“The death of one man is a tragedy; the death of millions is a statistic.”

The quote attributed to Stalin came to mind when I reflected on the deaths of Alison Parker and Adam Ward. People die all the time, but few lose their lives in public spectacles like these two did. 

Parker and Ward were broadcasting live when they were shot and killed by a disgruntled former employee of WDBJ-TV, the television station in Roanoke, VA where Parker and Ward worked. Their deaths were broadcast live on the air at 6:45 in the morning.

Then things took a dark turn, when the shooter posted tweets accusing his victims of racism, followed by videos of his actions to social media. They were online for the world to see for a short time before Twitter and Facebook deactivated his accounts.

I’m a curious person, and instinctively seek out as much information as I can on a breaking news topic like this. I’m the guy refreshing Twitter at an excessive pace, sifting through rumors and trying to find out as much as I can. 

I felt fortunate, then, that during the brief time the shooter’s video was posted on mainstream social media, I was away from my phone. I didn’t have to see two journalists lose their lives through the eyes of their killer. 

As the day continued, more substantive articles were posted, one of which had the video from Ward’s camera of the shooting embedded into the story. I was presented with a choice – to watch, or not to watch.

I’m a journalist, so my default position is to encourage witnessing the events of the day as best as I can. Yet there is something about knowing a piece of video holds the last moments of someone’s life makes me hesitate. I wasn’t sure what value was there in the clip, so I passed it by. I didn’t seek out the shooter’s home footage, either, with a much stronger gut feeling. The shooter posted this video for a reason, and I didn’t want to give into his desire for attention.

When James Foley, an American journalist captured by ISIS in 2012, was decapitated in 2014, I felt a similar internal conflict. Should I watch a video produced by ISIS to show what they are capable of? In the end, I decided I should. I decided that Foley was, in some respects, a martyr. He was someone who lost his life representing American values, and opposition to the reign of terror ISIS is imposing within its sphere of influence. I wanted to bear witness to that, to burn into my memory what is happening on a large scale overseas.

Depending on who you are, and your political views, this act of violence is part of a gun problem, a mental health problem, or a workplace violence problem. It could even be a combination of these issues. 

Still though, it isn’t the sort of organized campaign against freedom or humanity that is being waged in the Middle East. For me, the incident is isolated, the actions of one deranged killer ending the lives of two journalists, before ending his own. I haven’t watched either video, nor do I plan to. We ought to remember Alison Parker and Adam Ward. I’m just unsure that any good comes from bearing direct witness to their final moments.