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Andrew Dickens: Time to focus on the victims of Christchurch terror attack

Author
Andrew Dickens,
Publish Date
Mon, 18 Mar 2019, 12:38PM
I was wondering about the victim’s families and how the government can help them.

Andrew Dickens: Time to focus on the victims of Christchurch terror attack

Author
Andrew Dickens,
Publish Date
Mon, 18 Mar 2019, 12:38PM

So it comes to my time to give thoughts on the terrible events that started on Friday. There are two ways to do this. One is to talk about my feelings, but that seems redundant because we know how we all feel. Just because I have a microphone, I don’t have a monopoly on feeling. And those feelings could be a number of things including anger.

On this day. Two and a half days on, it is the time to keep a lid on our most emotional impulses and begin a slower process towards coming to terms with this stuff

The other thing to do is look at what’s next. Gun laws, Monitoring of loose units. To me, it still seems too soon but it is at least a concrete angle to concentrate our minds.

I’m still thinking about the victims

I was listening to the Jacinda Ardern’s interview this morning and I noticed that there was not one mention of the victims. There was talk about the impossibility of monitoring lone wolves, the strengthening of gun laws, even strengthening of security on regional flights. But nothing about the Muslim community of Christchurch. I’m not blaming anyone it’s just how people are. In a hurry to move on from something terrible but I’m not totally ready to move on yet

I wanted to hear how the grave digging was going. Whether the state can give them help because time is of the essence. I was wondering about the victim’s families and how the government can help them. So many breadwinners gone from so many families. I’m wondering about long term support and so this date the 15th of March 2019 -15. 3. 19, is remembered as a time of ongoing kindness by the Muslim community rather than a date of martyrdom and revenge.

It felt to me as though the event is still centred around the perpetrator. The more he is minimised, the less he can motivate similarly unbalanced minds.

So I regret that he has ever been named. I understand the convention of law but this is not a conventional crime. I regret that any image of him is published, even the pixelated one. Because a paper in Australia published a photo of him in the dock flashing a sign well known to his admirers. I suppose they thought we’d be horrified but didn’t think that some people will be ecstatic.

This man needs to disappear quietly and legally.

Finally, the last time I was in front of a microphone was at 3:55pm on Friday, when a piece of paper was passed to me with the first confirmation of a fatality from Friday’s attack on a Mosque which I then read on air.

That’s how proper media works. We had many reports from bystanders of fatalities but you wait for confirmation from multiple sources and official sources.

Facebook is not proper media. Facebook Live even more so. Facebook could not have vetted something going out live. Facebook Live gives the power of anyone to broadcast anything. I’m surprised more atrocities haven’t already been unleashed. Don’t worry Mr Zuckerberg. Nobody will mind in the least. Get rid of Facebook Live right now

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