Prevention and lifesaving guidelines — for the media
Are you glued to the TV listening to the details of back-to-back mass shootings in El Paso and Dayton? Does your heart break when your elementary school age grandchildren tell you about the active shooter drills in school? The documented and deeply disturbing increase of mass shootings in the United States has been covered in excruciating detail.
However, what we say, what we write in papers and what is reported on TV can propel an already vulnerable person into action. The fame and adulation given to the person who has killed may seem a desirable alternative to someone who is isolated, feels rejected, is in psychological pain and is motivated by hate. It is not well known that media coverage of mass shootings can either contribute to contagion (copycat behavior) or reduce risk.
Although the greater and more important task for our nation is to eliminate the escalating atmosphere of hatred that has propelled the proliferation of mass murders and to create one of mutual respect for all people, there are important tasks that we can tackle. One of them is changing our expectations of what we expect from media coverage. We can become informed about what is helpful and what is harmful. Repeated reporting of details about a mass shooter may increase a vulnerable person’s identification with
the perpetrator and move him into action, which may lead to a second mass shooting.
We all want to see “who did it,” but this may interfere with the investigation, or as happened in Dayton, an incorrect photo and website were placed on social media by citizens. How quickly we hear that the perpetrator had a “mental health problem,” when, in fact, most people with mental health issues are non-violent. The research says that mass killings (4 vicitms or more) are most often perpetrated by people with a history of domestic violence, substance abuse, and criminal behavior . . . rather than mental health issues. Over-simplifying causality as a “mental health problem” takes us off the hook from looking at the many complex issues that lead up to an act of terror.
If there is a documented mental illness, media coverage can be helpful when it recognizes and includes multiple factors (lost job, sick child, failure to reach family expectations for education and employment, car broke down) and quietly keeps reinforcing that asking for help is a sign of strength. It is important to avoid identifying unique factors in the shooting (largest number of victims, speed of shootings) which may feed into a potential perpetrator’s need for recognition.
Release of 911 calls and videos taken either by