Mass shootings 'have become a circuit of sorts,' Washington Post says; local editor-publisher decries 'media circus'

News-media trucks dwarf the memorial at Robb Elementary School. (Photo by Sarah Voisin, The Washington Post)

Karin Brulliard of The Washington Post writes from Uvalde, Texas: "The cowboy drove 1,213 miles from his Ohio farm and erected a blue tent and sign asking, 'NEED TALK?' on an empty corner lot. The Dallas artist painted a mural on tall canvas set up across the street from Robb Elementary School. The parents of a mass shooting victim flew down from Buffalo, advising new members of the terrible brotherhood created by yet another rampage. As this small town grieves for 19 children and two teachers slain at school by a gunman, it has also swelled, becoming a pilgrimage site for mourners, relief workers, therapists, proselytizers and voyeurs. . . .

"There are hordes of media, of course, with tents and cameras and vans and bright lights. But other outsiders came, too. Police vehicles from other Texas towns — Cactus City, Irving, Amarillo — cruise the streets, filling in for a local force facing intense scrutiny over its delayed response to the shooting. Whataburger employees from other store locations arrive each day so the Uvalde outlet’s staff can take time off. The Billy Graham Rapid Response bus, the American Red Cross, Christian bikers, San Antonio mariachi musicians and Florida therapy dogs have pitched up at makeshift memorials. The scene highlights an unusually American reality. Mass shootings happen so often here that their locations have become a circuit of sorts, the kind of place where regulars see familiar faces, and lament over the latest tragedy."

Mayor Don McLaughlin told Brulliard that news media have been intrusive and frustrating “to no end,” but counselors and spiritual leaders are a “blessing” because “Not only will these families need help … you’ve got as many citizens that are traumatized by this.”

Uvalde Leader-News Editor and Publisher Craig Garnett's latest column is about the "media circus" and how the twice-weekly paper is handling it. His conclusion begins with Pete Luna, his general manager and photographer, whose "heart-pounding images of children being rescued from Robb school have flown around the world. But he wants no part of being painted with the same brush as the global media." He quotes Luna: “When I carry my camera, I now try to hide it. I don’t want people to think that I am one of them.”

After Friday, he made sure to wear a shirt with Uvalde Leader-News stitched across the pocket," Garnett writes. "The circus has, for the most part, struck its big tent and departed. And despite what Anderson Cooper of CNN said about no one being left to inform the town after the funerals ended and CNN’s cameras were gone, we will be here. We are here for the long haul, standing with Uvaldeans to help with healing for the victims and this little town that we all love." In an editorial, Garnett writes that the delay in response to the shooting "surely will become Uvalde's darkest hour."