Mass Shooting essay in the Wall Street Journal

[CWulf]

There was an interesting article in the WSJ on Friday about what mass killers want and how to stop them. Some of the points made were that these people don't just snap, they build up to their act of violence over time and plan it out meticulously. They are looking to make a statement and they know that the media will give them the forum that they want and basically make them famous. The author also says that these acts of violence occur in clusters. So what happens as other people that are inclined to be mass killers are inspired by the coverage that the previous killers got. So how do you stop it? Don't give them the coverage they crave, don't make them famous. The author gave an example of how there was a rash of suicides in the Vienna metro stations in the 1980's. From the essay:

"In 1984, a rash of suicides broke out on the subway system in Vienna. As the death toll climbed, a group of researchers at the Austrian Association for Suicide Prevention theorized that sensational reporting was inadvertently glorifying the suicides. Three years into the epidemic, the researchers persuaded local media to change their coverage by minimizing details and photos, avoiding romantic language and simplistic explanations of motives, moving the stories from the front page and keeping the word "suicide" out of the headlines. Subway suicides promptly dropped by 75%."

It would be great if our media here in the US would be willing to do that... but they would probably scream about their constitutional right to plaster the front page with the carnage of the day.

Anyway, here is the link to the essay. Sadly you may not be able to access for more than a couple of days if you don't have a subscription
http://online.wsj.com/news/article_...4579181702252120052-lMyQjAxMTAzMDEwMTExNDEyWj

 

[Len-2A Training]

It's all very true . . . including that today's LSM would never voluntarily NOT give those a-holes their 15 weeks of fame.

I accused Prof. Jack Levin of aiding and abetting these mass murderers (he studies them and reports on them) by going on various shows and glorifying them and their exploits.

Lt. Col. Dave Grossman, when discussing these crimes explained that he never mentions the perps names for exactly this reason. He's spot on!

 

[Smokewagon]

Nicely written, well thought out article. It would be nice if the media her ein the US followed this advice, but they can sell more papers, and get more advertising revenue by sensationalizing. The almighty $ is more important to them.

 

[chiefsaj]

I saw an interview on the news the other morning with one of the local universities (think it was Northeastern) professors. He said statistically, there hasn't been an increase in this incidents. It's just that we are all much more aware of them via social media etc.

I'll try to find the link.

 

[CWulf]

The author does mention that the wide availability of firearms and high capacity magazines contributes to the lethality of the incidents but he does not seem to be promoting gun control as the solution. I am guessing that for this reason his essay won't get wider distribution.

 

[Wadcutter]

For years the media has agreed to not publish the names of rape victims and juvenile criminals. It would seem to be basic responsible journalism to not publish the names of attention-whore murderers.

Of course they will not do that even if it would save lives because mass shootings, will all the gory details, serve to advance their political agenda.