Sen. Mike Lee (R-UT) and Rep. Andy Ogles (R-TN) jointly introduced a resolution seeking to stop the media from continuing to sensationalize mass murderers after horrific attacks on churches, schools, and other locations.
Breitbart News has a copy of the resolution from Ogles and Lee, which begins, “Calling on the media to engage in responsible and voluntary journalistic practices to deny mass public murderers the attention they desire and minimize any possible ‘media contagion effect’ of irresponsible and sensationalistic reporting practices.”
Ogles and Lee point out that “media widely publicizes…murderers’ names, photographs, life stories, motivations, social media posts, and manifestos, giving criminals the notoriety and infamy they desire.” Moreover, “media coverage of a mass public murderer routinely outweighs the coverage of the victims.”
They note that media coverage of a mass murderer is often so high-profile and in-depth that other would-be mass murderers hone their attack plans by studying media coverage of previous attackers.
U.S. Rep.-elect Andy Ogles (R-TN), standing, casts his vote for speaker in the House Chamber, January 6, 2023. (Photo by Win McNamee/Getty Images)
Ogles commented on the resolution:
This resolution simply asks the media to do their work responsibly and stop sensationalizing the despicable acts of mass murderers. Several studies have indicated that a ‘media contagion effect’ may be increasing the possibility of similar future tragedies. The media covers suicides with much more care due to the sensitive nature of the issue, and they ought to do the same for instances of public mass murderers. This Resolution offers suggestions to that end, and I thank Senator Lee for his leadership in leading this charge in the Senate.
Acclaimed thinker, social critic, and psychologist Jordan B. Peterson applauded Ogles and Lee’s efforts to end the irresponsible practice of giving mass murderers glory through wall-to-wall media coverage.
Peterson said, “We could choose, as a society, to make mass shootings exceedingly rare, as they once were. However, doing so will require the press—and anyone else who has the attention of a wide swath of the public —to withhold from the mass shooters what they all desperately and murderously desire: fame.”
Peterson added, “The approach outlined in the resolutions introduced today by Senator Lee and Representative Ogles would, if followed, make mass shootings a thing of the past.”
AWR Hawkins is an award-winning Second Amendment columnist for Breitbart News and the writer/curator of Down Range with AWR Hawkins, a weekly newsletter focused on all things Second Amendment, also for Breitbart News. He is the political analyst for Armed American Radio and a Turning Point USA Ambassador. He was a Visiting Fellow at the Russell Kirk Center for Cultural Renewal in 2010, a speaker at the 2023 Western Conservative Summit, and he holds a Ph.D. in Military History, with a focus on the Vietnam War (brown water navy), U.S. Navy since Inception, the Civil War, and Early Modern Europe. Follow him on Instagram: @awr_hawkins. You can sign up to get Down Range at breitbart.com/downrange. Reach him directly at awrhawkins@breitbart.com.