I agree. But, the media is driven by what the majority demand to be seen. We choose our media sources based on what they sell and how they give us that information. I don't choose media sources that mention the shooter's name or display videos of him/them. I think more people are falling into that category and some media outlets are following suit.

 

I try to do the same, sometimes, when it comes to TV especially, it's near impossible so I change the channel to something else.

 

What the media doesn't seem to get, or likely doesn't care about is sometimes attention is influence. And when the media goes all in like they do with mass shootings the attention is in overload mode. My main issue with the media on this topic is they don't just report, they sensationalize. I agree with you that we as consumers are part of this problem as well but responsibility should come into play but it doesn't. It seems money or a particular narrative is more important. I'm not asking for censorship really. I'm not asking for them not to report it. I'm asking for responsible reporting because I do believe they play a role in influencing the next shooter sometimes.

I've read that it's been the consensus of many social scientists over the years that highly publicized stories of deviant and dangerous behavior influences copycat incidents.

 

Take a look at the Stephen King novel Rage. It's about a psychologically troubled high school student who brings a gun to school, kills faculty members, and holds his Algebra class hostage.

In April 1988, a California student held his high school humanities class hostage before backing out and telling police he got the idea from "Rage."

In September 1989, a Kentucky 17-year-old held his classmates hostage for 9 hours in an apparent attempt to act out "Rage."

In February 1996, a 14-year-old boy in Washington state who was apparently inspired by "Rage" shot and killed his algebra teacher and two classmates. He delivered a line from the novel "Rage".

In December 1997, a Kentucky 14-year-old fired on a prayer group at his school, killing three, while a copy of "Rage" was in his locker.

 

In each one of these the media hyped the connection of the novel Rage. Not just reported it, but as is all to often done in these scenarios, hyped it. When the Rage pattern became clear, the media naturally wanted to get King’s reaction. King could have defended his right to free speech, he didn't. Instead he apologized for writing the book. In an interview he said, "I took a look at Rage and said to myself, if this book is acting as any sort of accelerant, if it’s having any effect on any of these kids at all, I don’t want anything to do with it". He understood that attention is influence. He asked his publishers to pull Rage from publication and let it fall out of print shortly thereafter. If only the media would be as responsible.

I'm not going to blame the media for what I choose to click on. We determine what the media shows us.

 

And this has always been the case. Blame the American public for its insatiable lust for lurid things.

 

Sorry, the media plays a part in this. They run with it on TV, radio, newspaper, internet. And they don't just run it, they run it into the ground. Practically impossible to escape it. But hey, so long as they get ratings...

 

True. Gotta give the people what they want. I think there was a song about that.

 

From people that don't get it I suppose. They should report it, but we shouldn't hear their name or see their picture and it shouldn't be anywhere near the constant that it is. Whether people want to admit it or not, the media glorifies this stuff in the minds of the next nut that considers doing things like this.

 

This bolded term bothers me in the extreme. As though there are newsrooms where people are champing at the bit for the next one in order to cure a "slow news day." Journalists are people too. I bet the suicide rate for the journalism profession is awfully high in comparison to a lot of other jobs. We see things that can't be unseen, and they stick with us forever.

 

The issue I have with the media in these school shootings is something I read and agree with. They seem to do exactly what is needed to influence the next perpetrator to go on a shooting spree.

1. They name the shooter.

2. They describe his characteristics.

3. They detail the crime.

4. They number the victims.

5. They rank them against other "successful" attackers.

 

No. 1-4 is SOP. Who, what, why, when, where and how. No. 5 is just ridiculous.

 

Can you imagine the conspiracy theories, rumors and misinformation that would come out of these events if we left basic info like that out of the reporting? The American public is too smart, and too thirsty for information. If the media didn’t put it out there, someone else would, and who knows how accurate it would be. The only way to control the information is to release it all. The assumption here is that the stories inspire others to do more shootings. The problem with holding the info back is it makes these shooters more mysterious and just allows others to glorify them in their own way, and thus provide the ONLY story. At least now we can see the evil, and maybe, just maybe see sand recognize predictors of this behavior in the future.

 

There's that word again. But in your case it's more accurate usage.

 

I'm only talking about in the case of these school/mass shootings.

 

If common sense regulation saves only 1 life isn't it worth it?

 

I don't agree with that sentiment but we've certainly heard it used when we talk about limiting another constitutional right.

 

Slippery slope. Our constitution quickly breaks down in this scenario.

 

Now we're getting somewhere. This is why I posted a few things I did in here. Responsibility shouldn't be expected out of only a select group. The finger of blame shouldn't only be pointed at one group. The media is often extremely irresponsible. Yet they get overlooked or what they report and how they report it is taken as gospel truth when in reality it's often skewed to shed light where they want it and with a particular narrative they want it to fit.

I also don't think they care if they play any role in the next shooter going off the deep end and trying to top what they've previously seen splattered all of the 24/7 news machine.

 

You know me, and you should know better than that. When the Bardstown cop got executed on the Parkway 5 years ago, I couldn't wait to get out of town to clear my head after helping out with coverage on that tragedy. I went camping and got as far away from other people as possible to decompress.

Edited June 10, 20188 yr by True blue (and gold)
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