Shooters? Why is the media black and white?

When you write about social issues, one column leads to the next before they circle back and you are right back at the beginning to start the cycle all over again.

Like most people, I am watching the coverage of the latest mass shooting.

Like most people, I, too, am horrified and only can watch impotently as yet more young lives are wasted, more of America’s future is ripped from us and more of our young people will never see the promise of their lives fulfilled.

But this column isn’t about the shooting or the victims. I will leave that commentary to others because there is no shortage of opinions on why it happened and what should be done — and after awhile, they all sound alike.

Depression, social pressures, isolation and bullying are all rolled out like the classics, with pundits delivering the definitive words on why the trigger was pulled. But those age-old words from the wise don't seem to be changing much.

My focus is on the media and the way shooters are covered.

In a previous column “Thugs? Classification may be the problem,” I questioned why society looks and treats young black men who pull the trigger so differently from whites. The media does this too, whether intentionally or not.

It’s easy to blame the difference in coverage on shock value: One opens fire in a school or on a crowd, the other is picking them off one by one.

But the end result is the same. People are dead. Lives are torn apart. Parents and friends grieve. A nation or community mourns. And candles are lit at mediacovered vigils.

White boys and men with murder in their scope have brought a nation to its knees time and time again. Their actions have caused mass funerals and suffering, forced moments of silence on the floor of Congress and left the country spinning in their violent aftermath.

And reasons for their actions are explored through their Facebook postings, and by dissecting Instagram messages while family and social issues are explored. Everything comes down to mental illness.

But to me, mental illness, as it has been defined, doesn’t really come into play: anger, rage and being discontented does.

But it is a different story with blacks. There are many murder trials here in New Haven where both the victim and the suspect are black.

And yet, I don’t see many local news stories exploring the reasoning behind it.

Yes, circumstances are different — dramatically different.

But even if I discount the response from the media to mass shootings as simply news

There are no black bullets or white bullets — and the damage done is the color of red — so why is the media black and white on this issue?

value, the media still favors white men — even locally — with reports on the shooter’s financial strain or job loss as to why the bullet found its mark.

I don’t think you will find a blip about why the black guy pulled the trigger other than something associated with rage or drugs.

There are no black bullets or white bullets — and the damage done is the color of red — so why is the media black and white on this issue?

We can't glorify thugdom by leading and filling news holes without the willingness to explore the reasons behind them.

As a black member of the media, I, too, play a role in this; after all, I write headlines and edit stories.

The media exists to bring information to the people and its coverage must be fair and balanced across the board.

Right now, that is not happening.

James Walker is the Register’s senior editor. He can be reached at 203-680-9389 or james.walker@hearstmediact.com. Follow him on Twitter @thelieonroars