Situation Definition
A major ethical diversity issue confronts journalism and news media every time a shooting occurs. Journalists must report on the known facts while also remaining conscious of the victims and their privacy. Many media outlets come under fire for re-victimization due to the 24-hour news cycle replaying coverage of the shooter and their course of violence. They, also, blame this coverage for copy cat attacks or future outbursts of violence that take on similar characteristics.
The ethical concerns that arise from these situations that name the shooter are re-victimization and idolization. Journalists take on a greater role when covering these types of tragedies and their work has a greater impact. To avoid negative outcomes from their reporting, journalists must put themselves into the shoes of the individuals affected as well as those who might be greatly influenced by the news coverage. It is a hard balancing trying to identify the different audiences you might be reaching, but it is important to try as hard as you can to find that balance, otherwise, the journalists and media outlets could receive backlash for their work.
Analysis
New York Daily News faced immense criticism following the tragic shooting of a reporter and a cameraman on live television in Virginia. In their coverage of the incident, the publication decided to publish images taken by the perpetrator of the crime. The man had recorded the shooting from his own recording device and it was uploaded to the internet. The Daily News decided to use images from that recording for their story which featured the event. People were upset because of the graphic images, portraying the brutal murder of two completely innocent people. Although news media has an obligation to report the truth and provide the facts, what the Daily News did was considered extremely insensitive to the situation, victims, families, and to their readership. One editor from the Dallas Morning News publicly shamed the decision saying, “Showing the victim from the killer’s perspective at the moment of her death is beyond the pale of exploitation. It is death porn,” (Dahmen, 166).
Media outlets have influence everywhere and can get a story to the viewer in seconds, including those that may be involved. Victims and those affected by shooting tragedies do not want to be bombarded with the repetition of details in the immediate aftermath and the weeks and months following. What the Daily News did was traumatize those who were personally involved. They did not consider, also, that this did happen live, so people who may have been watching the event unfold may be re-victimized by these images, too.
Photojournalism plays a huge role in re-victimization. Sometimes, the victims attackers where visible or known to them and seeing their images plastered all over the media triggers the events to replay in their minds. In Visually Reporting Mass Shootings: U.S. Newspaper Photographic Coverage of Three Mass School Shootings, a study on the usage of images were concluded to have shown, “… empirical evidence that on a photos-per-individual basis, the coverage gave more attention to perpetrators than to individual deceased victims by a ratio of 16 to 1.” (Dahmen, 163). These numbers make it more likely that victims will see these images more than once, and in more than one place. By highlighting the person or people, it takes the attention from those who were innocently victimized and focuses on the continual coverage of evil. It does not allow the victims a moment or place were they can escape the details or the horror of what they entailed.
The 24-hour media coverage and photojournalism can also lead to incitement of violent acts. Idolization has become an increasing trend since Columbine. Disturbed and/or violent people have used these shootings publicized in the media as their motivation for their own attack. Others are motivated by fame. The 24-hour cycle allows for more name recognition and attention, which has been a noted cause and effect for those who commit these attacks. Again, the issue of providing the details and informing the public comes about, and how the identity of the shooter may be revealed without being glamorized in an unintentional way.
“It seems likely that the more the media focuses on the perpetrators rather than the victims, the more people who are at risk of violence will be influenced to commit their own attacks, whether due to imitation, inspiration, idolizing, perceived similarities, sympathy with the cause, or their desire for fame,” (Langman, 226).
Many of the people who are influenced to do a copycat attack see their inspiration through news coverage of recent or prior events. School shooters, for example, have commonly admired the two high school students from Columbine and made note of that admiration in person journals or on online forums. Those who may have been bullied or feel like an outsider relate to those feelings of those two students. Some people are so fame-hungry and want their names to remain relevant, even if that means a violent attack.
The man who shot the reporter and cameraman in Virginia was inspired by the school shooter from Virginia Tech. He admired that the Virginia Tech shooter doubled the amount of people killed compared to Columbine (Langman, 225). This perpetrator was not the only one inspired by the Virginia Tech shooter, and will not be the last. Peter Langman concludes in Different Types of Role Model Influence and Fame Seeking Among Mass Killers and Copycat Offenders, that most of these horrific events are inspired by the last, or the most gruesome, attackers because of personal reasons or conflicts (Langman, 225).
Television coverage of the aftermath of an event typically can, “provide the notoriety mass killers crave and can even be a jolt of inspiration for the next shooter” (Follman, 2015) (Dahmen, 166). Images of the attacker, witness reactions, personal anecdotes of the person’s life before committing the act, and other ways the news decides to cover the perpetrator all contribute to other disturbed people finding a “savior” or relating to the feelings that are being told existed connected to the perpetrator. The coverage is expected because it is the same thing every time one of these attacks occur. Diversify the news coverage, however, can allow all viewers some relief. Taking time away from the negatives and focusing on good, heartwarming angles or just anything else but the gruesome can allow people to escape the violence for a brief moment.
Conclusion
Re-victimization and idolization are almost expected outcomes of a mass shooting. The media has a duty to cover the news, however, they are also a business who need to make money. What gains viewers is the presentation of the facts and the information on the who, what, where, why, when, and how’s. It is difficult to know, sometimes, what kind of coverage could be misinterpreted or scarring. However, continual conversation of gruesome details and a focus on just the perpetrator could make the tragedy inescapable for the victims.
Idolization should also be a major concern of news organization. They have national pull that does reach everyone, even those who have the same violent tendencies, emotional issues, or are seeking fame. Weighing in the benefits and possible problems should be the first discussion in these situations. Does news media want to make the perpetrator the focal point? What benefit does it really bring to the public to constantly hear about this person? What might be better inspiration is the constant coverage of the triumphant survivors overcoming their new obstacles.
Mass shootings are common in our society, a sad fact that does not seem to be going away. Media, one of our country’s biggest sources of influence, can play a role in minimizing some harm that can come in the aftermath by diversify how they present their information. By respecting the fragile state of victims and families, through filtering their 24-hour coverage and insight on the attacker(s), they will receive less criticism and will not be seen as heartless in times of national distress. People will trust the media more to report on the facts but to respect the situation. This would include less repetition of gruesome details and facts and limiting the photos included, especially those of perpetrator. News media will also retain respect if they limit the kind of coverage they typically adopt if the reasons are to avoid idolization of these perpetrators. The less attention they receive, the less appealing or relatable they will seem to potential copy-cats.
References
Dahmen, N. S. (2018). Visually Reporting Mass Shootings: U.S. Newspaper Photographic Coverage of Three Mass School Shootings. American Behavioral Scientist, 62(2), 163–180. https://doi.org/10.1177/0002764218756921
Langman, P. (2018). Different Types of Role Model Influence and Fame Seeking Among Mass Killers and Copycat Offenders. American Behavioral Scientist, 62(2), 210–228. https://doi.org/10.1177/0002764217739663