Vicarious Grieving and the Media

This article addresses the question, “How has media growth and influence impacted the way we grieve in the United States?” The media has grown dramatically in recent years in variety, speed and intensity of information. Thus, the media’s coverage of both real and fictional death and trauma has increased the incidence of vicarious grieving and vicarious traumatization by the viewing public. Accessing the human innate capacity to empathize, the media invites us to share in the sorrow of others and to bind together in times of collective tragedy. At the same time, the intensity and scope of the public’s exposure to unnatural death might be creating a generation that is actually less sensitive to the needs of others.