When the media chooses to report on mass killings, they need to report it in the most dull and boring way possible. Starting off the segment on nightly news with sirens blaring, crying students running for their lives, and family members clutching each other tightly makes the story too dramatic and sensational. When the media plasters the name and face of the killer all over the news, the killer is being treated like a superstar. Think back to some of the most gruesome mass killings in the past few years. Sandy Hook Elementary School, Aurora movie theatre, and the Charleston church. Can you remember the names of any of the victims? How about the killers? That's an easy one. Adam Lanza, James Holmes, and Dylann Roof. These names are memorable because the media chose to put their names everywhere. If the news agencies were smart, they would have listened to experts in the field of criminology who constantly tell them not to make these situations big stories. When you treat a ruthless killer like a superstar, you're giving them what they wanted. You're inspiring copycat killers to commit the same atrocities so they can get their wish of being known forever. By making the story brief and not as engaging, you strip the killers of their wishes. People will always want to be informed, but there is a right and wrong way of delivering the information. There will always be killings because you can't secure everything. Shopping malls, schools, colleges, hospitals, hotels, sports events, concerts, you name it. They are targets and nothing will change that, but we can slow down the severity of these crimes if we don't sensationalize them like we have been for years.
Rant over. I think this is the longest post I've ever made on GTP. I expect to be quoted, rebutted, and picked apart by many of you. I ask you to please be respectful in your criticism, and allow me adequate time to make a response to your posts.
