Assignment:
Vester Flanagan took the lives of two former colleagues at a local television news station and Tweeted about it, posting the footage to Facebook. The gunman from the Christchurch mass shooting similarly uploaded his manifesto and recording of the event to social media. How would you apply the theories regarding the construction of crime news we have covered to their actions and the media response to them? Are these merely ordinary crimes being amplified by the perpetrators seeking an audience for their bad acts, or do you think that the idea of social media fame was a catalyzing factor that led them to act?
Consider that social media removes such content very quickly and most news agencies will not air the videos these criminals made, to the extent that it is illegal in New Zealand to even own a copy of the video of the Christchurch shooting (to this day, NZ newspapers will not even publish the name of Christchurch shooter.) What are your thoughts regarding the unified response to deny the shooters the fame and notoriety they sought?