When a naked person runs across a baseball field they don't show it so that copycats have less incentive to try it. The media does not do that with shootings (maybe have a month long cool down before posting every detail of the shooter's life). Instead, they give the shooters the attention and glory they crave so much.

If the media was any other industry, they'd be calling for strict government regulation of themselves. That's the truth.

I think the coverage was over the top, but it ususally is. We don't have the need to know all the minute details while the story is still unfolding. I especially dislike the microphone in the face practice. These people had a need for privacy and for the most part, the media stole that from them. I tend to rely on PBS Newshour for balanced coverage without sensationalism. When they use on scene segments, it's to illustrate aspects of a story, not to buy ratings.

I shudder to think what the coverage of this incident was like overseas.

Regardless of their concerned faces, the mainstream media loves this stuff. It gets them attention and boosts their advertising dollars. They will beat every aspect of this tragedy to death to wring every bit of profit they can out of it. I find it particularly interesting that "Entertainment Tonight" has the need to do stories about the Sandy Hook shootings. Do they consider this "Entertainment"?

A little knowledge is a dangerous thing,no matter what the event that's covered there are always those who will somehow turn it to their advantage.People hear,but I don't think they take the time to listen.All this information and disinformation creates parrots,not thinkers.All the time people want to talk the talk with no consideration for the people who have to walk the walk.We have no statesmen,only media manipulators.I'm sorry to say my heroes have passed on,good luck with yours.People are so busy watching other people live their lives they are forgetting to live their own.

The media does a great job in letting you know fast that something is going on. But with 24/7 cable news, there is just too much time to fill so false information and speculation soon begin to seep in. Interviewing children was disgusting. Newspapers (the physical items) are still the best as I think the reporters have time to think about what they are writing. Not so much with cable news.

its awful what happened; its absolutely horrific; but would the coverage be as ongoing if it were minority children who'd been killed...oh I'm white so you won't think I playing the race card...again it's absolutely terrible and my hearts goes out to everyone affected by the ills/evil of another human being....

Here is a very informed opinion:
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-us-canada-20763752

Saturation. Initially, I heard about it and then had no desire to continue to listen.
The media always has an agenda in the broadcast and yes it is playing out;
more gun control. Look at the city of Chicago. They have the most severe gun
control laws and the have the most shootings of any city in America.

I, for one, chose not to watch as much coverage as I might on lesser emotionally charged stories. It was painful for anyone to witness the accounts whether they were interviews, news conferences or simply a replay of the horrible events. What is disturbing to me, however, is how elected officials and pundits could not resist using this tragedy to promote their partisan political agendas and ideologies even before those poor lifeless bodies were put to rest. And, of course, a partisan media was quick to oblige their promotion a well. A free media, however, is necessary, and essential in this country. We may not always agree with their coverage and it may seem disgusting at times, but like every right guaranteed us in the Constitution, it is more important than ever to resist the implementation of laws (i.e. "Fairness Act", "Gun Control", "Patriot Act") that are based on rare incidences that deeply offend our senses and our culture at the time.

well, I for one, am sick of the horrific way journalists have acted throughout this whole terrible incident. Stupid questions being asked like "well how do you feel about that?" How uncaring, unfeeling can these journalists be sticking a microphone in someone's face and asking that type question? I finally turned the TV off after a short time watching the coverage; it was appalling. And the newscasters speculating on this and that. They didn't even have correct information most of the time and were still spouting off about what took place. I think all of them ought to get out of town, leave the families and residents alone, and re-evaluate how they could and should handle terrible situations such as this {but praying it would not happen again}. Try, even if it's only for a few minutes, to contemplate how they would feel having a microphone shoved in their face and asked "well how do you feel?"

