Journalistic Rules on Mass Shootings Compared to Mass Shooting Reports

There are plenty of great, noteworthy events that deserve to be publicized, but similarly, there are unfortunate stories that need to be covered as well. These stories need to be covered to inform the public and, in many cases, create awareness surrounding the event.

Journalists also must abide by many writing rules and pay close attention to the way that they are writing certain stories. For instance, mass shootings in America have spiked and can be a heavy-hitting subject to write about, let alone witness.

Emily Richmond, a public editor of the Education Writers Association, took it upon herself to dive deeper into how journalists cover school shootings, subsequently, rules to remember when covering a school shooting.

Some of the tips that Richmond highlights are to be prepared, be cautious with numbers and be brave. Being prepared preps the journalists for the unprecedented and unexpected twists and turns an event can take such as shooting. Being cautious with numbers refers to looking at all of the numbers rather than one simple statistic. For instance, Richmond states, “The fact that students face a statistically greater risk of being struck by lightning than being shot and killed in their classrooms hasn’t stopped policymakers from investing billions of dollars in school security.” Granted investing money into school security isn’t a bad thing, but when the statistics get thrown around that can often scare people without knowing the whole story, it creates a larger buzz around the topic. Lastly, being brave is important for all journalists because they are at the front line of giving the public the information that they need, and they need to be confident in what they are putting out to the public.

Richmond’s article also articulated what journalists should not do and why. For example, Richmond’s research showed that families and survivors who were affected by the 2012 mass shooting in an Aurora Colorado movie theatre suggest keeping the use of the shooter’s name to a minimum. Adam Lankford, an associate professor of criminology and criminal justice at the University of Alabama agrees saying, “limit the use of a shooter’s name could help curtail how frequently the perpetrator shows up in search engines and in social media.”

After reading 10 separate articles I have found that most journalists were on the same page with keeping certain details private, but others didn’t hold back when explaining the scene and people involved.

Two articles I read that by far provided the most information was one located in Wichita, Kansas at a nightclub and the other in Baltimore on a college campus. The nightclub shooting released victims and the suspect's names and even pictures from the scene of broken glass from the nightclub. This article seemed to focus a lot on a community member who passed away which derailed the story from learning more about the suspect. The Baltimore shooting did release the suspect's name, charges, previous offenses, and even how they arrested him. It also highlighted ways that the school has begun to act after the situation though.

Some articles I found used imagery to create the scene in the reader's mind rather than releasing pictures of the crime scene. In Delaware there was a tragic shooting but rather than showing pictures and releasing names, the journalist used descriptive words to set the scene and explained the wounds that the victims have.

Feeding through more mass shooting articles, the most interesting articles were the ones that followed up with families and survivors of mass shootings. After a shooting at Mount Tabor High School in Winston-Salem, North Carolina, reporter Justin Shrair spoke to an alum and his younger brother who is currently enrolled. They spoke of how they felt in the moment and the gratefulness that they all have that everyone is safe. More importantly, the article focused on how children were coping with the event.

Richmond mentions in her article how important mental health is and how even preparing for school shooters in the classroom could negatively affect a child who may already be having PTSD or anxiety.

In the final article, I read about officers investigating a school shooting threat from two boys. This journalist focused mainly on the action taken due to their comments. No names were released but the boys’ ages were identified as 12 and 13. Some parents talked about keeping their child home from school the next day because of the threats. This article examined how the school district took care of the event and the school district commented on its students saying,

“We are appreciative of the students who took this seriously, reported to parents, who then contacted school and police officials.”

Other articles I read involved a school shooting in Crown Point, Indiana, a shooting near a school in Forney, Texas, a campus shooting near the University of Georgia, a mass shooting in Virginia, and lastly, an overview of the shootings that occurred in Chicago over the Labor Day weekend.

As mentioned previously, there are only a couple of articles that I felt broke the journalistic rules when reporting on mass shootings. All other articles found interesting angles that eliminated a highlight story on the suspect/shooter and focused more on the impact and how people are actively coping with the unfortunate event that took place.