I've been trying to put my finger on it since caeli's post earlier, but I find it increasingly unsettling how violence is portrayed in American journalism. The first thing I see upon reading this story is the killer's name. Then I get to read about the atrocities he committed, his background, his home life, what he had for breakfast. Hey! A picture! Hmm, he seems kinda Muslim, this is obviously an ISIS thing. And then, "Oh, by the way, some people are injured, including a feeeemale sailor because we just know you already assumed the other victims were white males!" What the fuck. I don't want to read about this. I want to hear about memorials for the victims, community support, calls for law changes, I want to see news about shit actually changing. I am so sick of knowing more about the shooter than ANY of the victims. While I agree it's important to report on what happened, the American public seems to have a really, really unhealthy hangup for the shooters themselves.
The media shouldn't really say anything. They should make it a normal story, give a factual rundown of the events, and show a community response. They shouldn't turn it into a headline and immediately go into 24/7 coverage with "experts" and witnesses. They should report it like any other daily homicide and move on. Mass shootings are too rare to really prove that sensational news coverage causes more people to pick up guns and start mowing people down, but why risk it? A twisted person looking for some quick fame doesn't turn on the TV and see a shooter get punished, they see them get their name in lights. They see a name and face plastered over every channel - their entire life exposed for everyone to see. For a person that wants to "go down in style" or "die to send a message", grabbing a gun and taking a few people out seems the best way to accomplish their goal. A loss in extra money seems worth more than putting innocent lives at stake. Think about the families of the victims. If you had a loved one that was brutally murdered, would you want to see the killer every time you turn on the TV, while you're still trying to grieve? Would you want to live knowing that your best friend or close family member's death really doesn't mean anything, but what the shooter ate for breakfast is considered breaking news? It's the reason that bringing up 9/11 every single year is so brutal - it throws salt in wounds that might have not yet healed. The media is doing nothing more than torturing people who lost a loved one for no other reason than more money. The last thing this country needs is more fear mongering. It doesn't need a "Killer of the Week" to showcase with day and night coverage. It doesn't need another person to "show" how Americans are fighting death every time they go to work. It doesn't need a new threat that's going to kill us all. The only thing that this country needs is news media that isn't trying to scare them. I want to hear about memorials for the victims, community support, calls for law changes, I want to see news about shit actually changing. I am so sick of knowing more about the shooter than ANY of the victims.
I was gonna snarkily post comparing the media reaction to this with the reaction to the South Carolina church shooting but I couldn't find the right balance of sarcasm and indignation. Honestly this isn't national news and the South Carolina shooting isn't either. Bear with me for a second, but when doctors recommended that local papers not report on teen suicides a local teen suicide meme was contained versus when it was news and the phenomena spread after it was widely reported. This affects Chattanooga and that's about it. It doesn't need to be widely reported but being widely reported is exactly what spree killers seek. I suppose I'm asking for responsible journalism in the era of the 24 hour media circus and that's just an unreasonable request.
That's a really good point. As an American ingrained in this culture, it really is true now that I stop and think about it. We have a fascination with killers. We need to know everything about them as if that will somehow help understand why they did what they did. Agreed. This is especially salient to me after the Charleston shooting. There was a good amount of coverage of memorials and community support right after the shooting, but now that it's been a few weeks it's back to being obsessed with Dylan Roof.I want to hear about memorials for the victims, community support, calls for law changes, I want to see news about shit actually changing.
We, as a culture, need our villains. People to hate. We facinate ourselves with them and the narrative is everywhere. Movies and books, politics and current events, sports, history books, on and on. Conflict fuels us, drives us. When we feel a lack of it, we go out and seek it. When we can't find it, we create it. It's a disease and you're seeing a symptom. It's important to learn to filter out the noise