The more the media plays on the fact that it was a "mental release" on the shooters part the more it opens up the possibility of copycats. It was a tragic event that should have never happened. Too many errors entered into the equation from the mother putting guns in the house to not monitoring his previous actions. The signs were there and they don't just go away. The parents are going through a very hard time especially during the holiday season. Support is what the community needs not more media coverage. You can be sure there are people out there with mental issues who are " also" following the coverage. In their mind the killer is the "poster Boy " for resolving problems because of the extensive media coverage. Put more emphasis on targeting potential problems which is everyones responsibility, not only the police departments.Can't imagine the thoughts going through the parents minds when they were notified.. Every parent hoped their child wasn't a victim.In one way they all were, having to go through that ordeal. We can all hope preventive measures will be put in place ( by whatever means ) so this never happens again.

Tough call. I think it irresponsible at best for the media to interview the children as they did. But someone allowed them to do that. The RUSH to report is an issue. Releasing the incorrect name of the shooter (and I know they said they got it from authorities) is a problem - a big problem. The rush to get all your "big name talking heads" to the scene is questionable too. And I understand that the people in town have repeatedly said its time for the media to go home. But that is being ignored. I am not sure my "right to know" covers cameras at the funerals of these babies - especially when the families have asked for it not to happen.

The media, especially TV, milked the shooting for all the pathos they could find. Don't get me wrong - it was a terrible and tragic event, and certainly deserved full coverage, but for several days TV ignored just about everyfhing else in the world (except Hilary's flu/fall and Kate's reappearance in public). And it was perfectly obvious that they were setting things up to push for gun bans/control, so that only the government is armed and the people are helpless against it. You CAN'T prevent people from doing crazy and stupid things. One thing they don't seem to have covered is whether Lanza was on some medication, like most of the other mass shooters recently.

I felt the initial coverage was nothing short of disgusting and unprofessional. I realize all of the news outlets want to be "first" with a story; however, unless they have facts, or unless they are prepared to tell people that the information they have IS unsubstantiated, they should hold back. In addition; I felt that putting microphones and cameras in the faces of the children who were being taken from the school was absolutely horrific! I mean, those kids had just seen goodness-knows-what happening, things that adults shouldn't have to see! You could tell from their faces they were in shock, the absolute last thing they needed was to have reporters pestering them. Sorry, but the media gets no "pats on the back" form me on this one.

The media coverage on Newtown is similar to the George Zimmerman shooting. It’s a witch hunt. School shootings aren’t new and newtown wasn’t anywhere near the worst.

Let’s not forget tragedies like Beslan (330 mostly children dead) and Anders Breivik rampage (72 dead children) occurred in nations that have both very strict gun control, and that lack the gun culture of the USA.

There is a slight improvement in Coverage this time. There is some discussion of the REAL ISSUE that is Mental Health.

(From BBC} Daniele Canarelli was given a suspended prison sentence of one year, in the first case of its kind in France.

Her patient Joel Gaillard murdered a man in March 2004, 20 days after Gaillard fled a consultation with Canarelli at a hospital in Marseille. (Endquote)

The privacy shield given to the insane needs to be destroyed. Psychiatrists, Priests, Attorney's must not shield those who they believe to be a danger. When these berserkers are children, they tend to kill children.

Beslan was religious and Breivik was political. These are insane acts. Only by detecting and removing the dangerously insane will these actions stop. It would be likely to remove those who kill others in denial of abortion, automobiles, bar fights, and other aggressive activities.

The media broadcasts constant images that glorify violence. The insane act on this. Any school teacher today will tell that students are affected. TV breeds a generation of amoral killers.

I think it's time we get back to local issues on the patch...

While the shootings in Newtown were tragic and heartbreaking, I think the news media has turned it into more like a Reality Show. Enough already. This plays right into Obama's plan for gun control which is what he has wanted to do all along. Gun control will not stop this from happening. The shooter is already breaking the law--gun control won't stop them. Timothy McVeigh didn't use a gun and he injured 680 people, killed 168 people, of which 19 were children under age 6.

If I had to choose one word to describe the media's coverage, it would be "masturbatory." Does the Today Show keep a piano player on retainer to accompany the sensitive "reporting" they do at times like this?

