Jaclyn Schildkraut Feature

Q: Why should news media carefully consider whether to focus a great deal of attention on the gunmen in school shootings, as opposed to the victims and heroes? What is the evidence to support your view?

A: The media face a very difficult task in balancing their coverage following a mass shooting. One main area of consideration is how to offset the public’s right to know (and demand for information) with the victims’ (including family members and other survivors) right to privacy and time to grieve in the wake of a tragedy. In a trend that began after the 2012 shooting at the Century 21 movie theater in Aurora, Colorado, at the urging of the state’s governor, there has been a considerable push from politicians, the public, and even sectors of the news media to report on the victims, rather than the perpetrators, or, at the very least, not to say the name of the offender.

There are several reasons why refocusing this attention to the victims of the tragedy can be beneficial: First, by highlighting the offender instead, it sensationalizes the event and focuses on the negative aspect, rather than highlighting the positives – that is, the contributions that the individuals who were lost have made while they were alive. People still are sad for those who were lost, but it does not have the same sensationalized nature that emphasizing the shooters does. Additionally, while no one will ever truly know “why” these individuals committed such unspeakable acts, the continual media coverage and repetitive focus on the offender gives them a sense of notoriety that they would not have had otherwise. It also has been speculated (though not confirmed by research) that the highlighting of the shooters can lead to copycat events.