Final Thesis

Matt Burkey UWRT 1104

America's Self Harm: Mass Medias Influence on Mass Shooting

The violent acts portrayed and reported in the media have influenced the quality of news

and the effects that it has on people. With the rise of technology, media has become an easy

market to enter and succeed in. In this thesis we are going to discuss how media impacts

behavior and hence look at how media may be a source of motivation for mass shooters. Our

inquiry question is as follows, How does the media play a part in the rise of mass shootings in

the U.S.? Media causes a behavioral phenomenon, which leads to a heightened risk of another

mass shooting. People that are biologically predisposed to such violent acts are affected greater

by the news coverage of mass shootings and violent crimes as a whole. In this thesis we are

going to focus on news coverage of mass shootings. Different experiences, incidents and studies

will be examined in order to tie back to our target group, mass shooters.

In todays society media can be found everywhere primarily by the help of technology.

Many people have become interested in if media affects us and if so, how? Scientists and

professors such as Gunter B. of University of Leicester looked into different incidents that may

have been influenced by media. In the 1920s, a discovery was made by American educator Dale

E., which showed that the focus was on topics such as crime, violence and sex in early motion

pictures, which created a public uproar. It also became the reason for the first social scientific

inquiry on medias effects. During the 20s, an analysis was made by Dale on 1500 films which

displayed that 25% contained the theme crime. It was shown in mainstream television in the

1970s and 1980s that violence was a common element. More than 50 years of research have
collectively came to the conclusion that media violence, especially through film and television,

affects viewers aggressive and antisocial behavior.

How much influence does media have on us? There are times when it has been studied if

media violence has contributed to murder. For example, in England, 1993, a 2-year-old named

James Bulger was killed by two 10-year-old boys. The movie Childs Play 3 was thought of as a

cause for the murder. However, there was no scene of actual murder in the movie. Through

this information, medias impact can be debated.

A study was conducted in 1972 by Liebert, R. M. (professor at State University of New

York at Stony Brook) and Baron, R. A. (professor at Oklahoma State University's Spears School

of Business) which included young (age five to nine) children being tested by watching either

sports or violent situations such as fistfights or shootings. The children were later asked to

choose between pressing a button that was labeled help or a button labeled hurt. The buttons

were connected to a game another child was playing. The children who had been exposed to

the violent videos pressed the hurt button more often and for a longer period of time compared to

the children who watched sports. This study displays how media can affect peoples actions.

Another study was conducted on adults by social psychologist Milgram S. (had been a

professor at Yale, Harvard and the City University of New York Graduate Center) and co-author

R. Lance Shotland (associate professor of psychology at Pennsylvania State University) where

the participants were shown a program at a theatre. One version of the program portrayed a

person ...breaking into a charity box and taking money from it, the other version did not show

this incident. All of the participants were told they would receive a radio for participating in this

study. After watching the program, they were told to collect their radio in another building.

However, there was no radio in the room where they were told it would be. Instead, a charity box
with money sticking out was placed in the room. The point of this experiment was to see if the

participants would take the money in real-life after being shown the charity box version. Yet,

no evidence showed that these participants were affected to do the same as that version of the

program.

A discovery, 2014, was made through an experiment conducted by Alia-Klein, Nelly

associate professor of psychiatry and neuroscience at the Friedman Brain Institute and Icahn

School of Medicine at Mount Sinai in New York City, et al. 54 men were divided into two

groups. One group shared aggressive traits and a background of physical assault. The other group

did not have these traits or background. The first day of the experiment they had the test

participants watch violent scenes (street fights and shootings). On the second day, they watched

emotional scenes (natural disaster) with no violence. The last day they watched nothing, instead

they were told to rest with eyes open. The test participants brains were scanned during the

experiment. The results of the scans displayed that the participants with aggressive traits had

high brain activity when there was not a movie playing. These areas of the brain are usually

active when not doing anything specific. When the participants were watching violent movies,

the group with the aggressive traits showed less brain activity in the orbitofrontal cortex

compared to the other group who did not have aggressive traits. The orbitofrontal cortex is

known for emotion-related decision making and self-control. The participants with aggressive

traits defined the feeling of being more determined and inspired while watching the violent

movies. They also felt less sad when watching the emotional movies compared to the

participants with non-aggressive traits. This information connects with Barrie Gunters research,

...that the media more usually served to reinforce rather than to change existing social mores,
values, beliefs, and norms of conduct. Aggressive traits were already present before watching

the media. The media just triggers these aggressive behaviors.

