Media has been a common means through which people from all over the world get information. However, the content shared in media is not limited; thus, besides being informative, it has also become an avenue through which community behaviors, perceptions, and culture are changed.
How Media Shapes Society’s Viewpoint of Mass Violence
Society’s viewpoint of violence has been dramatically affected by media. According to Meindl and Ivy (2017), through live coverage and chronological coverage of events, the media has made many members of society perceive violence as a means to get revenge. Furthermore, it has made society perceive crime as easy to arrange and executive as it tends to overemphasize previous criminal incidences' success.
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Similarities and Differences between the Two Incidences
The 1927 and 1999 incidents have numerous similarities. These acts of crime were propagated by anger, where the culprits acted in response to the anger. Furthermore, the culprits were dealing with trauma that they associated with happenings in their lives. However, while the culprits in the 1999 incident acted on anger due to students' bullying and lifestyle, the culprit in the 1927 incident was angry about his mothers' death, his sick wife, and foreclosure of his farm due to mortgage.
Students' Safety
School children are not safer now than before because incidences of bullying are still prevalent, criminals are rampant in society, the sale of illegal weapons is still rampant, and the media seems to glorify acts of violence that may inspire other criminals (Mehraj et al., 2014). Furthermore, modern weapons are more efficient; hence their rate of success is high.
Media and School Violence
The media is overstating school violence by covering the incidences of violence on live television and digging deep into the causes and success (Meindl and Ivy, 2017). Therefore, criminals may get inspired by the live coverages creating copycats who commit similar crimes.
Media and Stereotypes of Crime
Media significantly contributes to crime stereotypes by deeply analyzing different incidences of crime, their causes, how they were executed, and their success rate (Mehraj et al., 2014). By digging deep into crimes, other criminals are inspired by the incidences, plans, and success levels that might make them indulge in similar or other forms of crime.
The explosion of Social Media and Violence
The use of social media has significantly facilitated to faster spread of news to all parts of the world. For example, when terrorists detonate bombs, the images and videos are shared and circulated immediately on social media. People, therefore, rely on social media to be immediately informed about the happenings in different parts of the world. Media has made people perceive violence as glorified acts and means through which people can achieve their hearts’ desires (Park et al., 2012). Conversely, the news takes time to reach the people wherever they are when using traditional radios and televisions. Furthermore, fewer incidences were covered; hence people were not exposed to high levels of violence. As such, they still perceived violence as barbaric and inhumane.
Conclusion
The coverage of the different crime incidence has changed the communities’ behaviors, perceptions, and culture. Many incidences of crime are now covered in social media or live television, inspiring stereotypes and copycats inspired by the incidences. As such, school children are not safer now than they were before.
References
Mehraj, H. K., Bhat, A. N., & Mehraj, H. R. (2014). Impacts of media on society: A sociological perspective. International Journal of Humanities and Social Science Invention , 3 (6), 56-64.
Meindl, J. N., & Ivy, J. W. (2017). Mass shootings: The role of the media in promoting generalized imitation. American journal of public health , 107 (3), 368-370.
Park, S. Y., Holody, K. J., & Zhang, X. (2012). Race in media coverage of school shootings: A parallel application of framing theory and attribute agenda setting. Journalism & Mass Communication Quarterly , 89 (3), 475-494.
