After the mass shooting in Oregon which left nine people dead at a community college, local police refused to publicly name the shooter. Indeed, Douglas County Sheriff John Hanlin stated in a press conference, "I will not name the shooter ... I will not give him the credit he probably sought prior to this horrific and cowardly act."
Forget for a moment Hanlin's past trutherism regarding the Sandy Hook massacre, and instead focus on his understanding the danger turning this shooter into a celebrity poses.
It's a danger CNN clearly understands. A danger, apparently, the network could care less about when ratings are up for grabs, though. For today, CNN aired a clip of Hanlin's press conference. Then, immediately afterward, an anchor smugly named the shooter before diagramming an internet post from said shooter in which he wrote, "Seems the more people you kill, the more you're in the limelight."
Why? A statement, not a question.
Witness:
I really don't know what to say, other than that this is simply another demonstration of how some mainstream outlets in this country, rather than inform the larger public and benefit society, actually do damage to it.
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David Harris-Gershon is author of the memoir What Do You Buy the Children of the Terrorist Who Tried to Kill Your Wife?, recently published by Oneworld Publications.