Introducing 

Prezi AI.

Your new presentation assistant.

Refine, enhance, and tailor your content, source relevant images, and edit visuals quicker than ever before.

Loading…
Transcript

Theories Involved

What is a Massacre?

December 14, 2012

-“The act or an instance of killing a number of usually helpless or unresisting human beings under circumstances of atrocity or cruelty.” –Merriam-Webster

-“The unnecessary, indiscriminate killing of a large number of human beings or animals, as in barbarous warfare or persecution or for revenge or plunder.” – Dictionary.com

-On December 14, 2012, a 20 year old gunman from Newtown Connecticut stole his mother’s semi-automatic AR-15 assault rifle and various pistols made my Sig Sauer and proceeded to kill her in their Newtown home (CNN).

-He then drove to Sandy Hook Elementary School where around 700 small children were starting their day. He shot his way into the school at around 930AM, and walked into two different rooms where he killed 20 children and 6 adults (CNN). Police were called into the school at around 935AM where they found the shooter with a self-inflicted gun wound along with the 26 angels he killed (CNN).

www.eurekastreet.com

www.politic365.com

Sandy Hook and indeed the shooter, Adam Lanza, became household names overnight. Lanza was infamous for the terror he caused in this small town. The whole world knew his name, his interests, and his life story. He was in the limelight.

References:

Why is it an Issue?

-in the wake of mass shootings, the mainstream media engages in non-stop coverage, including immense details of the shooter (Mesoudi 2013).

-the glorification of mass shooters and the sensationalist reporting by the mainstream media influence teenagers already prone to such behavior, to act similarly (Cantor, Alpers, Mullen, Sheehan 1999)

-there has been rapidly increasing number of mass shootings in America, especially within the last few years, yet the mainstream media has set out no guidelines for reporting (Greene 2014). In America, from 2000 to 2008 there were roughly 5 attacks per year, but after 2009 that number jumped to 15 per year (Greene 2014).

Barber Ph.D., Nigel. "Copycat Killings: Making Sense of the Senseless." Psychology Today. N.p., 27 July 2012. Web.

Cantor, Christopher H., Peter Sheehan, Philip Alpers, and Paul Mullen. "Mainstream Media and Mass Homicides." Archives of Suicide Research 5.4 (1999): 283-90. Web.

Caruso, Kevin. "Mainstream Media Guidelines for Suicide." - Suicide.org! N.p., n.d. Web. 10 May 2014.

Clear, James. "Achieve Your Goals: Research Reveals a Simple Trick That Doubles Your Chances for Success." Achieve Your Goals: The Simple Trick That Doubles Your Odds of Success. N.p., 16 May 2013. Web. 10 May 2014.

Greene, David. "Study: Mass Shootings Are On The Rise Across U.S." NPR. NPR, 09 Jan. 2014. Web. 10 May 2014.

Kleinfield, N. R., Ray Rivera, and Serge F. Kovaleski. "Newtown Killer’s Obsessions, in Chilling Detail." The New York Times. The New York Times, 28 Mar. 2013. Web. 10 May 2014.

"Massacre." Dictionary.com. Dictionary.com, n.d. Web. 10 May 2014.

"Massacre." Merriam-Webster. Merriam-Webster, n.d. Web. 10 May 2014.

Mattiuzzi, Paul. "Everyday Psychology: Why Are We so Fascinated with Murder?" Everyday Psychology: Why Are We so Fascinated with Murder? N.p., 24 May 2011. Web. 15 May 2014.

Mesoudi, Alex. "Mass Shooting and Mass Mainstream Media: Does Mainstream Media Coverage of Mass Shootings Inspire Copycat Crimes?" Does Mainstream Media Coverage of Mass Shootings Inspire Copycat Crimes? N.p., 11 Feb. 2013. Web. 10 May 2014.

"Sandy Hook Elementary Shooting: What Happened?" CNN. Cable News Network, n.d. Web. 10 May 2014.

"Tragedy at Sandy Hook." ABC News. ABC News Network, n.d. Web. 10 May 2014.

Recommendations for Professional Ethics

Copycat Theory

1. The mainstream media should not release the information of how the killings took place. We should not know what guns were used or what the killer wore. We should not know any timelines of events or what room was entered first.

2. The mainstream media should not release information about the killer’s personal life. The motives themselves should be briefly concluded; however what the killer’s favorite ice cream flavor was or his or her favorite band is irrelevant and damaging.

3. The mainstream media should not interview families of victims. There is no practical reason for such a thing and it only makes massacres more attractive for potential assailants.

Depersonlization Theory

www.nydailynews.com

-an explanation for massacres that points to the mainstream media’s coverage as a propelling mechanism for future instances of massacres by glorifying the killer (Barber Ph.D. 2012)

-the mainstream media goes into an unnecessary amount of detail when reporting on massacres. They not only include the details of the actual event, but also the motives, interests, characteristics, and even small hobbies of the shooter; no mention of the victims besides a number (Kleinfield, Rivera, Kovaleski 2013)

“In simply devoting so much time and attention to mass killers, the mainstream media may be - unintentionally - conferring prestige and success onto them. For certain individuals, this may trigger a copycat effect and result in another mass shooting.”- Mesoudi 2013.

-the mainstream media also gives a detailed timeline of events. This gives any “copycat” a plan of action that they can visualize (ABC News). Research has shown that having a plan of action is a very important step in finishing a job and in this case, a massacre (Clear 2013).

-an alternate explanation that claims a persona is created by the mainstream media that potential mass killers can adopt to become depersonalized (Barber Ph.D. 2012). By separating themselves from their identity and relating closer to the mainstream media created persona, they are then able to carry out acts of atrocity (Barber Ph.D. 2012)

-because the mainstream media goes into so much detail about the killer in the wake of massacres, an entire persona is created; much like a super-villain

- potential mass killers can wear these personas, like ancient war paint, to depersonalize themselves. We all have a natural inhibition against killing, however this mainstream media created persona can be used in order to kill easier (Barber Ph.D. 2012).

-depersonalization, helped along by the mainstream media, makes massacres more likely and gives people an easier path to commit them (Barber Ph.D. 2012)

Why is it an Issue?

Where to From Here?

Money vs. Morality

The general public begs the mainstream media to tell us more and more about the killers involved in massacres, but the blame doesn’t fall on us. During the 1980s, the mainstream media came up with guidelines for teenage suicide reporting after suicides became popular in the U.S. (Caruso 2014). The guidelines followed examples from other countries whose suicide rate dropped after changes in reporting (Caruso 2014). They suggested not including the word suicide in a headline, not reporting the means of suicide, and not making it seem like it was a healthy or normal act (Caruso 2014). The general public most certainly still wanted to hear the details but the mainstream media chose morality over money and saved lives because of it. Today, our society is faced with the same situation, only this time the suicidal individual takes many lives with him or her. Why can’t the mainstream media create similar guidelines today that it created back in the 80s? To date, there are no professional ethics standards for reporting massacres.

It's All About the Money

The mainstream media are by and large by the people and for the people; they only exist by the amount of the public that subscribes to them. For this reason, it makes sense that they would report what the general public wanted to hear; agreeableness and popular reporting earns money. Unfortunately, most people are fascinated with massacre (Mattiuzzi 2011). “We are fascinated because we wonder: would I have felt the same way, had the same impulse and would I have done the same thing?”- Matuizzi 2011

www.nypost.tumblr.com

Learn more about creating dynamic, engaging presentations with Prezi