Jaclyn Schildkraut noticed that media does not report all events, and the how and why

media favors selective and biased reports. It is all centered around making a profit and

participating in an extreme competition to seek the biggest, exclusive, violent stories, to gain a

loyal audience. The worthiness of any topic is based on, ..five criteria(s) the violent nature of

the crime, demographic characteristics of the victim and offender (such as age, gender, race, and

occupation), characteristics of the news agency, the uniqueness of the event, and the events

saliency.(Schildkraut), mostly to earn the more profit. Mass media companies are just that,

companies. Striving towards money any way possible, this is a fact that is often overlooked. The

selective coverage of such events influences the perspective of people because, As most people

will never directly experience such an event, the perspectives of mass shootings, and the amount

of attention they garner, is a driving force behind these public perceptions.

Within the Journal of The American Academy of Child & Adolescent Psychiatry, the

article Name No Names: The Role of the Media in Reporting Mass Shootings by Shawn Singh

Sidhu. He collected data on how the coverage of mass shootings, influences the people's

perspective on the world. With media covering so much violent crime, the public's perception is

skewed, often thinking that violent crime is on the rise. This, Inaccurate perception(s) of public

safety can distract from other very important issues that require funding and attention, such as

the physical, mental, and social needs of children and their families. Media focuses on violent

crimes so much, like mass shootings, that other major concerns are ignored. For example: only a

handful of articles have been published about the Equifax breach. Equifax has all the information

on every American, even if they did not have a account. Equifax was hacked, and now they can
open up credit accounts and ruin the lives of millions. Mass media did not bother to spend a full

week of coverage, nor does the majority understand the impact of the breach.

Excessive coverage on mass shootings leads to a loss of hope, security, weakness all of

which can cause chronic stress. Post-traumatic stress disorders has developed in people even if

they were not directly part of an event because of the media's coverage. When reporting these

events media often favors the personal details of the shooter and their family, with additional

sharp conclusions. Media adds massive amounts of personal details and jumps to sharp

conclusions. Conclusions which, then become harmful to the families involved and anyone that

is exposed to media. The shooter often earns fame through their violent act. The families get paid

to expose more about the shooter. The community and individuals within the community of the

mass shootings become worried and stressed about safety, and in most cases people exposed to

this media question if they are ever able to commit such a crime. For fame, some will strive to

commit one of the worst mass shootings in American history. The more personal information

that the media gives out, the more inclined some people will see themselves as someone capable

to commit such a crime. Shawn Singh Sidhu brings up a case, in which people have started to

stand against this easy straight pathway for fame. Schildkraut Jaclyn, a national expert on mass

shootings, noted that, The strongest predictors of coverage related to the victims were higher

death tolls and greater numbers of injured victims; both yielded more media attention. Clearly

states that the effects of media adding too much detail into reports.

The Name No Names movement targets this the same way, as was done with suicide

reports. After setting government guidelines on the way the media is allowed to report suicides,

the number of suicides in the nation has greatly decreased. FBI director James Corney, a member

of the Name No Names movement stated You will notice that I am not using the killers name.
And I will try not to do that. Part of what motivates sick people to do this kind of thing is some

twisted notion of fame or glory. The movement's goal is for guidelines to be set on, the amount

of personal information reports. Specifically targeting motivational phrasing and abundance of

detail within the reports Of course, the information should still be accessible to the general

public. Though the movement have not picked up any wind from the media, through these

guidelines, the rise of mass shootings can be decreased.

