Give Killers Coverage, Not A Soapbox
by Clarence Page
Who deserves more attention in news coverage of mass killings: the victims or the killers? The question has risen with new heat after the rampage in
After
The
In that spirit,
That message received a string of appreciative response tweets, as well as this sarcastic dissent: "Great. More lopsided, incomplete reporting. Worse than bias."
I tend to agree, although in a tone not quite as harsh. With all due respect to those who think otherwise, I think it is a disservice to withhold information as germane to the public interest as that which identifies mass killers or offers some insight into their madness.
This is particularly true in an age when anyone with access to the Internet can easily find the same information with a Web search -- with or without the context that we hope responsible media will bring.
It's not just that we humans are naturally nosy that drives the desire of audiences to hear as much information as they can about a crime this monstrous. We also want to make some sense out such senseless, deadly acts.
It is quite proper in public ceremonies, for example, to avoid giving the killers any more publicity that might bring further pain to the families of survivors or help to glorify criminal acts in other deranged minds. In that spirit, President Obama, among others, agreed not to mention the gunman's name when he flew to
But outside such formal occasions we look to news media to give valuable insight and spark discussions, hopefully with psychiatrists and other knowledgeable sources.
For example, Rodger's apparent hatred of women, boldly displayed in his hours of video monologues, touched off a new national conversation about the male-centered culture that may have fed his delusions on top of his record of mental health issues.
News that he had shared his frustrations on websites for "Men's Rights," "Pickup Artists" and "bodybuilders" helped bring new attention to the feminist Twitter-based hashtag movement "YesAllWomen." Its message: Not all men are misogynists, but yes all women are vulnerable to abuse and worse by misogyny.
Significantly missing in my view, compared to other mass shootings in recent decades, was much serious discussion about new gun safety legislation. One wonders how many more massacres it will take to move that needle of public opinion. Of six dead in the incident, Rodger shot three and stabbed three.
But on another issue, Rodger's case does offer insight, although at a tragic cost, into the gaping holes in our mental health safety net. Police arrived at his apartment last month after Rodger's mother alerted authorities to her son's YouTube videos. They later left with the impression that he was a polite and sane young man without looking at his videos, which Rodger later said in one of his videos would have exposed his intentions.
A special "co-response" unit like those in some other
Available at Amazon.com:
The Divide: American Injustice in the Age of the Wealth Gap
The New Jim Crow: Mass Incarceration in the Age of Colorblindness
The Divide: American Injustice in the Age of the Wealth Gap
More United States News & Analysis ...
- Tightening Whose Belt?
- Three Felonies a Day
- Reviving the North Korea-Iran Axis?
- The Pentagon Makes War on Alaska's Pristine Wilderness
- There's Still Time to Prosecute the Torturers
- The American Way of War in the 21st Century
- After Baltimore, a Call to Reclaim Mother's Day
- Venture Capitalists Rule the World
- The Weakening Foundations of Western Power
- Cuba's Coming Out Party
- Authoritarian Symps
- Celebrating Wars & Destruction
- Boston Marathon Bombing Trial: Search for Justice and Closure
- Yes, Black America Fears the Police
- New Boston Bombing Video
- Obama's Last National Security Strategy
- What We Lose with a Privatized Postal Service
- Wal-Mart Does Something Right
- Guantanamo Bay's Place in U.S. Strategy
- The Intersection of Three Crises
- Taking on 'Mayor 1 Percent'
- Obama Honors Chicago's Pullman District
- Chicago Police Testing Body Cameras
- Judge Says Chicago Cubs Can Keep Building Wrigley Signs
- Illinois Last, Best Chance?
- Bald Eagles Nesting in New York for First Time in 100 Years
- NYC's 911 System Overhaul $700M Over Budget
- Chicago Police Testing Body Cameras
- Obama Corrects a Historic Mistake on Cuba
- Why Obama and Congress Should Go Further With Cuba
- U.S. Cuban Relations Reimagined
- China and The United States
- Tensions in the Arctic
- Ebola and Moral Panic
- What West Africa Can Teach the U.S. About Ebola
- Everything Wrong with Obama's War on ISIS
- Maya Angelou was Deeper than a Pithy Quote
- Give Killers Coverage, Not A Soapbox
- Our Culture Behind Wisconsin Girls' Stabbing Case
- Are Hispanics in Danger of Becoming White?
- Obama Outlines the Limits of Foreign Intervention
- Just Don't Call It 'Reparations'
- Small Men with Ugly Thoughts, Expressed Aloud
- It's Time to Show Our Veterans Some Love
- Justice for All, Except Those Too Big to Jail
- On the 9/11 Memorial and Museum
- Policing Thought Crime
- Turmoil and Intimations of Gender Bias at The Gray Lady
- Jayson Blair and All The Lies Not Fit to Print
- Mental Illness and Guns have Created a National Epidemic
- Army of One
- Mass Killers Hold Culture and Country Hostage
- Florida Governor Takes Deep Dive into Climate Change
- Charlie Christ Flip-Flop is a Bad Idea
- Botched Execution Should Be Death Knell of Capital Punishment
- Cruel and Unusual Ways of Execution
- Bring Back Firing Squads? We Do Worse
- Clayton Lockett: A Just Execution, Regardless
- Supreme Court Rules 5-4 on Public Prayer
- Supreme Court Rules on Public Prayer -- But Should It?
- John Kerry Warns of Excessive Isolationism
- Obama's Foreign Policy Nonexistent
- On Race: Meet Dumb and Dumberer
- Believers in U.S. Decline Will Be Disappointed
- A Nation Divided with Liberty and Justice for Some
- Can Ethnic Hate Be a Mental Illness?
- Pulitzer Committee Makes Stand for Free Press, Accountable Government
- NRA Members Need To Step Up on Ending Gun Violence
- Military Chief's Plea: Put Returning Soldiers to Work
- Home from War, Our Soldiers Continue to Die
- Better Gun Laws Needed to Protect Mentally Ill and Rest of Us
- Guns: Monsters in Our Midst
More United States News & Analysis ...
Article: Copyright © 2014, Tribune Content Agency
"Give Killers Coverage, Not A Soapbox "
|
|