May 24, 2018 2 min read

As we seek answers to the multi-faceted horrific phenomenon of the school gun massacres that are unique to this country, one problem stands out, but is rarely mentioned: the role that the media play in providing fertile ground for life’s losers to propagate such carnage.

We know that when a killer is identified, his photograph and life history will be prominently displayed in newspapers and on television news and talk show broadcasts, which will then be delighted to indefinitely offer nonstop coverage of the “breaking news.”

The evidence for my theory is found in the very words of the latest notorious mass murderer: the Sante Fe, Texas high school gunman, who said that he spared those he liked because he wanted the media to tell his story.

Thanks to the media, which is more likely, that we will be able to identify him or any of his many victims.

Infamy is one of the drivers for those who are bent on savagery. In their sick way, they can then feel important, that they have had an impact on the world. The media, in its zeal to sell newspapers and boost television ratings, plays right into killers’ hands. This is a rare instance in which our president had it right in characterizing those in journalism as the enemies of the people.

Oren Spiegler

Washington