Whatever else, we know: attention on the killer on his terms helps inspire the next one. Or focus on methods. Don't. https://www.nytimes.com/2015/08/27/opinion/the-virginia-shooter-wanted-fame-lets-not-give-it-to-him.html …pic.twitter.com/u9wYXqQBNS
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Is there true news value to detailed profile of one more shooter beyond the two sentence summary? From step-by-step playback of mass murder?
Yes there is clear harm: every detailed profile, every story focusing on how exactly it unfolded in deep detail: seeds of ideation for next.
Yep. The excessive "worst ever" coverage is a negative feedback loop: setting the number target for the next one.https://twitter.com/suldrew/status/914910921532751874 …
Journos go to Vegas, reporting from the killer's vantage point, tracing the steps. How is that informing us more?https://twitter.com/MHLefaucheux/status/914991207444598784 …
Tried to avoid the worst, yet I saw the same panic footage so many times. Killer's face everywhere. So discouraging.https://twitter.com/zeynep/status/914821278833545216 …
Yep. I don't think that's of public interest but acts as how-to manuals & inspiration for the next deranged person.https://twitter.com/Pinboard/status/915086843061948416 …
No shortage of very important stuff to be reported on or of human interest stories. Killer + technical method obsession fuels this cycle.
That's a sentence! CDC has guidelines on avoiding method details on suicide exactly for this reason: inspires more.https://twitter.com/mgerrydoyle/status/915176787344113664 …
"Attack was particularly deadly as the murderer had stockpile of weapons incl. automatics". Done. Don't pub long weapon/method porn/how-to.
One thing to be known by sane, well-read people, different if part of sensational shooting coverage. We know this.https://twitter.com/supersetgreg/status/915178580455284737 …
Yes. Mass shootings are similar to suicides in contagion effects. WE KNOW HOW TO REPORT TO DAMPEN EFFECT.https://twitter.com/Annabelle4SC/status/915179416598302721 …
Yes for suicides. Unfortunately, CDC politically banned from studying gun violence. See: https://www.cdc.gov/mmwr/preview/mmwrhtml/00031539.htm …https://twitter.com/bellisaurius/status/915186014574039040 …
Actually, I study how censorship works, and many people studied this for suicide and mass shootings. Big difference.https://twitter.com/rhysblakely/status/915193034568060928 …
Details available to folks who meticulously search every corner of the internet just isn't same effect as ON LOOP ON CNN FRONT PAGE OF NYT.
As proof, simply look at recent rise of using cars as weapons. Painfully and openly obvious for decades, only took off recently. Contagion.
It's like suicides; not that the info isn't available to the determined. But media attention on high-profile suicides causes spike. Same.
Of course not! There's an enormous amount of very important stuff to report on that can be done while being mindful. https://twitter.com/dlepeska/status/915195882454339585 …
Here: Don't splash killer's face everywhere. His individual story is an illusion of knowledge, summarize. Don't put panic shots on loop.1/2
Don't publish method/weapon porn (detailed maps, many weapon pictures, excessive technical method). Report on victims, structural factors.//
I can assure big media that there's no shortage of crucial stuff they can report on without helping inspire copycats—what they're doing now.
Individual "profiles" are useless. Troubled people with guns. Too many false positives, no predictive capability. https://twitter.com/dlepeska/status/915198363691339776 …
I make no call to censor actual news. Don't give the killer attention on their terms, don't loop snuff films, etc.https://twitter.com/zeynep/status/914819173112532993 …
Focus on victims; gun control; that the CDC is banned from studying guns; structural factors that produce these regularly. So much material!
For ex: CNN autoplays video with sound of automatic fire. One, you're autoplaying a snuff film. Two, that's exactly what inspires copycats.
This particular type of mass murderer is killing *for* the infamy. That's the goal. Why does media comply so meekly?https://twitter.com/briandonohue/status/915212499213062147 …
CDC also not shy about the difference between technical reports and loop on CNN and front-page splash on NYT. Also+https://twitter.com/berthyman/status/915219566715908096 …
+recommentation isn't "hide method." It's "don't go into excessive details that plant seeds of ideation with step-by-step detailed tracing."
.@people mag does appropriate coverage of Las Vegas—profiling victim after victim—while "serious" media focues on "how-to" for next killer.
Gunfire on loop on CNN—snuff film made exactly to be on loop on CNN—detailed tracing of mass murder—it's not the info public needs—on NYT.
Extended profiles of the killer ("who knew?") or play-by-play of mass murder don't help our understanding. Helps inspire copycats, though.pic.twitter.com/5p8JNC881I
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