Mass Media and Mass Shootings

Katie Millard

km053019@ohio.edu

Those under 30 in the United States have had their childhood colored by school shooting media coverage. However, research has proven the manner of reporting on mass shootings can contribute to future tragedies. If complicated figures and issues are reduced to mere stereotypes, they can contribute to copycat killers. 

According to the Dart Center for Journalism and Trauma, reporters should keep four things in mind when covering school shootings. Firstly, they must not offer simple solutions to complicit problems but rather identify the myriad of issues that play a factor in the future. Secondly, journalists are asked to keep in mind that images have far more power than words and thus should be carefully considered. Images glorifying perpetrators can inspire copycats and overshadow the horrors that occurred. Third, journalists are reminded not to never make heroes out of villains. They should be careful to report heavily on any manifestos left behind, too much justification, etc. People like to find a way in the senseless, but making a perpetrator into something special can create a martyr. Finally, journalists are instructed to listen to viewers and readers. What do people want in tragedy? To appropriate respect, those wishes should be considered.  

https://thewildcattimes.wordpress.com/2015/10/16/media-coverage-glorifies-school-shootings/

The photo above shows the Columbine perpetrators, smiling and centered, as the focus of the atrocity, with the victims quite soundly in the background, limited to black and white. Images like this glorify those responsible for atrocities rather than focusing on prevention or remembering the victims. Coverage like this should be avoided to report on school shootings ethically. 

It isn't easy to balance: reporting the facts and creating an ethical narrative. Journalists have a responsibility to seek truth and report it. That would involve informing the public of all of the facts. However, journalists also have a responsibility to minimize harm. In the case of school shootings, this includes victims, victims' families, and the general public. They also must attempt to minimize future harm, especially as there is the chance of encouraging copycats. That requires a delicate balance and becomes even more complicated when narratives emerge on social media. However, all journalists can use their best ethical judgment and attempt to minimize harm and report as truthfully as is appropriate. 

According to an Am J Public Health study, a mass shooting resulting in the death of four or more people occurs in the United States every 12.5 days. With such numbers, media outlets have a responsibility to attempt prevention. That reflects a public problem, and journalism would not be doing its role if it did not report on and work to prevent public problems. Journalists have an ethical responsibility to report thoroughly and considerately on mass shootings.