Visually Reporting Mass Shootings: U.S. Newspaper Photographic Coverage of Three Mass School Shootings

Abstract

Given the intense news coverage that mass shootings receive and recent findings on contagion effects, it is important to examine how news media organizations cover these crimes. While reporting the “who” of news is a standard journalistic practice, there is growing debate regarding the extent to which the perpetrators of mass shootings should be named, pictured, and discussed in news media coverage. Within the theoretical framework of agenda-setting, this study examined U.S. newspaper photographic coverage following three major school shootings. Through content analysis of 4,934 photographs from 9 days of newspaper coverage, this study made several key findings about the overall prominence of photo use, changes in photo use during the 3 days following mass shootings, and comparisons between photos of perpetrators and victims. In particular, the study found empirical evidence that on a photos-per-individual basis, the coverage gave more attention to perpetrators than to individual deceased victims by a ratio of 16 to 1. Given contagion effects, this study finding raises serious concerns about current practices in news media publication of perpetrator photos. Although the Society of Professional Journalists’ Code of Ethics encourages news media members to seek truth and report it, the code also emphasizes moral imperatives to “balance the public’s need for information against potential harms” and “avoid pandering to lurid curiosity.