Just read a report that Adam Lanza (the CT shooter) was reported to have been taking Fanapt, a psychiatric drug which is reported to have "infrequent" psychiatric side effects including hostility, mood swings, manic attacks, and others. Other mass shooters have also been on various drugs that sometimes seem ro have effects the opposite of what they are intended to have. Yet all the attention has been on the weapons the shooters have used, not on the drugs they were taking that may have played a role in causing them to do what they did.

Of course . It can be the gun's fault, but not the drug's fault.

If nearly all of the mass shooters were on some kind of psychiatric drug at the time of their crimes, and the drugs, at least SOMETIMES are known to accentuate the problems of patients, then it seems there should be black-box warnings on the drugs, and doctors need to be extra observant of what effects the drugs are having on their patients. I think too many doctors note a patient's problems, go to their computers, and prescribe whatever the program recommends, collect their fee and say, "See you in a month." I've seen something like that happen, personally.

For chuck .. it's called a "rebound effect" anti-depressants cause suicides, sleeping pills keep you awake .. even anti-histamines makeyou snot out like a hose ... places like Giant and Rite Aid give printed cautions and warnings of side effects .. but it's up to the script writers (doctors) to tell their patients to call immediately if a rebound effect manifest..
as other tim .. yeah.. but in the case of the wackjobs in norway and newtown .. logistically it's kind hard to stab 69 or 26 people to death .. before some group of people getb together and open a large economy can of whup-ass...

To frank .. ya really think you're gonna drive up to a home depot.. buy "tons" of ammonium nitrate and then head to the neighborhood gas station and pick a bunch of gallons of diesel to put in 55-gallon drums to haul down the road .. how far do you think you'll will get down the road before there's a swarm of black Suburbans .. with guys in black uniforms .. armed with night vision M-4s and a couple of thoaty men yelling: "Please alight from the vehicle with your hands raised before we blow your frelling heads off!!"
also .. there are laws in many states to prevent street side dispensers of fuel to to put more than five gallons into anything other than fuel filler pipes .. also .. many stations use kerosene rathers than fuel oil .. especially in nothern climes where diesel gets thick and ooky below a certian ambient temp ..it destroys the diesel engine ...

Look .. enough of this crap about building a OK cityb type bomb .. the Murah complex blast took months of planning .. lots of hard cash .. significant planning .. thsat and the original World Trade Center operations were very well planned .. and Oklahoma City wasn't just AMFO .. it was propane tanks, det cord ..and instead of diesel, timmy used nitromethane racing fuel .. that runs alot more than $4 a gallon for diesel ... and the World Trade Center had certain explosives "enhancements" to their AMFO that no run of the mill high school boy could ever pull off .. and finally .. pratically.. a bomb is a terrorist action requiring an infrastructure that doesn't exist with with a "singleton" or lone perp..

I flip-flop about this kind of coverage. On the one hand, I think the coverage encourages copy cat killers as it seems to offer them fame. But on the other hand, I think that the media should show us the gruesome, graphic pictures of the wounded and killed, to bring a more honest and chilling depiction of the reality. I know that is controversial. In general I am disgusted with the apparent desire of so many to 'be on TV.'

I felt that while this story had to be reported and followed as breaking news, the media turned it into a 24/7 circus. The interviewing/interrogation of those little children just made me sick! And shame on the parents who allowed it. And trying to blame it on lack of gun control is ridiculous as is lack of mental health care. Mental health care is certainly available and he certainly lived in a family that could afford it. You can’t force mental health and there is no way of knowing when one might snap. One thing I wonder about is that they’ve interviewed kids, parents, former neighbors, teachers, and etc. but no words coming forth from the father of this young man. They hadn’t been divorced all that long that he didn’t know something about his son.

Late in getting outb a reply ..
mental health counseling isn't cheap .. many health care policies either don't cover it or have high co-pays/deductibles .. and .. the patient has to be agreeable to treatmewnt ... oh, and thwen was that story that mommy was seeking commital of adam .. also .. the father did not want to comment ..
as for the interviews.... one of the things that is advised by trauma counselors for victims of psychological stress .. talk it out ..I've been there done that .. buddies of mine cops and firefighters after fatal incidents .. and another friend who had a PTSD flashback from a vietnam war battlefield incident ..as for the "circus" ,, getr real, it was a breaking news event .. with constantly changing updates ..it was multiple stories ..the victms..the survivors.. the shooter .. the first reponders... and the pro and anti-gunners ..the political reactions ...

