"We've had 20 years of mass murders throughout which I've repeatedly told CNN and our other media, if you don't want to propagate more mass murders, don't start the story with sirens blaring; don't have photographs of the killer; don't make this 24/7 coverage; do everything you can not to make the body count the lead story; not to make the killer some kind of anti-hero; do localise the story to the affected community, and make it as boring as possible in every other market, because every time we have intense saturation coverage of a mass murder, we expect to see one or two more within a week."
- Forensic psychiatrist Dr Park Dietz speaking to the BBC via Charley Brooker's Newswipe, 2009.
2 comments:
I couldn't agree with this statement anymore, I've been saying this for years.
Can you imagine the type of society we would have if we didn't sensationalize these types of stories?
It just gives people ideas and taps into their need to be 'famous' at any cost.
Media need to have a good hard look at how they report these days.
I have to admit, I'm pretty morbid and enjoy reading about the gritty details. If someone wants to kill themselves or shoot up a political youth camp, they're going to do it regardless of how much coverage of a similar event is in the media.
If you don't like it, you don't have to read/watch/listen to it
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