The following topic is quite difficult to deliver a clear and concise position on. It’s a topic many might find themselves remaining quiet on, confining their thoughts within the safety of their conscious as it plays heavily to our deepest emotions. It’s shrouded in confusion and mystery, filled with uninvited information forcing its way to the forefront of our societies major topics of discussion. We’re left with more questions than answers when tackling this subject, many of which will remain unanswered. What is important is the way in which we respond to these circumstances of which we’re placed in. Unfortunately, we have been unable to come to a clear conclusion as to whether our coverage of these events is beneficial or harmful to the situation overall. Hopefully after reading this, you’ll have a better understanding of the media’s role and be able to decide for yourself whether you support the media’s coverage or believe they need to pull away from events like these.
Before the 2000’s, school shootings averaged to 3 incidents per year. According to the National Center for Health Research, as of 2015 there has been a school shooting every 31 days. What’s even more disturbing is during the 2018 year, there was a school shooting reported nearly every week. This has unfortunately caused us to provide a heavy amount of media attention on the topic, and diverging opinions have developed as to whether the media should be heavily involved in the coverage or have a minimalist approach.
One of the first school shootings to have gained major media coverage was the Columbine Shooting on April 20, 1999. It occurred right after the advent of 24 hour cable news and fell upon a time where the internet was gaining a lot of traffic. As a result, the media coverage was incredibly large. It appeared as though the American people were fascinated with the minds of people who would commit such an act. There was such mass interest that actual footage of the incident itself was released to the public. Many schools began to create safety drills and install different strategies within there school in case a similar situation occurred. Films, books, and even entire websites were created and devoted to this specific event. Decades later, it has been discovered through research that this media attention may have been an inspiring factor in other school shootings as well. ABC news, after researching more than 50 school attacks, found direct connections leading back to the columbine shooting. Research such as this has now caused a movement towards diminishing the amount of publicity we offer those who commit these acts. Created as a response to such heavy media coverage is the “No Notoriety” movement. This movement hopes to create a strategy in reporting these events that prevents any type of infamy falling upon the perpetrator. One strategy they propose is only mentioning the name of the culprit once per story as a ‘reference point.’ This was created in response to what some believe is the intent behind most of these shootings. Research has shown that the perpetrators enjoy the media coverage they receive and even post about their intents on social media before they commit the act. Many shootings are fantasized and choreographed before they occur and are made to resemble the shootings of previous school shooters. This supports the idea that previous media coverage of school shootings has given those reasons to believe they will become famous and recognized after committing such an act. As a journalist reporting on an event like this, I would say it is safe to suggest that it is an extremely hard task to balance. It appears now there is pressure to report these events in a certain way that is supportive of the families affected, informs the public fully, and discourages anyone from committing something similar.
It is murky water when attempting to define the middle ground between too much media attention and not enough especially when reporting an event such as a school shooting, but hopefully we continue to make progress and reduce the chances of these events ever occurring in the first place. Despite the debate on how much media coverage is necessary, we must stay vigilant in preventing these senseless crimes. If the media can assist through their methods of journalism, I can only hope that they achieve this.