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Friday, May 7, 2021

Mass Murder And The Media

We've had 20 years of mass murders throughout which I have repeatedly told CNN and our other media, if you don't want to propagate more mass murders, don't start the story 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, not to make the killer some kind of anti-hero. Do localize the story to the affected community and make it as boring as possible in every other market. Because every time we have intense saturation coverage of a mass murder, we expect to see one or two within a week. [This is a hopeless request. Media executives care about one thing: ratings. From that point-of-view, the more mass murders the better and 2021 has been a banner year.]

Dr. Park Dietz, Forensic Psychiatrist, 1996

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