Matt Wuerker for August 06, 2020

Yeah. If most of us were driven by logic, we could fix that. And in fact, the NFL and NCAA have fixed the problem of streakers in exactly the way you are allowing us to infer. But those are single organizations with considerable power. “News Media” are competitors and they know that violence drives eyeballs on their material. “If it bleeds it leads” is as old as newspapers, I’m sure. Probably older (what are the subjects of all those old ballads?).

So, it’s the media’s fault there are violent criminal acts.

I do my best to not learn the names of infamous killers…. doesn’t always work, you know, OJ?

Nixon is famous now for preventing Peace Talks until after his re-election. Also famous for saying anything he did was legal because the President can do that. Sound like anyone we have today ?

“These dirty newspaper scribblers have the impudence of Satan. They come into camp, pick up rumors and publish them as facts! They’ll print military secrets just to sell newspapers. If I had my choice I would kill every reporter in the world, but I am sure we would be getting reports from Hell before breakfast.” William Tecumseh Sherman

Attack the 1st Amendment, not the 2nd.

Well, we COULD stop the WORST MASS MURDERER IN HISTORY by ignoring his COVID-19 “Press Briefings” and ignoring his 3 A.M. tweets from his golden toilet….

The deranged guy joins Trump’s elite group of White House defenders.

I usually like Matt Wuerker’s work, but this cartoon is every bit as irresponsible as “the Media” he blames for these killings. He himself is “the media.” This platform upon which we’re communicating is “the media.” And the issue is far more complex than just “the media” playing up bad things and inspiring copycats. First of all, it is the job of the news to report things which editors deem newsworthy. Everyone can second-guess editorial decisions, but usually they make pretty good decisions, and they are not going to report on things nobody is interested in or needs to know. Secondly, people have blamed “the media” for their woes since there was such a thing. Even in the early 19th century, Goethe was blamed for copy-cat suicides after he wrote “The Sufferings of Young Wherther.” Sure, it was a novel, but people complained he glorified suicide — just like this cartoon says it’s glorifying (or at least giving undue attention to) killers.Thirdly, if you are complaining about the 24/7 coverage and over-and-over repetition of the same stories, there’s a reason for that which has nothing to do with the reporters or editors. It has to do with corporate owners (after congress got rid of restrictions on monopolies and the fairness doctrine) — they created the 24-hour news cycle that had to be filled, then they cut news budgets so that fewer resources could be expended on reporting, which led to fewer stories and less thorough investigation — which led to the same thing being shown over and over and over again. That is purely a corporate decision and it comes directly from decisions Republican-controlled Congresses made. But do not blame even that for the murders of angry people with guns. Blame the easy access of guns to people who should never have them. That is clearly where the biggest problem lies when it comes to gun violence in this country.

Or, becomes president.

As the gods intended.

Maybe they should let the perps remain unknown? It might lower the chance of copycats.

The media is like a mother. Everything, absolutely everything, is her fault.

In civilised countries the names of the perpetrators of such crimes are not reported.

In civilised countries the names of the perpetrators of such crimes are not reported. Victims are mourned, but the criminals are not given the publicity.

We have so many, who can remember all the names?

We.. mimic what we learn or observe from others. From endless loops of violence to athletic stars, from inspirational leaders to hogwash. Violence and hogwash are winning.

Shoot the messenger. A common misdirection of responsibility among conservatives.

Hey, it works for the President: blunder, coverage, retreat, coverage, blunder ….

The Republicans took away everything he had to live for.

Well, Hearst created Billy Graham.

Career sleazebag Rupert Murdoch never pulled a trigger but he probably caused plenty of deaths over the decades……

Can anyone here prove that a deranged psychopath committed a heinous crime solely for the recognition of the media, rather than the mere fact he (most likely male) is a psychopath?

WTFN (What The Fox News: say it out loud.)???!!! The Media is sometimes complicit but not always. Some media simply refuse to name the perp for exactly that reason. MSNBC has done that & I believe NYT also, but others have also.

Yes; let’s ignore crime and it will all go away. Just like ignoring the Covid-19 pandemic made it go away.

Those who are capable of seeing the meaning of stories must know that Cain killing Abel says that one brother (a human being) has been killing his brother (another human) since the advent of civilization and for religious reasons.

There was no media when Adam left Eden but homicide has been a regular occurrence ever since; so media reporting the news of crime has no bearing on the commission of crime

@Say What Now? There is rarely, if ever, a one-to-one relationship in cause and effect. Multiple causes, multiple effects. Try not to be so simple-minded! It’s a cartoon, not a textbook.

Must be talking about Fox since CNN won’t publish the name

What came first? The murders did. Now they rarely show anything at all to the point you wouldn’t know anyone was harmed. That I find frustrating. Soft peddling murder.

C’mon. They never get enough credit for trying.

One small change to ht way coverage is given could cut Way Down on Violence from people who want Publicity:

Portray them as hopeless Idiots.

We should ALWAYS focus on the victim