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Media Coverage Of Mass Violence Essay

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Media Coverage of Mass Violence
In the past few decades, there has been an onslaught of mass violence and we are seeing its effects. Many American citizens are protesting and demanding reformed gun laws, pointing all fingers at the guns themselves. Nevertheless, there are other factors contributing to this outbreak of mass violence that can be seen across the country and the world today. Media coverage of mass violence can have negative effects on the actions of people who view it. News of mass violence should be more careful in displaying their information in order to potentially decrease the risk for similar events in taking place. On the other hand, media coverage of important and urgent news is very useful to inform citizens of the events …show more content…

“‘I HAVE TO BEAT ADAM LAZA . . .’ he wrote nine days before the Sept. 28, 2016, shooting in a misspelled reference to the Sandy Hook killer, Adam Lanza. ‘Atleast 40’” (Cox). His thought process doesn’t seem normal and it displays thoughts of that of an individual with a mental illness.
“...he said he had researched police response times for the area and found that it would take them 15 minutes to get there, maybe 45 for SWAT. He said he would throw pipe bombs into each classroom before he got in a shootout with police and killed himself with his shotgun. He said he had been planning a massacre for two years” (Cox).
Most if not all mass shooters don’t just decide one day to shoot up a place without any planning. They take months if not years planning and imagining their means of attack. He’d done loads of research on previous mass shooters, wanting to be the best one. The media plays a role here because he was able to access dozens of articles on mass shooters which included details on their plans and how they executed those plans. It also reassured him that they became “famous”, so he could be too.
If an individual has already thought about legitimately performing an act of mass violence, then it seems obvious that the more cases there are, the more they will feel compelled to do it

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