December 7, 2007
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Omaha Mall Shooting
One criticism of the media is that they make instant celebrities out of these shooters like the guy who shot eight people at the Omaha mall.
In fact, the shooter indicated in his suicide note that he expected this to make him famous. It is reported that he said, “Now I’ll be famous.”
I just read an article where the author indicated the news media should not release the names or photos of the shooters. Here is the link: Link
If you think about it, the press doesn’t release the names of rape victims.
Do you think the press should avoid releasing the name and photo of a shooter?
Comments (65)
Yes, they should.
Yes. They can call them “Person X” or something generic.
Yes. But they won’t.
No.
No..
I had family at the mall that day…
I think the shooter’s name isn’t that important.
If you want attention, just do something really really sadistic. The medic will have a field day.
Yes, the press needs to hold back names and pictures of the madmen.
Thinking back…I dont remember the victims, but I remembered some of the names and pictures of the madmen.. Do we need this information?
*media* Grrrr…
seems kind of silly to me. i mean, i can see what you’d hope it would accomplish, but if someones going to go on a shooting rampage… well, they’ll find a reason to do so, regardless. denying them post shooting celebrity isn’t really all that much of a deterant, is it?
A shooter is the perpetrator
A rape victim is NOT (no matter how some people may try and say it’s partly the rapee’s fault for “seducting” them or all that jazz!)
I mean, if the former is true. . .then doesn’t that mean. .
if something bad happens like rape, the victim’s identity is withheld.
If somebody does something bad but not real bad it’s in the papers (for example how the court proceedings went if they were fined or imprisoned or what)
but if somebody does something REAL bad the people can’t even know WHO The person is?
I’m afraid that some people, already not in their “right mind” may be motivated to go to extrememes if they’re afraid of being found out who they are and hated for it, if by doing a bad act the people are told, but by doing a SUPER bad act the people aren’t told?
Does that make any sense? Think about it!
Why don’t the shooters just get to gether and start shooting eachother?
Don’t mind my horrible spelling, I just woke up.
Why don’t the shooters just get to gether and start shooting eachother?
ha, if only.
if they aren’t at large or uncaught or whatever probably not. then the creation of fame through violence wouldn’t be an allure.
hmm I’m not sure I was very clear in my above statement so befuddled.
Let me rephrase.
If we keep the names of the ultra bad crime criminals withheld, we must still tell the public the news of other lesser crimes that were commited and who it was that did them. Right? It’s only through telling that we have the justice system we do.
If we start being hush-hush about who the criminals are, it’s only one step away from the Gestapo.
I can open up the paper right now of my hometown and find the court proceedings section and read who was fined or imprisoned and for what. People I don’t even know.
But if we stop telling people who the “ultra-bad deed doing” people are. Then we’re indirectly encouraging, even rewarding, worse crimes.
It’s like we’re saying
“if you do something bad, we’ll tell the people who you are. But if you do something REAL bad, we will not”
(and that right there is not a good thing!)
doesn’t matter, they’re going to do whatever they can for publicity for their media source. whatever they can do to raise some sort of trouble for someone.
a good idea in theory, but the public demands a face and name to go with those terrible things
If enough people are outraged by the media releasing such names the news stations ratings would drop, then they’d stop doing it.
However as long as people are interested these shooters will become famous no matter if the news is allowed to release names or not.
Howmany rape victims have had their picture posted on the internet despite the fact that newsies aren’t allowed to release their names?
Wow!
that long a comment and I’m still in the top twenty?
I don’t think it matters.
Eight people are still gone, whether we know the name of the guy or not.
And, the guy is gone, whether we know his name or not.
The media needs to stop putting so much emphasis on the shooter, and focus on the innocent victims instead. They should only mention the shooter without naming him, and with no picture of him, and only mention him as the reason for the tragedy. Troubled people who feel like they are nobody know that by going on a shooting spree and killing people, they will get their 15 minutes of fame. Not giving them that attention won’t stop all psychos, but I’ll bet it would save some innocent lives.
