By Alexi CohanSTAFF WRITER
Mass shootings in the United States happen every two weeks. In Germany, there has not been a single mass shooting since 2009, when guns became unavailable for citizens to use. However, this isn’t an article about gun control. One could assume that after hearing of the shooting that took place at Umpqua Community College in Oregon last week that you recognize the name Christopher Harper-Mercer. Surely, you also know who Adam Lanza is, and if you are knowledgeable about history, the names Eric Harris and Dylan Klebold are familiar.
Why do you know these names and why is it so easy to remember exactly what they did? It is because our society and the media give these deadly shooters exactly what they want – attention and popularity. But the people’s names we should be remembering are Chris Mintz, Victoria Soto and Dave Sanders.
Everyone familiar with news media knows the saying, “If it bleeds, it leads.” Violent events are things that the public wants to hear about so the media gives it to them. Also, when it comes to anything bad that happens, the public also wants to know who was responsible for something as terrible as a school shooting. It is just simple human nature, so I cannot blame the media for adding to the fire that is popularizing the names of the shooters.
An immediate change needs to be made to writing and reporting styles in the media. Just like the “inverted pyramid” is a standard of writing in journalism, where the most important information is written first, a new standard is necessary for stories regarding school shootings, terrorist attacks, bombings or other violent attacks. Instead of writing and broadcasting school shootings where the shooter’s name leads, it would be best to flip the story and first announce the names of the heroes, survivors and victims, then the name of the shooter. It would be unrealistic to leave the name of the shooter out completely and it should be an important detail, just not the whole story.
Aside from this being a better idea morally, giving less attention to the names and details of the shooter could help deter these occurrences from happening. It won’t stop it, but it could lessen the incidences. The reason for this is because many times, shooters want the attention that our society gives them. Countless journal notes about planned attacks, YouTube videos of angry rants, or calls to news organizations the minute before shooters open fire are evidence of this. All of this gets left behind to be shared after the shooting and after the shooter is either dead or in jail. Why would shooters want to leave behind diagrams, manifestos, checklists and plans? To gain attention from the public, and we hand it over to them without even realizing it. Despite what many may think, shooters don’t just “snap” and decide to kill people, sometimes it is planned out as far as years in advance.
The reason shooters commit these violent acts is not solely for media attention, fame and popularity, however, it is one of their main motives and if we, as a society, can eliminate just one motive of school shooters we could be on our way to a safer country. From today on, one should not remember Adam Lanza and his Asperger’s and OCD. One should not speak of Christopher Harper-Mercer and his hate of Christians. Instead, everyone should remember Victoria Soto, who died trying to protect her students at Sandy Hook Elementary School. Everyone should speak of Chris Mintz, who just left the hospital because he was shot trying to protect people at Umpqua Community College.
The views and opinions expressed in the Op-Ed section are those of the authors of the articles. They are not an endorsement of the views of The Chronicle or its staff. The Chronicle does not discriminate based on the opinions of the authors.