Is there too much media coverage of mass shootings, or other acts of terrorism, either international or domestic?

With 24-hour news coverage on television, and home internet and mobile data making the speed of news almost instantaneous, we are overwhelmed by the amount of detail we can obtain about these attacks as they happen.

Are we making the perpetrators of these horrific crimes famous by digging up and reporting so many details of their lives, their motivation to carry out heinous acts, and the logistics and means by which they carry them out?    

Are we perhaps inspiring some reckless individuals who had thought about committing such an act to mimic what they are seeing in the news?

It isn’t likely, but why do we feel the need to focus so much on these criminals and the “why?”

Sometimes these people indicate a specific reason as to why they have carried out such attacks, and sometimes they don’t.

The truth is, the “why” should not be important to us, since there really is not a justifiable reason to take another human life, or a large and increasing number of human lives as we have seen of late.

As news consumers, how much do we want to know about the attacks? Why do we want to know so much, or know certain details? Is it to potentially protect ourselves and our family’s well-being – or is it simply because we are nosey?

Maybe we do not want to see so much coverage of these events, but are bombarded by it when we tune in to the news, turn on the radio, or constantly receive a myriad of push notifications pertaining to them.

What I want to know is, who were the victims? How can we assist their families through the grieving process? What can we send to them or do for them to help put them at ease? In what way can we memorialize them?

Let us know who the heroes were. Show us the people who helped others out of the line of fire. Show us the medics, police and first responders.

Furthermore, tell us in the weeks following what preventative legislation is on the table, when we can vote on it, and how to contact our representatives to help push such laws.

But, by all means, let’s stop making the perpetrators famous.