Blue Mass Group

Reality-based commentary on politics.

The Murderer

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I really detest the focus of the media on the murderer. I’m not interested in what he looks like. I’m not especially interested in his views. I’m not interested in his history. We get it at this point. We know who these people are. He can be studied by specialists. He forfeited the right to take up a second of my precious time on this earth when he murdered my fellow human beings.

I studied terrorism in college with the ancient Ernst Halperin- quaint now that in order to study the topic we mainly focused on the anarchism of the early 20th century. The point of terrorism is NOT primarily to terrorize. It is to convert others to see the world from the terrorist’s point of view. Virtually no one in the media understands this.

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Comments

  1. But unfortunately coverage is necessary. Authorities need to know everything they can about this guy, especially if he has ties to others who might do similar things, and coverage helps to bring people forward.

  2. combat these tragedies. I think extensive media coverage does encourage more of these, but it’s unclear to me how you would restrict it.

    If you’re not familiar

    Abstract
    This paper reports a field experiment concerning mass-media and suicide. After the implementation of the subway system in Vienna in 1978, it became increasingly acceptable as means to commit suicide, with the suicide rates showing a sharp increase. This and the fact that the mass-media reported about these events in a very dramatic way, lead to the formation of a study-group of the Austrian Association for Suicide Prevention (ÖVSKK), which developed media guidelines and launched a media campaign in mid-1987. Subsequently, the media reports changed markedly and the number of subway-suicides and -attempts dropped more than 80% from the first to the second half of 1987, remaining at a rather low level since. Conclusions regarding the possible reduction of imitative suicidal behaviour by influencing mass-media-reports are drawn. Experiences from the media campaign are presented, as well as considerations about further research.

      • where many of the wounded are being treated. I assume everyone else is doing that as well.

  3. I’m still incensed by the Rolling Stone cover for Tsarnaev, but I helped friends scour our Facebook photos, walls and newsfeeds for photos of the brothers to help the police and give to media. It was a way to feel useful when I was in Chicago, though it was still jarring to see teachers and friends on international television. And it ultimately led to their apprehension. It helped capture the at large terrorists in Belgium and France after the attacks their too.

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