The problem of gun violence has plagued United States of America and cases of mass shooting have raised epidemic levels. Politicians and American citizens at large have divergent views about the topic of gun violence. Each group has its own opinion on the causes of gun violence and the best way the federal government can end the problem. Some argue that increased case of the mass shooting is because the American society is unusually violent, others assert that the mass shootings witnessed are as a result of racial divisions that have destroyed bonds of community. Consequently, there are others who believe that the problem is highly attributed to a failure by the health care system to provide citizens with proper mental care (Shultz et al., 2013).
Media Outlets Addressing Mass Shooting
However, there are countries which have legalized gun ownership just like the U.S and are not witnessing the high rate of mass shooting seen in the United States of America. Gun violence has led to multiple deaths making the United States a violent nation. Statistics show that the rate of gun homicide in America was 33 per million people in the year 2003. According to the Centers for disease and control, more than 32,000 Americans were killed by gunfire while more than 70,000 sustained life-changing injuries. In comparison to other developed countries like Canada and Britain, the rates of gun homicide are higher in America. In Canada, the rate is 5 per million people while in Britain the rate is 0.7 per million people (Shultz et al., 2013). Various media outlets in America ranging from television stations, radio stations, and print media (newspapers) have come out to address the problem of gun violence that has plagued the nation. News outlets that do not shy away from discussing this topic include the Fox News, the NPR radio, and the Slate magazine.
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Different Approaching in Addressing Mass Shooting
Media houses have differences and similarities when covering the story of gun violence in the country. The news agencies have presented different views on the causes of the mass shooting. For instance, NPR radio asserts that increased cases of gun violence in America are because the country has an astronomical number of guns in comparison to other countries. The U.S. is ranked 31 st in the world among nations with the highest rate of gun violence (Miller, Azrael, & Hemenway, 2013). The cause of gun-related deaths is not only a result of mass shootings. More Americans are likely to die from die in suicide-related gun violence than in mass shootings. The NPR, therefore, argue that more American citizens are at a higher risk of being killed by firearms than by any other means.
Former Slate magazine editor Rachael Larimore argues that the reason why the cycle of gun violence repeats itself in the country because the media gets the basic facts about guns wrong. She says that the mainstream media is good at lobbying for gun control but is the worst in gun journalism. According to Larimore, media outlets are inexperienced with guns and gun culture when writing stories about violence. It, therefore, becomes difficult if not impossible for the media to ever bridge the gap between the gun-control and the gun-rights movements. Television stations s like Fox News have their views on gun violence. Frank Miniter gave an opinion in Fox News that people should stop blaming law-abiding gun owners for murders. According to Miniter (2014), America has two divergent gun cultures, and the media refuses to cover the truth about guns and gun culture in the country. The two gun cultures include the freedom-loving gun-rights culture whereby guns are used for self-defense. The other culture is the criminal culture that exists in places where the government restricts gun rights. Miniter (2014) further asserts that gun violence is a result of the criminal gun culture and people should stop blaming legal gun owners.
Similarities Approaches taken in Reporting Mass Shooting
Though the media outlets have different views on gun violence, they share some similar facts towards the topic. The approaches they take in addressing gun violence are aimed at tackling the problem at hand. The media try to push the federal government to adopt gun policies that will ensure that citizens are safe and protected. The press also advocates for peace among people with divergent cultures in the nation to ensure that they live harmoniously with one another. The media is especially vocal in suggesting the need to have a background check on all individuals owning guns. Background checks will ensure that only those that are mentally fit and have attained age requirement can own guns (Miller, Azrael, & Hemenway, 2013) .
Challenges Faced by Media Outlets
All the media outlets have a different approach to the story because they face different challenges. The challenges are however somehow similar and cut across all the media houses. The primary challenge is to make a decision on which side of the story they purport to support. Media outlets are at crossroads to either support those advocating for the right of citizens to own guns and those that are against gun ownership (Miller, Azrael, & Hemenway, 2013). The mainstream media also finds it difficult to support or oppose proposed federal government policies on gun ownership. Most of these media houses are privately owned businesses with the aim of making a profit. They, therefore, strive to ensure that they remain relatively neutral while discussing sensitive issues in the society to avoid damaging their public rating and profitability (Shultz et al., 2013) .
Journalitsic Bias in Mass Shooting
The three media outlets have tendencies of journalistic bias when covering issues on gun violence and mass shooting. They pay more attention to other cases than others. For example, sustained attention is accorded to mass shootings that occur in schools like the one that happened in Florida this year. Less attention and focus is given to shootings that occur in businesses, malls or residential places. Focusing on gun incidents that have a higher death toll and neglecting others shows bias. It, therefore, becomes difficult for the mainstream media to effectively help solve the issue of gun violence because they put more focus on their profitability than addressing challenges faced by the ordinary citize ns (Miniter, 2014).
Conclusion
Lack of cooperation and bias in the mainstream media has made it difficult for citizens to understand the issue of gun violence. People get most information through the media and any misrepresentation of truth and reality of gun violence, and crime causes panic and misplaced public responses. The media should, therefore, stop to distort the reality of mass public shootings to ensure that legislation responses to mass shootings succeed in achieving their intended objectives.
References
Shultz, J. M., Cohen, A. M., Muschert, G. W., & Flores de Apodaca, R. (2013). Fatal school shootings and the epidemiological context of firearm mortality in the United States. Disaster health , 1 (2), 84-101.
Miniter, F. (2014). The future of the gun . Regnery Publishing.
Miller, M., Azrael, D., & Hemenway, D. (2013). Firearms and violent death in the United States. Reducing gun violence in America , 1-20.
