-Caveat Lector- Taber shooting sparks debate on copycat crime OTTAWA, May 02, 1999 (The Canadian Press via COMTEX) -- ''Copycat!'' It used to be a trifling insult regularly traded by children at play but in the wake of the Taber school shooting, copycat behaviour has become one of the hottest topics of the day. Did the news media, with their intense coverage of the school massacre at Littleton, Colo., contribute to the school shooting at Taber, Alta.? Media organizations have been reluctant to comment publicly but debate is simmering in newsrooms and on the Internet. ''It's a question that's best left for the experts, I think,'' Sarah Crawford, director of media education at Toronto-based CHUM Television, said in an interview. ''I think that all media now are certainly asking themselves about their responsibility.'' George Gerbner of Temple University in Philadelphia, one of the world's leading authorities on media violence, cautioned that the evidence for copycat crime is indirect and circumstantial. ''There's no way of establishing a causal link between any behaviour and its antecedents,'' Gerbner said. Nevertheless, he believes the phenomenon is of profound concern to society -- and not just because of the crimes committed. ''According to our studies of highly reported criminal activity, there's a greater sense of insecurity, a greater sense of vulnerability, and a greater likelihood of what I call news-bashing.'' Chris Dornan, director of the Carleton University School of Journalism in Ottawa, said the Taber youth who killed one schoolmate and wounded another does seem to have been inspired by events at Littleton even though any stated motive has not been made public. ''He (the Taber shooter) only knew about the events in Littleton by virtue of the media coverage of those shootings,'' Dornan said. ''So, in that sense, it is a copycat killing.'' But news organizations can't be blamed because they must report events of major concern to the public, added Dornan. ''The media cannot simply ignore these events; they are noteworthy. They did arrest the attention of an entire continent, if not the Western World. ''The events in Littleton were so shocking and so appalling that I can't imagine anything other than blanket coverage.'' But Shari Graydon, who teaches media studies at Simon Fraser University in suburban Vancouver, believes the massacre could have been reported with greater restraint. ''The volume and intensity of the coverage . . . has been way over the top,'' she said. She noted that media organizations don't normally report suicides or bomb threats. ''That is implicitly a recognition that the reporting of those events inspires copycat crimes.'' Jacques Brodeur of the Coalition for Responsible Television, based in Quebec City, said that for many alienated young people, media notoriety is a big goal. ''These two guys (the Littleton killers, who killed themselves after mowing down 12 schoomates and a teacher) have become stars,'' Brodeur said. ''They're more important than the war in Kosovo. They're more important than Wayne Gretzky. This has an influence on every troubled youth.'' Gerbner said there is no question that dramatic events in the media -- either actual events in trhe news or fiction in the movies -- can influence behaviour. ''Everything that we do reflects some story that we hear,'' he said. ''That is the unique aspect of human life. Other animals only react to their own physical environment, we react to the stories with which we are surrounded. ''There's nothing we do without some roots or some origin in some kind of a story. Telling and absorbing and receiving stories is the prime mover of any behaviour and this is no exception.'' Copyright (c) 1999 The Canadian Press (CP), All rights reserved. -0- By Dennis Bueckert News provided by COMTEX. [!CANADA] [!COMMUNITY] [!INTERNATIONAL] [!WORLD+AFFAIRS] [CHILDREN] [CPW] [CRIME] [EDUCATION] [ENVIRONMENT] [INTERNET] [MEDIA] [NEWS] [NEWSGRID] [QUEBEC] [TELEVISION] [WAR] -- ----------------------- NOTE: In accordance with Title 17 U.S.C. section 107, this material is distributed without profit or payment to those who have expressed a prior interest in receiving this information for non-profit research and educational purposes only. For more information go to: http://www.law.cornell.edu/uscode/17/107.shtml ----------------------- DECLARATION & DISCLAIMER ========== CTRL is a discussion and informational exchange list. Proselyzting propagandic screeds are not allowed. Substance�not soapboxing! 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