Today, mass shooters often express their motives and desire for fame in manifestos posted online. “They do this to claim credit and to articulate the grievance behind the attack,” Andre Simons, who led an FBI team assisting local authorities in heading off violent attacks, toldMother Jones in 2015. “And we believe they do it to heighten the media attention that will be given to them, the infamy and notoriety they believe they’ll derive from the event,” he added.
When it comes to covering mass shootings, the media should stick to some basic guidelines: Keep the perpetrator’s name out of the headlines, minimize images of the perpetrator, report on the perpetrator dispassionately (e.g. avoid terms like “lone wolf”), and avoid publishing material from perpetrators’ videos or manifestos except when it has clear journalistic value that is in the public interest.
The media are suck holes.
