I decided to compose my essay around the topic of mass shootings, particularly how mass coverage of these mass murders contributes to an increased amount of mass shootings. With the recent coverage of mass shootings in the media, I thought to myself whether this media exposure is giving people with mental issues incentive to perform such horrendous acts. This is a very sensitive topic; however, I believe there's a lot of information that could potentially decrease the number of mass shootings. My essay will compare two pieces, "Contagion in Mass Killings and School Shootings" by Towers, Gomez-Lievano, Khan, Mubayi, and Castillo-Chavez with my popular piece "Mass Shootings and News Media: A connection?" by Max Kutner.
The articles center around research on how media coverage has increased mass shooting over the past twenty years. Though both articles differ in their presentation both articles convey similar points. The peer-reviewed article structures their points using a contagion model as well as conducting and implementing several academic types of research together, whereas the news article contains a stronger focus on how the …show more content…
The popular pieces argument is important because the media is the main drive for the contagion and there should be a growing awareness for this. The argument for the researchers is that there should be a decreased amount of media exposure to decrease the number of copycats or inspirations. The author of the popular piece believes the media should be more careful on how they portray these perpetrators. These arguments are significant because if handled together a great deal of shootings are greatly to decrease. It is unlikely that the shootings will stop occurring, however, if there is less media exposure, less reminders, and less seed plantings the fewer amount of mass shooters there will