Chances are, if you've lived in the United States at any point in the past 15 years or so, you've heard of a mass shooting taking place. Also, chances are that if you have heard of a mass shooting taking place, you first heard about it from traditional media sources, be it CNN, Fox News or your local NBC station.
The unfortunate reality is that as the number of mass shootings taking place increases over time and the number of shootings reported on by the media increases, we see patterns develop in how various media outlets choose to conduct their coverage.
This most recent shooting at a Christian elementary school in Nashville, Tenn. reveals how the media willingly breaks their own rules in order to reinforce a narrative.
On Monday morning, March 27, a 28-year-old woman walked into the Covenant School in Nashville, Tenn. with a semi-automatic rifle and killed six individuals, including three children. Statistically speaking, it is highly unlikely that a woman would conduct a mass shooting. It was later revealed to the public that the 28-year-old woman was in fact a transgender man - a biological woman supplementing testosterone hormone therapy. This leads us to the first rule broken by the media:
Misgendering: As the vast majority of the mainstream media is ideologically aligned with the modern left, outlets adhere to the "principles" of transgenderism in their reporting. Trans men are men and trans women are women, as they say. But, not in the case of a trans person murdering innocent children, apparently.
USA Today's initial headline of the shooting read, "Who is the female Nashville school shooter who killed six at private Christian school?" The New York Times posted an article and Twitter thread stating that "It is rare for a woman to commit a mass shooting." Many mainstream outlets, including USA Today and the New York Times, continued to refer to the shooter as a woman even after the police revealed her transgender identity. In this case, the mainstream media is guilty of "misgendering" and "deadnaming," two cardinal sins according to the modern left.
Eventually, many outlets updated their reporting to align with their ideological precepts, and were ridiculed for it. The New York Times and CBS News examples below demonstrate the media's attempts to atone for their sins.
CBS News and the New York Times just two of many outlets forced to issue clarification on the shooter's gender identity.
Once the facts of the situation are covered, the media then transitions to the next facet of their reporting: where to lay the blame. The second rule broken by the media:
Inconsistent identification of responsibility: How does the media decide who is to blame for the tragedy? This should be an easy one - the criminal. Someone more driven by politics might be able to make the case for blaming guns. Sure, you can make that case. But what you can't do is flip-flop between multiple targets of blame depending on the scenario. It's inconsistent, hypocritical and more importantly, prevents honest discussion of potential solutions to the problem.
Years ago, the mainstream media led discussions on whether Republican Sarah Palin was to blame for a shooting that wounded Democratic Rep. Gabby Giffords. However, no such conversation was had among mainstream outlets regarding whether or not Democratic Sen. Bernie Sanders' rhetoric was responsible for the attempted murder of Congressional Republicans at a baseball practice by a Sanders supporter.
The mainstream media is quick to craft the narrative, deciding whether to lay the blame of the shooting on guns, or the criminal, or an ideology, or rhetoric. According to the media, if the suspect is X the blame is Y. But, if the suspect is Z, the blame can't possibly be Y. It is this inconsistency that propels everyday people to trust the media less and less each year.
And yet, the mainstream media will find ways to stoop even lower, leading us to our final broken rule:
Blaming the victim: Blaming the victim is something nearly everyone agrees is despicable regardless of political affiliation. The victims of this senseless act of violence extend from those murdered to the rest of the school, their families, and the Nashville Christian community at large. In fact, the police chief described the shooting as a "targeted attack."
In one of the more depraved acts of media malfeasance in recent memory, ABC News's Terry Moran appeared to tie the shooting to Tennessee conservatives and recently-passed legislation banning the use of hormone therapy and genital mutilation of minors in the state.
Moran, while reporting on the breaking news, stated, "The state of Tennessee earlier this month, the Governor signed a bill, that banned transgender medical care for minors as well as a law that prohibited adult entertainment including male and female impersonators after a series of drag show controversies in that state."
Would Terry Moran ever suggest that a rape victim is to blame for his/her assault? Certainly not. He'd likely lose his job for it. Will be lose his job for stating that Tennessee Republicans essentially share blame for the shooting? Certainly not.
At this point, one shouldn't expect the media to cover sensitive topics like this with any sense of objectivity. Which is a shame. Unfortunately, that's the world we live in, and it appears it will continue to get worse before it gets better.
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