Why Do We Focus on the Killer???
December 7, 2007 7:47 am Random News, Random ObservationsNormally I wouldn’t care to comment on this type of thing, but since this blog is meant to be about all sorts of topics I figured I’d go ahead and do it.
I’m a little confused by the angle of coverage on things like the shooting that happened recently in Nebraska, and most of the other tragic shootings that have happened in recent years. Does anyone else feel like the media focuses way to much on the shooter?
From what I understand, this kid wrote in his suicide letter that now he would be famous. That’s a really messed up and sick way to justify what you’re about to do. And the media will focus on it: try to figure out why he did what he did, who he really was, and take sympathy for him. Honestly, I don’t know that I really need to know or care. And I don’t mean to be harsh about that.
I’d rather let the families that were made horrible victims of this tragedy know that I care more about them than the criminal, no matter what his story.
My heart goes out to anybody that has been involved in these tragedies. The focus should be on helping them to recover, not finding out more about the killer.
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tags: media, news, opinion
We also need to understand what drove this kid to do such thing so that we can prevent it from happening again.
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The media just go where the story is. People will always want to know about who the protagonist is when something like this happens.
It’s a natural part of the instinct of self-protection that probably goes back to our days as cave-dwellers and before.
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I don’t think this ever changes. The focus always seems to be on the killer(s) at first. After a while you see interviews in magazines and on tv with those who were left behind.
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wi is exactly right. i was thinking the same thing as i was reading the post, she beat me to the punch. the shooter will get the lead, but the victims will get the tributes. the memorials to those who died in blacksburg earlier this year is a good example.
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I think they want to know the psychological state the killer was in so that they can help identity people who are nearing that state and intervene before anything similarly tragic happens.
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No doubt the media has everything to do about this. There was a study done in Harvard years ago where it proved that people basically cared what the media told them to care about. The media has figured out that we humans are intrigued by people who do this horrendous crime such is the case that many of the copycats that come later do it to become as famous as the one before.
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I mostly agree that killers get too much focus. I was in high school when Columbine happened, and I thought what a media disaster it was to talk so much about the killers, as all of the sudden troubled young people would have a model to achieve fame or leave some kind of legacy.
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That is scary stuff.
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This really is so sad, and you are 100% spot on.
The news media should be ashamed of themselves.
At least in cases like Natalie Holloway, people are somewhat more focused on the victim, but that’s only because the killer has not been found yet.
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Correct i think the media hyped it to much again..
Ofcourse really sad what happend
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Well he got what he wanted he became famous. This is sick indeed.
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we cannot blame only the media because of focusing on the killer.i think what they do were quite good for future references in case somebody what to commit suicide again.maybe they can prevent it from happening again,who knows?
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