Who benefits from tragedy?

Looks like Fred Phelps is making the rounds all over the internet...not just here. Seems the church has riled off my friend over at The Bobo Files.

Why does tragedy happen? Who knows. God has a plan. However, I don't think the Westboro church or Fred Phelps is in on it.

As far as tragedy...and anyone benefiting off of it - The Danville Register & Bee holds the record. When did I finally have enough? When the Cunningham woman killed in a car versus pedestrian accident several months back was more important than the Ringgold Fire Dept.'s celebration. I was coming back to the paper with a great story about community, fire department volunteers and video of training and people learning how to help people and Bernard Baker got angry with me because I wasn't fast enough getting out to an accident scene of a fatality to "get a picture of the body."

"I heard she was a young girl," he kept saying...No. She was about my age. We had the press release and the info we needed, but then again...he wanted a photo. Of what? The same sort of scene that young Reid Ashe must have been been part of...hit by a car, fall from an airplane....sells newspapers. That was a Saturday. I was off Sunday and Monday and called in to work Tuesday.

The doctor said, "Post-traumatic stress"...that's another word for I can't take any more photos of bodies and blood and brains and fires and shootings so the newspaper can make money off of the suffering of people. Think about it. Quite a job wouldn't you say? It's not like you go out and shoot those things and come back and people are respectful and we write about the resources available for those suffering, or do something with the news that benefits the public. No. We just run story and a picture to sell papers. Kind of morbid don't you think?

Sorry Danville. I just couldn't keep showing up knowing we weren't about telling the family's story or helping...we were running photos of people's wrecks, fatalities and tragedy...all in the name of making an almighty dollar. How many times do I have to say it? I don't know. Probably as often as the paper runs the photos and stories of local stabbings and shootings and fires and wrecks. They can't do that enough - well, I can't get enough of pointing out the hostile atmosphere, the bullying, the abuse, the degrading of women and the manipulation of news and capitalizing on death and tragedy for a buck.

If you take comfort in knowing that your local newspaper wants you to die or at least be critically injured if you happen to be in an accident...then good for you.