On April 20th 1999 the country was rocked by a mass shooting that occured in Colorado. The Columbine mass shooting is the most infamous mass shooting in US history.  After this attack, mass shootings have been on the rise across the country seemingly without an end. With the shootings at Uvalde and the Buffalo supermarket it seems these types of mass killings are still happening today. Many today wonder why the Columbine shooting seemed to kick off the rise of mass shootings across the country. The FBI has since launched an investigation into the possible connection between shootings and media coverage. 

 

Violent events are often covered by news channels in great detail and spread immediately through mass media. The FBI has discovered that this glorification of the shooters can lead to “copycat crimes.” The FBI believes that this coverage can inspire others to copy these actions and commit similar shootings. Those who commit the shootings are given massive media attention and coverage. Their names, motives, tactics, arsinals, and backstories are all covered in great detail.  The American Psychological Association has determined that this “fame” is what most shooters desire most. The FBI says that after a shooting happens there is a 33% increase in the chance of a similar shooting to occur somewhere else.

 

The real tension point is between what kind of information should be covered and what kind of information best informs the community affected. Many in the country wonder why the media does such and overlay detailed information on mass shootings. Family members of the shootings say, “Don’t talk about the shooter,” and some news stations are trying to honor that. However, the problem with trying to meida is that censorship of a topic like this goes against the news organization’s 1st amendment rights. The APA has concluded that news organizations use shootings as ways to get media attention and profit. 

 

https://www.center4research.org/copy-cats-kill/ 

https://www.colorado.edu/today/2022/05/31/after-mass-shooting-examining-role-media-coverage 

https://slate.com/news-and-politics/2004/04/at-last-we-know-why-the-columbine-killers-did-it.html 

https://www.apa.org/news/press/releases/2016/08/media-contagion 

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  • Great topic choice! Your summary is good but be sure to include your thoughtsa and opinions as well. The issue is you didn't reply to any student comments which is worth 30 points.

  • I would have ot agree that the media is a huge part of all the mass shootings across the world, in schools and on the street. If people would stop talking about mass shooting on the media then the shooting might decrease. Stop saying ramdom things on the media that could come back and hurt you!!

  • I believe that the media does play a big effect on mass shootings. However, I don't know how they would fix this. People need to know about these shootings so they can't just keep it private. 

  • I think that media coverage could be influencing the way potential shooters cary out their attacks because of the "fame" that it brings them. But on the other hand it could entirely be the person watching the story/news. There are a lot of mentally sick people out there and they do some pretty crazy/wrong things, like mass shooting/murder. My conclusion is that there should be more laws/protocal to make sure potential shooters can't get their hands on some of todays weapons, and more outreach to people for improving mental health. 

  • I think that is not the media fault. I think it's the person who watches it. Because not everyone who watches is going to do it. I think it's on the persons metal health and how they view it.

  • I personally think that media coverage of mass shootings do have a affect on more mass shootings, because what if someone saw one and was like hey that's a good idea or somting like that. but I also think that it can also be a good think to cover just incase antoher one happens.

  • I thnk that the coverage of mass shooting might be a reason why there is a rise in mass shootings nowadays. I think that some people are angry, and they want their anger to be shown, while also becoming popular all over a state or nation, they saw someone do a mass shoot-out and they wanted to become an "idol" just like their own. I think that while the news and media should not go into deep specifics, people also want to know all about what happened. 

  • I think that the coverage of mass shootings could have some inspiration for other mass shootings that happen later on. I think that some people just want to be famous or have a lot of people know about them. Some people also want to be apart of world or country history.

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