Video Comparison: Visual Features Of “Real” Shooting vs. Parker/Ward Shooting Footage (VIDEO)

YouTube video presents “real bullet shots and fake shots in Virginia WDBJ TV News Live Broadcast Shooting.”

The video below shows footage of shooting an actual handgun, complete with recoil/muzzle flip, spent casings exiting the weapon, and bullet impact versus the footage of the August 26 reported shooting of broadcast journalists Alison Parker and Adam Ward which suggests the potential use of blanks or the equivalent during the event.

Such comparisons deserve the utmost scrutiny. Yet so too does the overall Western corporate news coverage (or exhibition?) of such tragic events. This is particularly the case in the wake of such sensationalized events as Tucson, Aurora, Newtown, Charleston, Chattanooga, and many others in between.

Professor James F. Tracy is an Associate Professor of Media Studies at Florida Atlantic University. James Tracy’s work on media history, politics and culture has appeared in a wide variety of academic journals, edited volumes, and alternative news and opinion outlets. James is editor of Union for Democratic Communication’s Journal Democratic Communiqué and a contributor to Project Censored’s forthcoming publication Censored 2013: The Top Censored Stories and Media Analysis of 2011-2012. Additional writings and information are accessible at memoryholeblog.com.