i have written on this for years, re-posting and re-sharing my articles whenever another mass killing has taken place. i have also relentlessly (albeit politely, with Caps and proper punctuation) emailed media celebs, journalists and broadcast/news entities, asking them to QUIT showing the names and faces of mass killers, and to also never mention their names. studies have long shown this publicity incentivizes the sick individuals who plan and carry out these violent attacks, and the notoriety gives rise to cult-like fan bases of angry and disenfranchised individuals and individuals who are sexually attracted to the killers.
only in 2018, after the Florida high school shooting, did i hear two media celebs take any stand along these lines: 1) Anderson Cooper, on the night of the Florida shootings, mentioned on air he would no longer show the killers’ faces nor speak their names (i don’t believe the network has adapted this across the board). 2) Ben Shapiro of the Daily Wire, who implemented this change at the Daily Wire, mentioning it in his February 15 podcast; he also stated this in his speech at 2018 CPAC.
at Huff Post: Open Letter to the Media: Change How Mass Killers & Violent Perpetrators Are Covered January 2017 and my original post from May of 2014, Open Letter to the Media: Change How Mass Killers & Violent Perpetrators Are Covered
quoted at Glocktalk https://www.glocktalk.com/threads/no-cost-solution-to-help-reduce-mass-shootings.1693768/print
I ask:
Are media ratings points or magazine sales more important than the humans from whom they are earned? If the shooters and killers are continuously sensationalized by being given personalized air and press time, this must be asked.
kimann schultz: issues, advocacy, current affairs 