Think before you speak.

One of the aspects of my faith is to Do No Harm. And, a part of Do No Harm is to think before  speaking.

This is something the media should visit and revisit. In the rush to be first we can often get it wrong. In the rush to fill up air time with anything pundits do so much more.

There's a thoughtful piece in the Columbia Journalism Review by Jennifer Vanasco, In marathon explosion coverage, avoid premature accusations.

There are examples in the article of irresponsible speculation from Glenn Beck and others.

 “No American citizen blows up random people,” conveniently forgetting Timothy McVeigh, and regular Fox News guest Erik Rush tweeted, “Let’s kill them,” meaning Muslims."

These comments are hateful and racists. They are deliberately provocative to what end? Americans have perpetrated other mass killings. Think about Sandy Hook, Aurora, Tuscon and Columbine. The perpetrators were all white people. Should we paint white Americans as unstable mass killers?
Obviously not.

I was taught Who, What, Where, When and How. Here's something else to consider.