Widespread media coverage contributing to rise in mass shootings, say psychologists

Widespread media coverage of mass shootings is contributing to their rise by giving perpetrators the fame they “desire”, according to researchers.

By spreading the names and faces of mass shooters, social media and the mainstream media can be linked to a rising trend in school shoot-outs and public mass murder, psychologists have said.

And the number of shootings in the US, which now occur at a rate of one every 12 days, would be reduced by one third if journalists, bloggers and social media users “made a pact” not to spread the news.

Researchers at Western New Mexico University also said the media drive to cover mass shootings because of ratings and advertiser sales needed to stop.

The warning comes after a young mass shooter in Munich was found to have been “obsessed” with Norwegian mass murderer Anders Breivik. The US also saw the deadliest shooting in its history this year with the massacre of 49 people at a gay club in Orlando.

Read more at independent.co.uk