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What You Can Do Right Now To Help Those Affected By The Capital Gazette Shooting
On Thursday, Maryland's Anne Arundel County Executive Steve Schuh confirmed that at least five people had been killed in a shooting at the Capital Gazette. It's understandable to feel helpless as you read about yet another deadly incident as this, but there are ways you can help the victims in the Capital Gazette shooting.
As information trickled out on Thursday, employees at the publication described the situation in disturbing tweets. Capital Gazette reporter Phil Davis tweeted, "Gunman shot through the glass door to the office and opened fire on multiple employees. Can't say much more and don't want to declare anyone dead, but it's bad."
Davis also tweeted, "There is nothing more terrifying than hearing multiple people get shot while you're under your desk and then hear the gunman reload." An intern for Capital Gazette also tweeted for help.
The outpour of support from the public was instant. Maryland Sen. Ben Cardin tweeted about the shooting, calling it "devastating" and urging people in the area to "please stay inside and stay safe."
Unfortunately, more often than not, there is a ton of confusion and misinformation after such disturbing events. But there are ways you can help those affected by the Capital Gazette shooting — some of them are listed below.
1Do Not Spread Misinformation
As Huffington Post's Paige Lavender says in the tweet above, it's always wise and helpful to wait before you share information. In the first one hour or two of a shooting (sometimes even more), information can be unreliable and inconsistent. You can help stop spreading misinformation by making sure what you share is confirmed by the authorities.
2Check For Blood Donation Requests
If you want to physically help the employees of Capital Gazette, you can check to see if there are blood donation requests from the affected.
3Subscribe To The Publication
Newsrooms like that of Capital Gazette's work hard to get locals accurate, original, and informative reports about their communities. As CNN reported on Thursday, Capital Gazette has a team of a few dozen editors and reporters who diligently work to keep people updated on a variety of issues. By subscribing to their newspaper, you can help Capital Gazette function as a well-read and well-reported publication.
4Help Journalists Pay For Their Medical Fees
Bloomberg's data journalist Madi Alexander created a GoFundMe page for the affected employees of Capital Gazette. Alexander wrote, "Please give what you can to help the Capital Gazette newsroom and their journalists. Our hearts break for our colleagues in Annapolis and we want to do whatever we possibly can to help them pay for medical bills, funeral costs, newsroom repairs, and any other unforeseen expenses that might arise as a result of this terrible shooting."
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Sure, these are only four steps mentioned but their impact is massive. By making sure you are not spreading misinformation about the shooting, its victims, the suspect, and if there was a motive or not, you can help the victims of the Capital Gazette shooting be heard in the country. Hoaxes are common but it's common sense not to spread them.
On the frontier of health, there's a lot you can do. By checking out if there are any blood donation calls from the Anne Arundel Medical Center, you can potentially help a victim gain health after enduring an incredibly intense and disturbing event. Even letting a journalist know that you appreciate his or her work is a great source of comfort and relief to workers in the media industry.
By subscribing to the publication, you can add to its print and digital lifespan. Publications run on audience engagement and without engagement, hardworking newsrooms like Capital Gazette have little to no future.
While there is no way to reverse what happened on Thursday, you can help the survivors of the incident with these little but critical steps.
