Does the media coverage of shootings encourage more??

[stevenaa]

I have to wonder if all of the coverage given to these shootings isn't part of the problem. These people want to make a statement. The venue is provided by saturated media coverage. Part of their thought process has to be a fantasy about the coverage they'll receive. This seems to be evidenced by Cho sending the DVD and letter to NBC. I realize we can't just tune it out completely, but it seems more restrained coverage might be better. Thoughts?

[Baculus]

Of course it does: Monkey see...That is not to see that a crazed individual wouldn't violently act out in some fashipn, but the media most certainly does encourage some folks who are inspired by what they see on T.V. It just simply human nature: If we are inspired by football games, then a nut will be inspired by whatever inspires a crazy person.

[Spaceman Spiff]

Absolutely does.

They'd never admit it, though.

[Painkiller]

In a word

YES

[Loxley]

Absolutely does.

They'd never admit it, though.

It also makes money and when you live in a Capitalist society what else can be expected.

[Enter Apotheosis]

Fox News has been saying this... about other networks' coverage... as they continue to cover the shooting relentlessly...

[China]

Psychiatrist: Showing Video Is 'Social Catastrophe'

Mental Health Expert Says Shooter Was Trying to Attempt Immortality; Showing Clips Validates His Delusions

April 19, 2007 — The videos of Seung-hui Cho, the man who fatally shot 32 people at Virginia Tech on Monday and then killed himself, shouldn't have been released because they don't offer the public any greater understanding of the gruesome crime, said Michael Welner, a forensic psychiatrist and ABC News consultant, on "Good Morning America" today.

"If anybody cares about the victims in Blacksburg and if anybody cares about their children, stop showing this video now. Take it off the Internet. Let it be relegated to YouTube," Welner said. "This is a social catastrophe. Showing the video is a social catastrophe."

Click on the link for the full article

From the article:

Welner also said that he believed showing the video just gave fodder to people who were already isolated and disaffected.

[OrangeSkin]

Yes, therefore the media should not have covered the Virginia Tech shootings, nor any other massacre.

[Burgold]

Yes, but in the same ways that movies desensitize us to violence and Arnold, Chuck, and Bruce Lee encourage vioilence. It also encourages violence in the same way that video games encourage violence. The locus of control is still on the individual. Blaming media is an easy and fun thing to do, but ask yourself simultaneously if you would rather live in the dark or live in a very tightly controlled media culture like the old Soviet Union.

How many Colombines happened right after Colombine? There was intence media coverage and saturation of that as well. 90% of the fault lies within the individual. The rest is a scattering between failings of family and institutions including media. Although, in the specific case of the VT shooter, I do blame Insurance Companies and the Psychiatric Institution who decided he was fit for outpatient services a bit more.

[DjTj]

Fox News has been saying this... about other networks' coverage... as they continue to cover the shooting relentlessly...

That's the worst - media coverage about the media coverage ... all it does is encourage more media coverage ...

In any case, I think we have a choice as to what we want to happen ... media coverage may inspire more psychos to commit crimes, but it should also inspire the rest of us non-psychos to be more vigilant in preventing the next tragedy. Seeing as how the non-psychos outnumber the psychos, the overall effect should be positive if we just make an effort.

[Predicto]

Yes, but again as Zguy said, that is part of the price of living in a free society.

[Bounce]

Mental Health Expert Says Shooter Was Trying to Attempt Immortality; Showing Clips Validates His Delusions

One of my least favorite arguments of all time - "If he wanted it, we shouldn't let it happen!"

I bet the gunman wanted a whole bunch of things. Desire's a pretty common emotion. Saying that we as a people should collectively ignore our enormous impulse to try to understand more about someone who would blast the brains out of more than thirty people because it's "what he wanted" is ludicrous.

[Jaded-Dragon]

To put it bluntly, yes it does. Most mass murders of this nature seem to be loners who want attention. They know by commiting these acts that they will get the attention they so crave.

[twa]

Yes it does.

The media can and should cover the tragedy,but it should in no way become a platform for the killer...which is what airing the sick ****s video is doing.

By showing this they empower and distribute his message.