Stop Making Killers Famous
By John Crump. July 8, 2022
When a mass murder happens with the use of firearms, the media is quick to blame the gun and call for its ban. Mainstream media forgets is one of the driving factors in almost every mass killing is that murderers want notoriety for their heinous act of violence, and that is precisely what the media gives them.
The moment the killer is identified, their name and picture are on the cover of every paper and magazine in the country. The media digs into their background, highlighting their twisted ideas, and publishes parts of their manifesto. It gives them exactly what the killers want.
This idea isn't just my theory. Academics have done multiple peer-reviewed studies into if the media coverage of mass shootings (murders) creates copycats. All studies I have found show that naming the killer and showing their picture does inspire others to murder.
According to a study by Jason Silva of William Paterson University and Emily Greene-Colozzi of City University of New York, "[F]ame-seeking shooters (murderers) were more likely to receive media coverage than their counterparts, thereby reinforcing their initial motivations."
The Silva Greene-Colozzi study looked at mass shootings (murders) from 1966 to 2018. When Columbine happened, the media started posting the killers' faces and names everywhere. Other mentally disturbed people latched on to the idea if they wanted their name to go down in history, they needed to carry out similar attacks. It is like a virus; the carrier is the mainstream media highlighting these killers' evil deeds. .....