NY Times, stop giving the Santa Fe shooter the attention he craves
Dear Julie Turkewitz and Jess Bidgood,
On May 19th, 2018 you published an article detailing what has been uncovered so far about the Santa Fe school shooting suspect. It features a photograph of the shooter after his arrest and describes his backstory, from his behavior at school to the potential political themes in his social media posts.
I request that you reconsider how you present this killer’s story to the public, both in this particular article and in those you and your colleagues will write as his trial unfolds.
In the wake of every mass shooting tragedy, the public naturally wants to know what drove someone to do something so evil. We tell ourselves that by understanding their motivation, we will be more prepared to stop others like them before it’s too late. Perhaps analyzing and criticizing the lives of these killers has become something of a coping mechanism for the more left-brained among us, myself included.
Investigating these stories, however, we find that the string of school shooters since the Columbine tragedy have little in common with regards to their motivation. They did not share the same belief systems. They did not exhibit the same interpersonal or academic behaviors. The single trend apparent in their stories is that nearly every shooter was socially isolated and wanted to be understood. Each of them were given exactly what they were looking for when, following their crime, they were suddenly “understood” by the entire nation. Their worldview, their delusions, their perspective–they suddenly mattered.
By seeking to understand the motivation of these individuals, we are motivating them.
The Santa Fe shooter is a prime example of an isolated individual who was directly inspired by the “legacies” of previous mass shooters. He posted disturbing, foreshadowing social media posts just days before his crime. He spared people he liked so he could have his story told. He meticulously planned the story he wanted you to tell. Now you’re telling it.
I recognize that, as journalists, it is both your right and your responsibility to cover stories as thoroughly as possible. But I also want to remind you that journalists do not just record history–they affect it. This can be seen repeatedly from John Peter Zenger’s fueling of the American revolution to Woodward and Bernstein’s investigation into Watergate. In your coverage of mass shootings, you have the opportunity to either encourage or undermine the idea that mass shootings are a viable way for a lonely individual with delusions of grandeur to finally be acknowledged by the world.
After losing their son, Alex, in the Aurora tragedy in 2012, Tom and Caren Teves were disgusted to see the face of their son’s murderer plastered across every television in the US. They confronted Anderson Cooper the day after the shooting about the pain and potential harm caused by the way the media was publicizing the perpetrator. Many major news outlets gave the Teves a voice in the following months, including the New York Times. But while these outlets were happy to make the grieving couple into another story, they failed to make an effort to change. The Teves went on to found the NoNotoriety movement, which challenges the media to follow a common set of rules when dealing with mass shootings. I believe it’s time for their cry to finally be taken seriously by mainstream media.
Ms. Turkewitz, Ms. Bidgood: It could be years before our country is able to develop gun control policies effective enough assure that people like the Santa Fe shooter do not have access to guns. Changing the way these shootings are presented in the media is something we can do right now. By limiting the notoriety of past shooters, we can absolutely limit the motivation of future shooters. I ask you to take a step in this direction by doing the following:
- Remove the Santa Fe shooter’s name and photograph from article headlines.
- Create an abridged version of your article which follows the NoNotoriety guidelines. Include a header which links to the full version of the article, acknowledging why the initial version was abridged and calling people’s attention to the NoNotoriety movement.
This will not be good for your SEO. Your article will get significantly less traction. But you will still be telling the full story. You will directly address the role that the media plays in the motivation of potential mass shooters. You will set a precedent that has the potential to make a dent in this sick trend of mass shootings in our country. If nothing else, you will honor the families who have lost loved ones in Santa Fe and similar tragedies by showing them you have no interest in reaping financial benefit from their story.
Thank you for considering.
Mariah
