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The Virginia Beach police want people to focus on the victims of the shooting, not on the suspect.
UNITED STATES TODAY & # 39; HUI

If the Virginia Beach authorities fare, the shooter who killed 12 people and wounded four others during Friday's shooting will not join the ranks of the infamous mass murderers in US history.

To that end, they swear that his name will not stand up publicly.

By refusing to use DeWayne Craddock's name beyond his initial identity as a gunman, the chief of police, James Cervera, and other officials of the seaside resort of Virginia join the growing movement to deprive massacres of notoriety to which many aspire.

Several studies have shown that media coverage of this type of horrific crime incited others. In 2015, researchers at Arizona State University determined that each mass shot increased the chances that another will happen in the next 13 days.

Opinion: Shots in Virginia Beach: Cover armed men, but do not turn them into celebrity models

"What you often see is that they basically say," This person has become neither a celebrity nor a great attention, and I want to get the same reward, even if I use it in a way somewhat different, "said Adam Lankford, an associate professor of criminology at the University of Alabama, who studied mass shooting.

Efforts to prevent this contagion effect, also known as the copy effect, have led the media to underestimate the authors' coverage, perhaps by telling their story and retaining their photos. Some of the requests come from survivors of last year's massacre in Parkland, Florida.

Officials are also joining the cause.

Virginia Beach Police Chief James Cervera answered questions at a Saturday press conference. He promised not to publicly pronounce the shooter's name during the Friday massacre after his initial identification. (Photo: Megan Raymond, Salisbury Daily Times via the USA TODAY network)

Cervera said at a press conference a few hours after the assault that the shooter "will forever be designated as the suspect because we are now focusing on the dignity and respect of the victims in this case and their families. "

After a hate-motivated attack on two New Zealand mosques in March, there were 51 dead Premier Jacinda Ardern expressly avoided mentioning the name of the attacker, a declared white supremacist, so thirsty for recognition that he watched the massacre.

More recently, authorities in the Denver area have been calling on reporters to call attention to the victims of a shooting at a school in May that left one dead and eight injured, rather than the attackers.

In some cases, such as during the slaughter that occurred last June in the Capital Gazette drafting in Annapolis, Maryland, and after the November 2017 assault on the Sutherland Springs Church, In Texas, law enforcement officials initially refused to reveal the suspect's name to the media. back on the long tradition.

More: A woman of God, Scottish music lover: these are the victims of the shooting in Virginia Beach

The No Notoriety advocacy group, founded by the parents of one of the carnage victims of 2012 in a movie theater in Aurora, Colorado, takes a similar approach: minimizing the name and image of the assailants and showcase innocent people hurt by their actions. violence.

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Lankford, who described the evidence as "indisputable" contagion, said that these attempts to minimize its impact are only effective to a certain extent.

Yes, a decrease in attention to authors may help reduce the number of copying incidents simply because they would not be announced as much. But attackers would always be more famous – or infamous – than ever before.

To prevent this, it would take more than officials refusing to name the suspects.

"It can be good," said Lankford, "but that will not change if the media saturates the coverage with this content.It only makes a difference if the media takes a consistent approach from the officials."

This is a difficult proposition for the media, who consider themselves obliged to seek the truth and keep the public informed.

Nicole Dahmen, Associate Professor in the Faculty of Journalism and Communication at the University of Oregon, said the issue in newsrooms in the country is how to do this while minimizing the damage.

The public interest in the identity of the assailant outweighs the impact that such publicity could have on such incidents at the time. ;to come up? How important is it for people to know what the shooting game looks like?

Dahmen said his research and that of his colleagues suggested that changes were needed in reporting on the perpetrators during mass killings. She mentions Anderson Cooper of CNN and, more recently, the editorial board of the San Diego Union Tribune – but not her information department, which is separate – as early adopters of the non-profit policy. name.

More: How police deal with shootings: "They'll be changed forever," says Virginia Beach Police Chief

"It's a question of ethical and responsible coverage," said Dahmen. "We do not name minor victims. We do not name the rape victims. We have changed the way we report suicide. It's time to review how we report on who. For example, use the name once. Do not use the name in the editorial cover. Do not use the name in the titles. Do not repeat the name again and again. Do not use the names of previous authors in stories of new mass shootings. The important thing is not to give the author sickness, twisted glory, infamy. "

Part of this requires a greater focus on victims, survivors and the effect of such attacks on the community, as requested by public officials. Dahmen also stressed the need to report on solutions to gun violence.

They may point to the political polarization of gun control, but instead emphasize the coverage of many other issues related to the subject, such as school safety programs, red flag laws. and the impact of active fire drills.

Like Lankford, Dahmen advocates not to publish photos of murderers, though he goes even further in saying that it is not very useful to make the name public. , as long as the attacker has been apprehended or dead. She favors a single mention of the name and the non-publication of manifests.

Social media users would not necessarily follow these suggested approaches for mass media coverage, but would be a major step in limiting the amount of killings sought.

"The problem of mass shooting is not the fault of journalists," said Dahmen, "but journalists need to think about the nature of our role and our responsibility to cover it."

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