Fiona Greaney ‘29,
Chief Opinions Editor
On September 10, 2025, conservative activist and Turning Point USA CEO Charlie Kirk was assassinated in Orem, Utah during a talk at a college campus. Thousands of eyes were on him, soon to become millions when the moment was repeatedly shared on social media, sometimes haphazardly hidden behind a “disturbing content” wall that could be easily ignored. Media outlets like CNN, Fox News, and MSNBC immediately came to the scene to report the shooting.
Also on September 10, 2025, 472 miles away, in Evergreen Colorado, another school shooting took place. After confronting students and deputies, seriously injuring two, the shooter committed suicide by gunshot. But the stories of these victims never dominated a national news cycle. The story only gained brief national attention when the Anti-Defamation League revealed that the shooter had extremist beliefs. However after this brief bout of spectacle, only outlets like CBS Colorado and the Colorado Sun reported on the tragedy long-term.
Spectacle. Why do we search for spectacle in tragedy? Why is a school shooting only worth covering when a big name is attached to it?
When Kirk was shot at Utah Valley University, three major cable news networks covered it and virtually nothing else. Fox News, MSNBC, and CNN combined averaged 6.89 million primetime viewers that night, a 65 percent surge from the week before. The following night, it jumped up 72 percent from the prior week’s audience. It was the start of every evening newscast, and CBS interrupted regular programming multiple times to deliver special reports on the shooting.
In the case of Evergreen there are no comparable TV ratings. Nielsen data was combed through to get statistics on Charlie Kirk’s death. Evergreen’s data does not exist because it was not considered something worth measuring.
A political assassination of a high-profile figure with millions of followers on social media and a direct line to the White House will always out-compete a shooting involving teenagers whose names most Americans still don’t know. Shock value and political stakes are what drive the media. This is not surprising, but that does not make it defensible. The same industry that helped to give a platform to Sandy Hook, Columbine, and yes, the shooting at Utah Valley demoted Evergreen to regional news with a national byline.
It would be easy to lay all the blame on major news networks, but that wouldn’t be the full picture. By the time Fox, CNN, and MSNBC started reporting, the footage of Kirk’s shooting had already been shared online. Millions of people didn’t learn about his death from a news anchor. They learned about it from a meme, a repost, or a stitched TikTok of a stranger’s commentary over a man dying. Shock is spectacle, and spectacle performs, especially on platforms built to feed you more of whatever keeps you the most engaged.
There were two school shootings that day. The victim of one headed one of the largest conservative media operations, and the victims of Evergreen did not. When the amount of existing media footprint scales to what is covered, it amplifies those who already had a voice. Turning Point USA, Kirk’s non-profit whose mission is to “empower generations of patriots to stand for freedom, defend liberty, and win the American culture war” has seen unparalleled levels of growth on college campuses. Even Holy Cross began a chapter in the wake of the assassination. Any news outlet or individual who contributed to the sharing of Kirk’s assassination also contributed to his platform, whether intentionally or not.
None of this should be read as an argument to stop caring about Charlie Kirk’s assassination, whatever your opinions on it are. The coverage of Kirk’s death was legitimate and warranted. Instead I invite you to ask about what is left out. For college students especially, our media diet now will shape how we live the rest of our adult lives. To be informed, active citizens, we must be critical about what we consume. We must always be searching for the stories we miss.
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