Accelerating Blood Dance

It's early, I'm more cynical than usual, and I am wondering at the sheer volume of coverage penny-ante shootings (however tragic) are getting in local media.

While some speculate that there seems to be more than the usual amount of jackasses about, that's hard to explain in light of decreasing crime rates. Particularly when local media seem to be reaching, covering what are essentially local shootings (again, tragic, but not relevant to the Seattle audience when the incident is both hundreds of miles away and the perpetrator is either deceased, hospitalized, or incarcerated) with major breathless hype.

Sad, but it's not as if there isn't a plethora of local crap to deal with. Washington is having huge budget cuts (and accompanying controversy) due to a massive state deficit, we have a mayoral race kicking up with an incumbent of legendary unpopularity, and a wide variety of local trauma and tragedy to soak up a news hour.

It seems like there's an unusual uptick in coverage of coverage of shooting events apparently selected to inspire a sense of moral outrage in followers of the main stream media - i.e., these incidents have always occurred at some level, but now seem to almost have a PR agent.

In light of the Journolist controversy, 300+ liberal so-called journalists corresponding on how to spin stories, I am just a wee tad suspicious that this may be an witting or unwitting attempt (it'd certainly be Raum Emmanuels style, for instance) to grease the skids to sleaze in a new "Ugly Gun Ban" or other gun control measures.

Thoughts?