"Any person who plays call of duty incessantly and has a loose grip in reality, as well as easy access to weapons, is a bomb with a burning fuse."

"Some, like Lanza may even be thinking they are playing a Video Game."

Way to jump on the "blame the video game" bandwagon. Do you even research this stuff? There is no conclusive evidence that video games cause negative changes in behavior or personality; any correlation is simply that and what changes are observed are not reliable applied to long-term development.

Also, could you please explain how violent video games caused the following...

Bath School Disaster (1927)
Ying Leung (1928)
Midnight Massacre (1945)
Howard Unruh (1949)
Charles Starkweather (1958)
Highway 101 Sniper (1965)
Charles Whitman (1966)
North Hills Shooting (1972)
William Bonner (1973)
Russell Lee Smith (1975)
Brampton Centennial Shooting (1975)
Fullerton Massacre (1976)

Another report to read.

http://www.snjv.org/data/document/school-and-violence.pdf

The conclusions are not the same.

"THE RESEARCH ON VIOLENT VIDEO GAMES: A BRIEF OVERVIEW
Speculation regarding the potential link between violent video games and school shooting events is not limited to politicians and media ‘talking heads’. Indeed, several scholars have explicitly linked academic research on violent video games with school shooting incidents (Anderson, 2004; Anderson & Dill, 2000). Bushman and Anderson (2002) suggest that even the 9/11 terrorist attacks are relevant to the media violence debate. Is there a basis for this generalisation, however? "

The issue is by far a settled one but any links must be a part of this conversation. Just as the 38% of ALL MURDERS by ONE demographic group in the country, mostly with handguns, must also be part of this conversation.

It always cracks me up when I hear people suggest that video games are dangerous when there's honestly not much more dangerous then having your intellgence slowly sucked away by the boob tube.

There are so many more benefits to video gaming over television - but as with anything else, keeping reasonable balance in one's life is goal #1.

I've been a lifelong gamer really, but everyone's surprised when/if I do mention it.

Eh, some of us clearly have more time on their hands (i.e. Sanchez/Joe/whatever his handle is these days)

Brook .. another thing to remember is that people in the USA aren't the only ones that play those violent video games .. I have on good authiority that people in Canada .. the UK .. France ... China .. Japan .. just about all the nations of the .. well, maybe not Sikkim anf Bhutan ... North Korea .. play violent video Games ... and with Gran Theft Auto .. why are auto thefts down .. and not up .. if we're going to censor games .. and TV .. and the printed word against violence.. then we better get ready for 24-hour a day Norman Vincent Peale and the Brady Bunch ..oh.. and don't forget the purple dinosauer.. " you love me, I love you ..."
there's nuts in this wqorld and even though they might denied a trigger .. sooner or later thgey'll blast off .. by the way .. what exactly was the violent media trigger that got Vlad the Impaler and Jack the Ripper going??

The point that Shawn is missing is that people on pyschotropic drugs should not be allowed access to firearms ..it's that little graph on the quesionaire that asks about mental health treatment, confinement and/or certain drugs ..

Actually the point concerning psychotropic drugs is simply patients taking these drugs should be under supervision at all times, or taken off the psychotropic prescription. A normal person does not murder children, however anyone on one or God forbid a cocktail of psychotropic drugs can and has committed these atrocities. When 100% of the mass shooters were under the influence of one or more psychotropic drugs, the answer to stop the violence is BAN all psychotropic drugs period.

America will never be perfect....it's like trying to maintain a beautiful,weed free lawn while being surrounded by others that don't really care....from time to time big ol healthy dandelions will pop up...goes with the turf...no matter how many times we spray the lawn with chemicals to keep the weeds out, they will always regrow...to many chemicals are very dangerous..