Okay, taking revenge on this guy from beyond the grave is stupid. Maybe his goal was “to be famous” (I doubt it – he was trying to end stuff in his life that he couldn’t handle it) but at this point it doesn’t matter what he wanted. He’s dead. He lost.
In cases like this, when the shooter kills themselves, no, I don’t think they should release pictures or names. IF, however, the shooter is running around free with his gun, I think it’s best to release a picture so that people can recognize them if anyone sees them on the street.
Yes. Sounds like a great idea. I agree with ashiri7016 also. Anytime a new shooting pops up in the news, someone else seems to be influenced by it and does the same thing.
Yes. The shooter is absolutely right. He’ll be famous now. They always are. >_<
<33
he might be famous, I guess. Why should we treat him any different than a suicide bomber in Iraq? We don’t know any of their names.
Still, perhaps local papers and TV should be allowed to carry his/her name. It is important for people to know what goes on in their community, but there is no reason for this man to get his name said in a national prime time slot. Presidental candidates have to pay for airtime, why should this guy get his name spread around?
Maybe not the shooter’s name and photo… but it’s sort of interesting to find out what precipitated this type of behavior in an individual, what warning signs were overlooked, etc. and how it might be avoided in the future. For example, a lot of schools nowadays are stricter against bullying–something that gunmen involved in school shootings were victims of.
Even if the general media withheld it people could still find out the identity of the shooter by just following articles to their source. But still, that would still mostly reduce the fame of these shooters…but then again, the media would not do that, too much about sensationalism.
I personally don’t think shooting rates would go down. You’re always going to have your psychos who kill people regardless of their after-death fame. This guy may have stated fame as a reason but it’s highly unlikely that that was his only reason, and I’m willing to bargain that even if that were taken away he would probably still have gone out on a shooting spree.
-David
I think they should not release the name of the shooter…except maybe to the victims’ families or something. He did it because he wanted to be noticed, and, posthumously, he got exactly what he wanted.
It is the responsibility of the media, however lets remember that the media exist to sell itself. It goes to grey moral grounds when it comes to something juicy, like a mass killing spree.
Unfortunately.
’nuff said…
Stop saying “shooter.” Say “mass murderer seeking fame.” The weapon is irrelevant.
They could say, “And now, our featured Jackass of the Day …”
yes.
Yes. Unless they didn’t catch the guy. Perhaps they should put it on police reports, but not on the press.
Sure. Why not, it won’t matter anyways. There probably isn’t any good in knowing how the kid looked like, or what his name was. The only thing the public should know is what events led this kid to commit such actions. That’s what Dateline, 20/20, and Law and Order are for.
Rape Victims are victims.
Shooters are criminals.
Not even in the same realm in my opinion. Yes, it should be released.
people need to know right? but on the other hand we should not make celebrities out of them. All we really need to know is that some people got shot and who they were. We should also realize that suicide is not forgiven.
***Complete sarcasm below***
Maybe the media should sensationalize suicide for those disilliusioned kids?!
Reuters – Dan Theologian decided to save tens of people by killing himself with a saw-off shot. A yoga book was found near his body, which appeared to be in the exact position he was found. The yoga book helped him shoot directly through his a** and into his brain. That Yoga position will now be named, The Theologian. In all of history a suicide like that has never been attempted. This may be the most famous suicide ever…or is it?
Yes. Putting a face on crime doesn’t make it any less criminal.
I think he should be denied all/any notoreity on any level. He should be called what he is..an imbalanced murderer.
No I don’t. It’s one thing to release the persons name, and It’s another when they spend the next month talking about that persons life and what drove them to commit such a crime. What they need to start doing is talking more about the lives of the victims as opposed to talking about the damn criminal!
And like momentkeeper said:
“Rape Victims are victims.
Shooters are criminals. “
No.
