Why does the media publicize the shooter?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I understand it's the media's job to report on current events. But when the media gives so much coverage to the shooter, showing pictures etc., doesn't that provide motivation for other people to copycat? If they see how much "publicity" these criminals get, won't some deranged people commit similar acts in pursuit of the same "publicity"?

I for one wish I didn't know about any of these people who have committed such terrible acts. But the fact that we as a collective society recognize names like Dylan Klebold, Eric Harris and Adam Lanza the same way we recognize names of athletes or actors is pretty sickening to me.

Am I naive to think that incessant media coverage of these monsters provides even an inkling of motivation for others to commit heinous crimes?

Did you take journalism classes in school?

Journalists cover "who, what, where, when, why and how."

Notice the first: Who. Of course we want to know about who would be driven to do this and why. It's not glorifying them.

Well, yes, they need to cover "who". But the images are constant. It's not like when you had to wait until the morning to read the newspaper and there may have been one picture of the person. So now that we get our news 24/7 and from so many different sources, does the media have a responsibility to report the facts in a way that isn't sensationalistic i.e. showing multiple photos from the killer's own social media account?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Totally agree. They should just say ... "another loser who hates the US and hates gays, women, blacks, etc. has killed a lot of innocent people. And, then they should focus on the victims.

+1. Even though it inspires copycats, people are always going to look to the media for info on the killers. These killers and copycats are almost always males who've failed at life (at least in their eyes) and want to feel powerful and masculine. That's why I think, if we can't get gun control, we should at least portray these fuckers in the media as the losers they are. For example, those captured alive should be issued prison clothes like what babies wear. Let the front page of every newspaper show the killer in court in a tight pink onesie and see how many copycats that inspires.

Why don't we do this? It's entirely legal and constitutional. We need to remove the power that these men feel they gain by their exploits.

If we said every mass murdering shitbag was gonna get their tiny shriveled penis displayed on 4Chan when they're dead, we'd stop more killings than billions of government Homeland dollars ever did.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I agree, OP.
And, apparently so does Director Comey (FBI).
He began his statement a few minutes ago by stating he would not use the name of this murderer. He doesn’t want to give them fame.

I think Director Comey is wonderful. I wish he would run for president.

I wish Director Comey would do a better job running the FBI and stop these bastards.

[Anonymous]

It could.

However many people want to make sense out of a senseless situation and to do that, they want to know as much information as possible about the deranged perpetrator who committed the heinous crime.

If this encourages other people to commit similar-type crimes, then keep in mind.

There is a difference between fame AND notoriety.

The shooters involved do not fit in the same categories as famous celebrities.

They will be remembered with the likes of monsters like Adolf Hitler.