Mass shootings: The Role of Media on Promoting Generalized Imitation, was written

by Doctor James N. Meindl and Doctor Jonathan W. Ivy for the purpose of shining light on the

role which media plays in the rise of mass shootings. As mentioned before, mass media tends to

report only selective stories that become biased through the selection process. The amount of

fame shooters receive, by the deeply detailed reports, greatly contributes to the rise of mass

shootings in America.

Imitational behavior is a phenomenon that occurs when one individual sees another doing

an action. The higher amount of similarities between the onlooker and the individual, the more

likely that the action will be repeated. There is now evidence that (specifically) when a mass

shooting occurs, there is a temporary increase in the probability of another event within the next

13 days on 7 average.(Meindl) which is the imitational phenomenon. Mass media cover reports

of mass shootings, having weeks of coverage, which increases the possibility of imitational

behavior. The reports are often attempt(ing) to produce entertaining or dramatic digital re-

creations of the event., which more just creates more material that is used unintentionally by

imitational behavior.

In comparison to suicides, the reporting habits of media are not the solo factor of such

actions. The rise of mass shootings has multiple factors and just setting guidelines to how mass
media reports mass shootings will not eliminate the rise, but it will limit the rate of growth.

Limiting the amount of common characteristics will in turn limit the rise of mass shootings

because it will also limit the imitational behavior that a person exposed to the saturation of media

receives.

The rise of mass shootings can be partly blamed on a vicious cycle in which media, gives

people only the information that they consider profitable. Media changes people's perspective

negatively of the world which continues the cycle. Most people only receive information by the

reports of mass media (not public documentation). Peoples skewed perspective is reinforced.

When people start becoming skeptical of what media reports, mass media is quick to withhold

information and continue to give people exactly what is desired and wanted.

The medias role in influencing mass shooters is seen by many people as a major factor in

their formation, however some researchers believe mental health is more to blame. An article

written by Jonathan M. Metzl, titled Mental Illness, Mass Shootings, and the Politics of

American Firearms, analyzes the mental health of past mass shooters. He discusses the

childhood tendencies of the Newtown shooter, who struggled with basic emotions as a child

and would write stories about mass shootings. Additionally, Metzl mentions another mass

shooter in California who suffered from Aspergers disorder and took psychotropic

medications, which are seen as contributing factors to the massacre he carried out. Although the

author of this article is not wrong when he blames mental health for these acts of terror, it is

important to look at what influences the mentally ill. Constant coverage of violent acts by the

mass media can set off those with psychological issues. Considering many of these shooters are

loners who have limited social interactions, violent stories covered by the media is a large part

of their outlook on the world. Exposure to these images over the course of their development
period can imprint violence into their personality and create a potential mass killer. Despite the

fact that mental illness is a huge element in developing these killers, it is important to look at the

root cause of their violent proclivities; the persistent coverage of brutality by the mass media.

In conclusion there are several experiments, articles, researchers and many more who

support the idea that media impacts people, especially those with aggressive traits. It was proved

through the discovery of Alia-Klein, Nelly, et al experiment that aggressive traits already existed

before watching the media. The media just triggers these aggressive behaviors. However, there

have also been times when media did not affect someones actions. This was shown through

Milgram S. and co-author R. Lance Shotlands experiment through which the participants did not

take the money in real-life after being shown the charity box version.

Through the findings made in this thesis, we believe that media violence needs to be

minimized because it can lead to violent behavior, specifically from those with aggressive traits.

The new questions that have emerged as a result of our research are: What can be done to

minimize media violence? and How can we spread the discoveries made in this thesis to the

public? If we could go on studying this subject in more depth, we would like to look at more

studies and experiments that pertain to these two questions. This would give us additional insight

into possible solutions to the problem of the media influencing mass shooters and get more

Americans to think about the question, How does the media play a part in the rise of mass

shootings in the U.S.?.

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