-by John Gillis
It’s an idea whose time has come.
Barely a week goes by when there isn’t a school or mosque or public shooting of some type around the globe.
However, with the shootings, deaths, and injuries in Christchurch, New Zealand, we are seeing a prime minister and a country that is intent on keeping the name of the cowardly shooter out of its media coverage as well as so called “manifesto” of the killer.
This week I’ve been researching the organization, No Notoriety.
The organization was founded by American parents Tom and Caren Teves after their son, Alex Teves, was shot and killed on July 20th, 2012, in an Aurora, Colorado, movie theatre mass shooting which resulted in 12 dead and 70 wounded.
“No Notoriety honours the life and memory of Alexander C. Teves, The Aurora 12, and all those affected by acts of violence,” their website states.
Tom and Caren Teves experienced every parent’s worst nightmare. Their first-born son, Alex, was murdered in the Aurora theatre shooting while heroically shielding his girlfriend from gunfire. Fortunately, thanks to Alex’s bravery, his girlfriend survived.
Basically, the idea of the No Notoriety policy comes down to this: No Name. No Photo. No Notoriety.
It’s become only clearer over time and through research that a primary motivating factor in these mass killings is a desire for notoriety and infamy.
Many of these sick individuals seek out and study mass killers that came before them and in the recent case of the New Zealand killings, the killer resorted to the live broadcasting on Facebook of his vicious attack.
The No Notoriety organization also challenges those of us in the media to take a hard look at how these events are covered. There is something terribly wrong when we know the name of the killer but we remember and know nothing of the victims and their families.
A survey on the No Notoriety website shows that 93.6 per cent of respondents supported the No Notoriety policy for media (6227 votes) whereas only 3.8 per cent were against it and (252 votes) and only 2.6 per cent weren’t sure (172 votes).
Why is this necessary at this time? The organization provides its explanation on its website: “The goal of No Notoriety is to reduce the amount of rampage mass killings that have escalated in both occurrence and severity over the last 15 years. Research and ensuing data support the fact that infamy and notoriety is a motivational factor for individuals to commit rampage mass murder to elevate themselves to a level that they cannot achieve in a normal fashion through their everyday lives. We now know that one killer inspires another. We must do everything we can to prevent future atrocities that could result from extensive media coverage of individuals who attempt or commit these rampages. No Notoriety is of the belief that the only message from the media to potential killers should be, “you will not receive fame in this way any more.”
We have seen in New Zealand that a willing prime minister with the country behind her can and will quickly make changes to the ownership of weapons of mass killings: i.e. semi automatic rifles and such. This will likely never happen in the United States, but at least there are other countries where they will be taking measures to limit the number of these weapons that are available.
