That article, and the ongoing stream of copycat killers, reminds me of a novel by the excellent writer Dean Ing: “Soft Targets”. The premise of the story is a successful campaign by a group of media leaders to treat terrorists as utter losers — lampoon them with Mad Magazine style cartoons, always describe them as mental defectives, etc. Needless to say, the terrorists go after the media types for that (because they hate losing publicity).
I always liked that notion. I’ve seen some writers pick up bits of this, by refusing to name people who have done evil in articles discussing their actions.
Unfortunately, given that the media by and large are in the entertainment business, and wouldn’t know journalism if it conked them on the head, this sort of idea is in reality not going to happen. Too bad, because it may be the single most effective anti-terrorism and anti-massacre tool available.
That article, and the ongoing stream of copycat killers, reminds me of a novel by the excellent writer Dean Ing: “Soft Targets”. The premise of the story is a successful campaign by a group of media leaders to treat terrorists as utter losers — lampoon them with Mad Magazine style cartoons, always describe them as mental defectives, etc. Needless to say, the terrorists go after the media types for that (because they hate losing publicity).
I always liked that notion. I’ve seen some writers pick up bits of this, by refusing to name people who have done evil in articles discussing their actions.
Unfortunately, given that the media by and large are in the entertainment business, and wouldn’t know journalism if it conked them on the head, this sort of idea is in reality not going to happen. Too bad, because it may be the single most effective anti-terrorism and anti-massacre tool available.