“Batman madman,” “Batman psycho shoots 12 dead,” “Killer: I’m Joker,” “He yells ‘I’m the Joker’ then blasts 71 inside cinema” are all headlines on newspaper covers under a blown-up photo of a deranged 24-year-old after a horrific massacre in Colorado last Friday night. These shocking titles are representative of how acts of mass violence are portrayed in the media, and they have one thing in common: a complete disregard for the tragic loss of life.
Will oversized images of James Holmes or intricate details of his life cause perpetuated acts of violence and copycats? We don’t know. It seems, however, that the media is giving Holmes exactly what he wants, perhaps even fulfilling his ‘motivation’ for the crime.
The underlying motives for someone to commit such an act can be intricate and difficult for a sane person to comprehend. But we do know one thing for certain: he did what he did, and now the media must figure out how to move forward and properly cover the massacre. Of course, covering such a heinous crime is necessary — not covering it would do just as much harm as too much coverage. But the way the information was disseminated functionally equates fame and infamy. Fame can, in essence, be achieved through acts of heroism or through acts of savagery, evident from news coverage over the last week.
The 2011 Norway massacre is a striking example of how one deranged man can use notoriety to propagate a message of hatred and racism. Just as thousands are uniting to mark the first anniversary of the devastating attack, Anders Behring Breivik is undergoing a trial and is “pleased . . . that there is an interest in the case,” his defense lawyer explains. The extensive coverage of the perpetrator of a mass murder creates a pedestal for a megalomaniac to gain infamy. Last week, the Norwegian newspaper Morgenbladet published a cover with “Look at me! Look at me!” pasted over Breivik’s face — this showcases both his desire for media attention and the media’s willingness to provide it.
In 2009, Charlie Booker interviewed a psychiatrist that gave media outlets the following advice in order to not propagate more mass murders: “Don’t start the stories with sirens blaring. Don’t have photographs of the killer. Don’t make this 24/7 coverage. Do everything you can not to make the body count the lead story.” The argument was simply to honour the victims more and spend less time on the murderer’s story.
Tragedy, like the one that occurred in Colorado, shouldn’t be exploited to resemble a story of riveting entertainment. Coverage of this nature tends to make certain media sources seem like beneficiaries of horror. We don’t want to wake up to see an overblown image of the Calgary Sun’s daily anti-hero pasted on their front page.