President Obama recently agreed to not use James Holmes’ name in the media, in hopes of avoiding giving Holmes more notoriety than he has already received. But should there be a ‘code of ethics’ in the media as well? Some hope that media outlets that cover events like the Aurora shooting would also be careful to not bring more attention and infamy to suspects.
But in the age of the 24-hour news cycle and Twitter, the public is hungry for as much information as possible, and as fast as possible. People are eager to learn what could have driven James Holmes to commit such a horrible act. Some of the victims’ families have been outspoken against publicizing victims and their stories, and not glamorizing what James Holmes did.
WEIGH IN:
Do media outlets have an obligation to the victims? Does the attention that these crimes receive feed the media’s desire to cover them? Can this kind of attention also encourage people to commit these crimes?
Guests:
Robert Wright, senior editor at the Atlantic; author of “The Moral Animal” and “The Evolution of God”; fellow at the New America Foundation
Leo Braudy, USC professor and cultural historian; author of “The Frenzy of Reknown” and “The Hollywood Sign: Fantasy and Reality of an American Icon”