Media blackout on mass shootings?

Patrolman Walter Emerick of the Cleveland Police did a couple of foolish things after responding to an Oct. 10 school shooting: He used his personal cell-phone camera to take a photo of the dead gunman, 14-year-old Asa Coon. Then he sent the photo to some other people, one of whom posted it on the Internet. Emerick was hit with an eight-day suspension Monday after a hearing.

Emerick’s story comes as, in the wake of the Omaha mall shooting, Americans take a more critical eye to media coverage of mass shooters such as Coon in Cleveland and Robert Hawkins in Omaha. A news analysis by Jocelyn Noveck of the Associated Press poses the question: “Should the media have denied Robert Hawkins the odious fame he coveted, by refusing to identify him by name?”

It’s tempting to join Chicago Tribune columnist Eric Zorn’s call for “a media blackout – an agreement among responsible publications and broadcasters to use the name and image of such killers as sparingly as possible.” You wonder if all the attention given these killers does help push would-be copycats over the edge. And the more sensational aspects of the coverage – like the security camera shots of the Omaha killer firing his AK-47 – bring legitimate questions of what’s really necessary to tell the story.

But copycats, experts say, are inspired by the actual deed, not the doer. And as the Emerick incident shows, a media blackout just wouldn’t work. Someone, somewhere, is going to post photos, videos or narratives on the Web – and those likely would be far more sensational, less accurate, full of rumors and misidentifications. Better to let the media do what it does best, setting the record straight – in a responsible manner, if not always to everyone’s taste.