Penn State senior Jake Librizzi holds an American flag as he and others fill Beaver Canyon Avenue in downtown State College, Pa. shortly after learning about the death of Osama bin Laden. Andy Colwell/AP
As the world gathered around their television sets — as they had done nearly a decade earlier on that fateful day in September that has become synonymous with radical Islamic terrorism and unwavering patriotism — people where entranced by a different kind of death — the death of the one person who was seen as the face of evil: Osama bin Laden. For many, news of his death brought back a flood of emotions back from that day and resulted in what was depicted on the news as rampant partying in the streets of New York City and Washington D.C. next to symbolic sites that would typically serve as memorials for faithful mourners who would make their reverent pilgrimages there.
At landmarks that were once gathering places for mourners in the wake of the Sept. 11 attacks, signs of elation and tears of relief and happiness seemingly replaced images of despair and loss. However, not everyone may be outwardly celebrating. Moreover, some experts and critics have concluded that the depiction of such images may do more harm than good.
According some experts who study the psychological effects of retribution, bin Laden’s death may actually reopen mental wounds, increase ongoing mental health problems to those affected by the Sept. 11th disaster and ultimately ring in decreased sense of satisfaction than previously thought.
“There is a strong assumption that this event will be especially beneficial for the loved ones of people killed or hurt in the events of 9/11, and that they will experience ’closure,’” Kevin Carlsmith, a professor of psychology at Colgate University, said in an interview with the New Haven Register. “But there’s really no evidence one way or the other to suggest this is the case — at least, none that I’ve ever come across.”
However, this is not necessarily to suggest that the want or need to seek revenge is an unnatural feeling. In fact, researchers have pointed out that it is a completely natural — but not necessarily healthy — feeling. In fact, an elaborate punishment survey conducted by Carlsmith found that “punishers reported feeling worse than the non-punishers, but predicted they would have felt even worse had they not been given the opportunity to punish and that non-punishers said they thought they would feel better if they’d had that opportunity for revenge — even though the survey identified them as the happier group.” In other words, both groups felt that retribution would create some form of catharsis, but instead their own reported feelings aligned more with regretful feelings.
In addition, a recently released Public Religion Research Institute survey found that nearly 62 percent of Americans agree that it is wrong to celebrate the death of another person despite the severity of his or her transgressions.
But, the main question is, “How has the mainstream media treated his death?” Before President Obama officially announced bin Laden’s death, top government officials took to the Web, and immediately began sending out tweets on Twitter about his death. “So I’m told by a reputable person that they have killed Osama bin Laden’s death. Hot damn,” Keith Urbahn, the former chief of staff to former Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld, tweeted nearly an hour before President Obama was to hold a late night press conference. Immediately afterward, the word spread like wild fire and publications across the world burned the midnight oil to prepare an obituary for the person who was considered to be one of the most wanted individuals in the world. “WE GOT THE BASTARD! –OSAMA BIN LADEN DEAD,” the New York Post tweeted on its Twitter page.
Although there hasn’t been any reports of adverse psychological affects as a result of bin Laden’s death, I still believe his death is one that should be treated with as much sensitivity as any other person’s death. Sure, he committed one of the most flagrant and nefarious acts of terrorism that this generation has ever known, but I’m not necessarily sure it warrants a front page headline in the New York Daily News that reads in bolded font, “ROT IN HELL,” next to his photo. Although I do not condone his actions and I certainly do not think that his obituary should contain elements of praise or reverence for that matter, I think a second thought is needed before we, as journalists, write something that would, under normal circumstances, be considered egregious ethical journalistic violations.
darinmoriki 