In 2017, I wrote an article covering the attack in Manhattan, where a truck ran down over a dozen people; killing eight of them and injuring several others. I ended this article by talking about how, despite the horrific incident that happened, I was still trying to keep hope that “one day, I can wake up without seeing another horrible disaster that claimed multiple innocent lives in all the headlines.”
It is now April of 2018, just five months after that article was published.
So far, there have been 30 mass shootings already in 2018.
When I questioned, “how could it get any worse?” in that article written five months ago, I couldn’t have imagined that there would be 30 mass shootings in a span of four months. People have their theories for why this keeps happening. Whether it be blaming guns or blaming someone else, everyone blames someone or something for these tragedies; trying to find the underlying reason.
Let me tell you my personal blame: the media.
In communications/journalism classes, we learn to analyze news stories. Spot the mistakes, think of what could’ve been done better, etc. I’ve been doing a lot of analyzing on my own with the increasing amount of news stories concerning mass shootings. While it is important to “seek truth and report it” and report the story at hand so that your readers get a full understanding of the situation, I feel like leaving out some details may solve the problem we’re facing.
For one: the shooter’s name. I understand why people want to know “who done it,” but at the same time, is that not rewarding the shooter? By plastering their name everywhere, you’re giving them fame and recognition, which is probably the reason why they did this in the first place. In the Florida high school shooting, that shooter (not saying his name, obviously) is now in prison receiving fan mail, love letters, and money from people all over. Seriously guys… I don’t think what I’m saying is that far of a reach. This kid literally walked into his school on Valentine’s Day and killed 17 people, but now he’s receiving money and love letters for doing so. Wonder how we could’ve prevented that… maybe by not plastering his name everywhere? Perhaps? Not sure.
Secondly: not sharing insanely graphic, gruesome photos. This point somewhat goes along with the first one in the sense that you’re giving these people recognition for the horrific acts they’ve committed. These photos being posted on popular news sites shared by millions are like trophies for these people. It’s like their form of artwork that they’re showing, saying, “Look what I did!” Using graphic images in stories can help convey the severity of certain issues, however, I’m pretty sure by now we all understand how serious these things are without needing a picture book. I read an article recently where the writer was practically begging for gruesome photos of the teenage victims in the Florida shooting, and people in the comments were doing the same thing. To these people, I say this: there is a difference between wanting others to see these images to get them to understand something, and you wanting to see them because you have your own personal fascination with gruesome material. It’s almost like those Dr. Pimple Popper videos on Instagram; they’re extremely gross, but a lot of people still go back and watch them every day because they secretly find them fascinating.
Maybe I’m just ranting here, but I don’t think the media and news realizes how big of an influence they have on people. Their content is shared by millions every day, on every platform imaginable. So if you include a mass shooter’s name in your article or your headlines, guess what? It’s going to be spread everywhere like a virus. While I know we live in an extremely nosy society where everyone wants to know absolutely everything, by not giving these mass shooters exactly what they want (that being recognition and fame), maybe people will stop trying to follow in their footsteps. You often read these shooters described as lone wolves. By committing this horrible act, they aren’t a lone wolf anymore. Suddenly, everyone knows who they are. Who’s to say there aren’t other “lone wolves” out there reading about the shooter from Florida receiving money/letters now thinking, “Wow… maybe I could do that.” Although I wish I could say I was kidding by that statement, we do live in an extremely impressionable society where children literally eat Tide Pods just because there’s popular memes about them.
In conclusion, blame it on the guns. Blame it on Donald Trump. Blame it on mental illness.
Or, blame it on the thing that captivates every single person in the world. The thing right under our noses, often in the palm of our hands: the media.
(P.S. If you made it this far, thank you for hearing me out.)