Why does the shooter get more attention than the victims?

Why does the media excessively share the shooter's name and face?

Why do news channels interview the shooter's family and friends rather than the victims'?

What makes the shooter more "newsworthy" than the victims?

After every tragic event, these are the questions I constantly ask myself. And yet, the media still does not understand why publicizing the identity of the attacker is controversial. In their world, they are simply reporting "news", but there are long-term consequences to their actions. Granting attention to these evil people serves their best interests, furthers their message, and even inspires more extremists to act.

So, mass media need to refrain from reporting the attacker of a terrorist attack rather than the victims. When a news channel seeks the attacker's family and friends, they build a story around the shooter, focusing on the person who took lives rather than the lives that were taken. By sharing the shooter's picture, face, and background, the media give the shooter attention that he does not deserve. This attention furthers the shooter's bigotry, influencing others with similar hateful messages to act. At a time where there is a new mass shooting every few weeks, it is reasonable to assume that the large-scale media focus on the shooter has influenced other tragedies.

After the most recent attacks in New Zealand, the media not only continuously shared the shooter's name and picture, but also shared the shooter's live video of the attack and the manifesto published online. Social media platforms, such as YouTube, willingly allowed this inflammatory film to be published to their sight because although repugnant, the video's content drew flocks towards YouTube to watch. In the same way, some figures in the media have republished sections of the shooter's white-supremacist manifesto, encouraging their audience to read the full document online. In an interview with Fox News, Kellyanne Conway recommended the audience to read the New Zealand shooter's manifesto because it will prove that the New Zealand shooter was not inspired by President Trump.

People should not be encouraged to read such bigoted, racist manifestos of evil people such as the New Zealand shooter. We should not pay any more attention to these evil messages praising white supremacy, racism, xenophobia, Islamophobia, and any other forms of hate. This man, who should remain nameless, is intrinsically evil, and I should not waste my time reading his messages of hate towards immigrants, Muslims, and non-Europeans.

When New Zealand Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern refused to say the name of the shooter, she spread a powerful message. The world should be intolerant to perpetrators of hate and any other evils. People who perform such cruel acts of hate should not be given any unnecessary attention because a part of them thrives on their growing notoriety. Their message lives on every time a media source shares their picture, writings, posts, etc. So a powerful way to end the spreading of their evil words would be to eradicate any additional attention or focus around the shooter. This evil person takes away the attention that ought to be given to the people who unwillingly lost their lives at the hands of evil. If our hearts are actually with them and their families, our news media outlets should reflect that. The families and friends of victims should be consoled and reassured that hate never wins.

Instead of reporting the shooter, the media ought to cover the victims. Where are their pictures? What were their stories? These are the names we should remember. These people did not choose this fate, and their lives were mercilessly taken at the hands of an evil man. Yet, they only get a few minutes on the news report while their attacker gets significantly more time. Creating a news culture that focuses on victims not only offers positive love and healing to any community or group affected but also ends the sick prioritization of the shooter over the victims. As a result of giving victims more attention, the evil messages of hate spread by the attackers will lose their significance. Their names should not be remembered, their writings should be lost, and their stories should not be heard.

Spokespeople for hate should never be newsworthy.