Madison- Trauma — Compassion

On December 16, 2024, a school shooting occurred at Abundant Life Christian School in Madison, Wisconsin, United States.[4] Two people plus the perpetrator, identified as 15-year-old Natalie Rupnow,[5] were confirmed dead, and six others were injured.[1]

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Abundant_Life_Christian_School_shooting

The mayor of Madison sought to protect the privacy of those directly impacted by the killings, and was criticized for her bluntness and strong request — in not revealing names immediately. The issues focused significantly on the fact that children were killed.

Judith Davidoff wrote a recent Isthmus piece entitled “Let’s all take a minute”. She quoted Vincent Filak, a journalism professor at The University of Wisconsin-Oshkosh. He spoke of how some survivors want to feel heard by others, including the media, in their healing process from the trauma.

In reading this piece I felt that there was a lot of defensiveness among the journalists speaking of this horrible, but unfortunately not rare situation. It seemed and seems to me that they get and got stuck in their “professionalism” and dealing with their own feelings.

I see a major difference between revealing the names of victims, and their loved ones soon after the deaths, and giving these same individuals a chance to respond, if they wish, to be heard.

Bill Lueders, a Madison journalist for example, spoke out. Lueders essentially said: “trust us” and/or “we should…