Fatal Distress by Aaron Alexis

 

 

The devastating murder of 12 people by gunman, Aaron Alexis, last Monday came as a shock to us all. Yet, there has been speculations on how he obtained security clearance specially after having a troubled past.  And more so, what led the 34 yeard old to take such drastic measures.

http://www.cnn.com/2013/09/17/us/navy-yard-shooting-main/index.html?hpt=hp_t1

After the “2004 blackout”, when Alexis fired his gun into two Honda Accord tires near his home in Seattle and  was later charged for malicious mischief. The “2008 nightclub Arrest”  in  a metro Atlanta club for damaging the club’s property and failing to listen to police orders to stop, and again was arrested for disorderly conduct. The “2010 gunfire” incident where he accidently shoot the gun while cleaning it, where he was never charged. The “Navy Discharge of 2011” for insubordination, disorderly conduct, and even unauthorized absences from work. And finally, last months “Microwave” allegations where Alexis told police, unseen individuals spoke to him through walls using some sort of “microwave” machine that allowed vibrations to penetrate threw his body and prevented him to sleep. Were all overlooked episodes that granted Alexis security clearance.  

In the CNN report above, I found that there was three very helpful ways of multimedia Journalism. There was Audio, one could certainly use some headphones to listen to the shooting that took place at the Naval Yard with no problem. Sometimes time is limited and being on top of every news story is also quite difficult. But with websites like CNN or Democracy Now, it has become easier and easier to stay on top of current events. On my commute to Westchester Community College I have nearly 2 hours that I am just sitting in a car driving. Being able to listen to news reports, like I would on television not only take away the “not knowing” but it certainly makes my commute more enjoyable. In this webpage, there was also Video.  There are certainly various reports that one could watch if they were on a lunch break or wanted to see graphics of what was happening. You can really understand by simply seeing the devastating faces of the victims that surrounded the Naval Yard.  Furthermore let’s say you wanted a follow up of what’s going on, now you can have the latest story or new information be given to you without the need to be stuck in front of a TV screen. What I also liked about this article is that it also includes print. It’s not like YouTube that has a bunch of videos lined up. Sometimes, I forget my headphones or my auxiliary cord at home and I don’t want everyone else to listen to what I am watching on my cell phone, so being able to read about what has just happened is ideal. And not just me but everyone can certainly read about what exactly happened if they did not have headphones, or did not want to watch a news report. And lastly, for those tweeters and bloggers, there is a degree of interaction going on here that ties in different types of social media. One could certainly blog about this, add the link to their Facebook, make comments, tumble about it, etc.  What is really nice about sources like CNN.com is that it is a one stop for all, informative site. And I think with evolving technology and surpassing the year for apps, soon we will have cars that naturally carry Wi-Fi and will keep us all up to date.