for all-to-prevalent horrific public events got me thinking that it's time for this Blog to start paying attention to the risk that social media forensics - and the experts who opine on it - poses to the court process, when the electronic "evidence" it is based upon is not properly gathered, preserved and analyzed for use in court. I would appreciate hearing from our readers on any cases, situations or research that may be fodder for our mill.
Harold Levy: Publisher; The Charles Smith Blog;
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http://www.theatlantic.com/national/archive/2012/07/aurora-and-the-template-of-our-grief/260110/
PUBLISHER'S NOTE:
I am monitoring these issues. Keep your eye on the Charles Smith Blog for reports on developments.
The Toronto Star, my previous employer for more than twenty incredible years, has put considerable effort into exposing the harm caused by Dr. Charles Smith and his protectors - and into pushing for reform of Ontario's forensic pediatric pathology system. The Star has a "topic" section which focuses on recent stories related to Dr. Charles Smith. It can be found at:
http://www.thestar.com/topic/charlessmith
Information on "The Charles Smith Blog Award"- and its nomination process - can be found at:
http://smithforensic.blogspot.com/2011/05/charles-smith-blog-award-nominations.html
Please send any comments or information on other cases and issues of interest to the readers of this blog to: hlevy15@gmail.com
Harold Levy: Publisher; The Charles Smith Blog;
