Mass shootings and the media: why all events are not created equal

Due to their sensational nature, mass shootings receive a considerable amount of attention in the media. Despite their rarity, not all shootings garner the same coverage. The present study examines characteristics of newsworthiness among 90 shootings between 2000 and 2012. Using a media distortion analysis of articles in The New York Times, specific consideration is given to how offender characteristics, victim counts, and locations of the events impact the newsworthiness of each case. The findings indicate that race/ethnicity and victim counts are the most salient predictor of whether or not a shooting was covered, with perpetrators of Asian and other descent and those events with higher victim counts generating more prominent coverage (measured as higher article and word counts), whereas incidents occurring in locations other than schools yielded less coverage. Implications from the findings, both for the general public and media practices, as well as study limitations, also are considered.