Over the July 4 holiday weekend in the United States, American excess was on full display. Amid the lavish fireworks, barbecues and other celebrations, another quintessential part of American life was also at a peak: gun violence.
There were 14 mass shootings over the long weekend, making it the worst weekend for gun violence in 2021 so far. At least 150 people were killed in more than 400 shootings according to the Gun Violence Archive. As it stands, 2021 is on track to overtake 2020 as the deadliest year for gun violence in decades.
How were these tragedies suffered by our “vital ally, partner and friend” covered in Australia? According to data from media analysis tool MIT Media Lab, not a single article was written about this latest spate of mass shootings and gun violence.
Crikey has taken a look at how Australian media has covered mass shootings in the US since the start of 2018 until the end of June 2021. What we found is that despite a slow but consistent rise in the number of mass shootings, Australian media outlets have been generally covering these “run-of-the-mill” mass shootings less.
In 2018 Australian media wrote 530 articles about 321 mass shootings in the United States. In 2020, it plummeted to just 74 articles about 614 shootings, but has ticked back up in 2021.
There are three major factors that are likely affecting coverage.
In 2020 the media’s COVID-19 focus may have taken the attention away from shootings (which continued to increase, despite the pandemic). Additionally, this data does not take into consideration the scale of a mass shooting, which clearly influences the amount of coverage. The 2019 El Paso Walmart shooting, for example, correlated with a large spike in media coverage due to the size and the motive of the attack.
Media coverage data also includes articles about gun reforms in the US. In April 2021, there was an increase in coverage that coincided with President Joe Biden’s announcement of a new gun control plan. Without this it’s likely there would have been less coverage.
Overall, however, the data is clear: the trends of Australian media coverage of mass shootings do not match up with gun violence trends in the US.
As mass shootings continue to rise in the US, Australian media outlets — perhaps reflecting an increased numbness to the horrific violence and a learned helplessness as major reforms fail to eventuate — are less interested in telling their audiences about it.
What can you say? Sympathy wears out when people refuse to learn or to take action to deal with the problem. Instead they buy more guns and call it security. There is almost a biblical ‘you reap what you sow’ about gun violence and US society.
There appears to be zero desire within the US populace as a whole to do anything about this. Sad as it is why should we ber concerned here if they aren’t?
They seem unable to conceptualise the positive effects of stricter gun laws. So it becomes literally an arms race; one aided and abetted by the NRA. There are far more guns than people. Even the good guys with guns – the ones who are supposed to protect us from bad guys with guns – are being shot. It’s as if the 2nd Amendment is hardwired in their brains.
Good article. But a more complete analysis might consider the ideological affinities between the Murdoch press and other right-wing media with the US “libertarian” Right, who have no interest in talking about this ongoing disaster.
Agree.
The less news we have about the USA the better – Unless it’s about them retreating to their homeland.
Wish they would return to their homeland. Increasingly dangerous days with the US military ensconced up north.
The sad fact is that mass shootings in the USA are no longer news, they are part of life. The Republican Party in many States are making it easier to own guns of any type. Americans accept this, they accept their children have to live in fear of school shootings so have “active shooter drills”. I don’t offer my thoughts and prayers, as there is no point. America has made its bed. It has to lie on it.
I must admit that I have adopted an “oh well, another gun massacre in America” attitude. It is necessary in order to preserve your own sanity. Too many Americans are ‘pig-headed’ and absolutely stubborn when it comes to making changes such as those that are so obviously necessary for meaningful gun law reform. I have almost written them off in many ways. It is up to the Americans to address this problem. No one else can do it for them.
The vitally important thing for us though, is that we do not become complacent here in Australian and give in to the gun lobby who will exploit any crack in our resolve to keep up the pressure on gun-control laws. If it were up to me I would be tightening our gun ownership laws.