Essay On Media Coverage Of Mass Violence

The increase in the media coverage of mass violence, has been found to be one of the reasons mass events increase. More mass shootings happen every day, and the news give attention to the accused shooter. This results in spurts of copycat killers: people who crave attention enough to resort to mass violence. The reason for the increase in media coverage comes from the people's right to know: people need the truth so the reporters do their job. Still, it is the journalists' responsibility to help prevent mass violence where they can. There needs to be a restriction of published information and/or no attention given to the identity of the violent person. Violence can be curbed if the media handles these shootings in a more ethical manner.
Over the years, mass violence has always been present, but not in a condensed way. It is noticeable that that statement is no longer valid for the recent past. Mass violence is increasing, and so is its media coverage. Massacres happen, and for a time period of about 2 weeks, the likelihood of new massacres goes up (Meindl and Ivy 368). After the massacres, more massacres increasingly happen ("Media Coverage..."). A relation has been made between previous mass shootings and present mass shootings. More mass killings happen if there has been another gunman in the near past (Purtill). Conscious of the …show more content…
The gunman then sees his notoriety go up. The shooter sees his own agenda and the number of dead; it gives shooters what they wanted and show they did their job well (Meindl and Ivy 369) That fame that is granted to them in the heavy reports satisfies the wish of the gunmen, the reason why they created mass violence in the first place. Gunmen prefer worldwide media coverage rather than local coverage of their mass violence ("Media Coverage..."). It encourages them to go toward the worst mass violence event in order to get the notoriety they