Yes. That kid is famous for winning the title of Omaha, Nebraska Village Idiot 2007, what a thing to be famous for. It’s funny how most people tend to try to conceal or deny whatever degree of failure and stupidity they’ve amassed in life but every so often, along comes that special individual who wants to let the whole world know what a loser they are.
No.
if there wasn’t so much shown on tv about the shooters we wouldn’t have as many. it’s possible since it’s shown so much… although much would happen anyway some people wouldn’t even attempt it if they hadn’t heard it before. it gives other people on the edge the idea that wouldn’t normally have it. i think they should say who the victims are and focus on the victims more than they focus on the guy who hurt the victims.
It might be worth a shot, but I don’t think withholding the names and faces will stop the shootings. If it did, then by all means do it. If not, I don’t care whether the shooter is famous or not, but I’d rather have more information than less. The more we know the more we will be able to determine the correct course of action to prevent future occurrences.
They should avoid it assuming the guy gets caught and everything. But if they run off and get away, then, and only then, should they release their name and photo.
Yes
Psychos will be psycho.
Yes, they whould avoid naming the perp.
As others have stated, rape victims names are withheld because they are victims They shouldn’t have to walk down the street having strangers know some terrible thing that happened to them.
We release the names and pictures of criminals so that we CAN know who they are…
I’m not really sure how to address the issue of notoriety because people who seek that out are probably going to do whatever they can to receive it. In the end, they get what they want, but what they want is pretty fucked up to begin with.
Crimes these days are too glorified for whatever reason the press decides they are news… I dont watch the news anymore for that reason alone… there are very good things reported in local and national news these days so I just turn the channel
A shooter is the perpetrator
A rape victim is NOT (no matter how some people may try and say it’s partly the rapee’s fault for “seducting” them or all that jazz!)
12/7/2007 2:37 PM PacifismPlease (message)
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I agree!
They want publicity…don’t give it to them.
The press doesn’t matter anymore. Sooner or later, the information will get out on the internet.
I agree with those who said “If the shooter kills himself, don’t release the photo or name…..don’t let him have that notoriety”….and also, that protects the family of the shooter, who probably have had an already difficult time raising a troubled, disturbed or mentally disabled child, and feel horribly about what happened and what went wrong – they don’t need any more grief in their lives from people knowing who they are – they have had, and will have, more grief than anyone can ever imagine. I speak from experience.
If the shooter is at large, then obviously, they need to release photos, names, etc, to find him.
Yes.
well, my friend’s dad (Gary Scharf) was shot and killed at the mall. I live in a town less than 30 minutes away from omaha. i think the media should report what happened and where. but not much more than that. the local omaha news was covering the story from about 2 p.m. until about 11.30 that night. spending 9 1/2 hours on that kind of story is not good at all. it doesnt help the emotional state of the victims, the families, etc.
i was just waiting for you to bring this topic up lol, but seriously, i don’t think the press should elaborate on these shootings for more then about two minutes, “8 people were killed in a shooting today at omaha mall.” because i think it’s been proven that the more people hear about them, the more they think about them, and the more likely they are to do it and if being famous is now a motive…thats way more then a problem.
Shaaa!
Is the shooter the victim? I’d personally would like to have a name and a picture of a shooter. We’re forgetting the fact that this one happens to be dead. Wouldn’t you want the name and photo of someone who shot up a mall an is still at large? Silly question Dan.
A victim is diffrent than the criminal.
they should not release the names and photos of shooters. i mean if its a celebrity already like oj simpson then its different.
> I think to a degree, no. I will agree with the sentiment that the notariety, i.e. being made famous/infamous, would and does stop alot of violence…. But, I think in the main, all the fools out in the world are small minded enough to need the fame. Note all the idiocy on you tube, the new video rock star mess…. To quote Al Pacino, in The Devil’s Adcocate, “Vanity, my favorite Sin….”! Idiocy of the highest order. You know some people hold the family responsible for the perp. I think the name and/or photo should be withheld.
Peace
yes. they shouldn’t be allowed to mean that much to people.
That dude in the pic looks tough!