Media Narrative of School Shooting in Russia

Abstract

School shootings, defined as acts of mass armed violence perpetrated within educational institutions, elicit significant media attention. This extensive coverage, however, raises concerns regarding its potential contribution to the “copycat effect”, where subsequent crimes are inspired by media portrayals of previous incidents. Furthermore, media narratives can significantly influence public perceptions of both the victims and the perpetrators involved. This study aims to analyze the narrative of school shooting within four key categories: victim portrayal, perpetrator description, perceived motives, and the act itself. The results reveals a dominant narrative structure that closely follows the chronological sequence of the perpetrator’s actions. This mirroring effect, likely driven by the inherent demands of streaming media formats, results in a construction of victim narratives “through the lens” of the perpetrator. Consequently, information regarding the perpetrators and their actions tends to dominate the media landscape, potentially overshadowing the experiences and perspectives of the victims. These findings carry significant implications for the development of ethical guidelines within journalism and professional standards for reporting on mass gun violence in schools. Moreover, the identified patterns in media narratives could serve as valuable input for developing mathematical models that explore the potential link between media representations of school shootings and the occurrence of copycat crimes.