Thanks for sharing that. And I do see your point, and the points other people are making.

Very good points. And yeah, my initial post was ranty—I had mentioned in another response that I wasn’t having the best day, and reading that headline was just one time too many.

YES. So much that.

My observation of the practice doesn’t make me making a contest out of it—it exists already, whether or not I comment on it.

I get that. I think one of the reasons I don’t like it is it’s unsettlingly close to the anti-choice propaganda used—that the life of the fetus trumps the mother’s.

Good point.

No, my very first comment stated that it was a paradigm the media sets up and uses to their advantage. I wasn’t commenting on whether or not it’s a tragedy—of course it is. I was commenting on the fact that headlines like this pit the children’s deaths against everyone else’s, and THAT’S what sticks in my craw.

Thanks. And despite what people on the replies here think, I’m not a monster and I don’t think children dying isn’t tragic. What I was ranting about is the media’s proclivity to use it as emotional manipulation/clickbait.

You’re welcome. Thank you for being polite about your disagreement with it.

And I’m sure every adult that was killed in those blasts was “waging war”. The argument is nonsensical and emotional.

Children’s deaths are tragic because they are defenseless and are at the mercy of the whim of others. But then again, that could be said for the adults that were killed in the blasts as well.

Probably not, but it’s something that has always angered me, and I’m having a bad day, and it was one time too far.

Because 1.) I’m not the one who does this, I’m merely commenting on it and 2.) There’s nothing “perceived” about it. It falls squarely under the “If it bleeds, it leads” tenet of journalism. “X amount of people have been murdered, but if you think THAT’S bad—-OMG KIDS.” It’s an unnecessary and blatant emotional…

And the other people had been living their lives for years with loves, relationships, connections, hopes, and dreams—and all that was taken from them. So that’s less tragic than a kid?

I really, really, REALLY hate it when the media does this bullshit—”including X amount of children”. It’s insulting to the other people who died—”Sorry you’re dead, but it’s not as tragic as it would be if you were a kid.”

Their first choice had other obligations.

I’m so glad I’m not the only one whose first thought went to that.

That was friggin’ amazeballs. Loved the design around the outfits as well.

He’s like a human Edward Hopper painting.

Throw Boris and Palin in there, and I’d pay to make it happen.