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Avoiding pitfalls when covering unfolding disaster stories

Since the shooting rampage at Columbine High School the country refers to the school simply as "Columbine."  When people say Virginia Tech, one of the first images that comes to mind is the deadly shooting that occured there.  These are just two of many locations where random violent incidents have occured.  Senior Faculty for broadcast online at the Poynter Institute, a journalism think tank, Al Tompkins, says journalists need to be responsible when reporting on such disasters.  Florida's 89.1, WUFT-FM's Emily Burris talked with Tompkins about the recent shooting rampage in Aurora, Colorado.

http://www.wuft.org/media/audio/FPTompkinsshortervsQA.mp3

Emily is a reporter for WUFT News and can be contacted by calling 352-392-6397 or emailing news@wuft.org.