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An arraignment hearing for the suspect accused of targeting Hispanics, and killing 22 people, at an El Paso Walmart in August. But covering legal proceedings for those who鈥檝e committed mass violence poses a problem for news organizations: ?
is a journalist and executive director of Austin-based nonprofit the Black Bodies Project. is an associate professor of criminal justice at the State University of New York at Oswego. Both have examined how the news media respond to mass violence.
Schildkraut says research shows that mass shooters are, in part, they might receive after committing an act of violence.
鈥淪eeing that the way in which these events are covered has produced a copycat or a contagion effect, I think the news media are starting to shift their practices to focus less on the perpetrators and more on the victims,鈥� Schildkraut says.
But Moore says by not naming the shooter, the media creates a narrative that doesn鈥檛 exist. She says it would be better for news organizations to be more selective about the words they do choose to use when talking about a shooter. Some worry that naming could 鈥済lorify鈥� a shooter鈥檚 behavior, she says. But that鈥檚 the wrong way to think about it.
鈥淣o one expects anyone to glorify or praise or worship or even make famous these people who commit these atrocious crimes,鈥� Moore says. 鈥淲hat we鈥檙e saying is, Tell us who they are and tell us why.鈥�
She says the public deserves to know who is responsible for these crimes.
Schildkraut says learning more about a shooter鈥檚 history and possible motivations is worthwhile. But that can be done without revealing their identity.
鈥淭hese individuals are telling us, time and time again, that they want their name in lights, they want their faces on every TV screen and newspaper front page,鈥� she says. 鈥淵ou can still talk about the 鈥榃ho鈥� and not give them that identity.鈥�
The news media isn鈥檛 a monolith, and even if some organizations don鈥檛 name a shooter, others will. But Schildkraut says 鈥渆very little bit helps.鈥� She says it鈥檚 more about not rewarding them through widespread notoriety.
Moore wonders whether a 鈥渘o notoriety鈥� policy would apply to shooters of all races. Most of the recent mass shooters have been white men.
鈥淢edia bias is a very real thing; it鈥檚 been documented,鈥� she says. 鈥淚 would wonder, if the majority of these shooters were black or Latinx 鈥� what the difference would be.鈥�
Shilkdraut says news organizations, on the whole do report differently on mass violence committed by non-white people.
鈥淚f we look at the individuals who perpetrated the shootings in Orlando or at Fort Hood, who both were of Muslim descent, they were called 鈥榯errorists.鈥� We don鈥檛 call white male shooters 鈥榯errorists,鈥欌�� Schildkraut says.
She says research shows that there鈥檚 actually more coverage when mass violence is committed by people who aren鈥檛 white men 鈥� which is considered the 鈥渘orm.鈥�
鈥淎nything that goes against that norm 鈥� then they are more likely to be covered,鈥� Schildkraut says.
Still, she says, there isn鈥檛 data available to show how often white shooters are named versus non-white shooters.
Moore says race was also an important factor in the shooting death of Botham Jean, a black man who was killed in his own apartment by off-duty police officer Amber Gugyer, a white woman. But news organizations had to decide whether to specify Guyger鈥檚 and Jean鈥檚 race in their reporting 鈥� a different but related dilemma. Moore says race played a role in the shooting, so it should be reported.
鈥淭he idea that we have about what a black man is, or even what a white woman is 鈥� I think until, in this country, we are able to willingly and openly discuss this idea of racism, we鈥檙e going to have these differences of opinions,鈥� Moore says.
Written by Caroline Covington.
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