To: The New York State House, The New York State Senate, and Governor Andrew Cuomo

Make heroes and victims the celebrities- not the criminals.

Pass legislation preventing the mass media from releasing the names and photos of criminals.

Why is this important?

Flip on the news and watch how we treat the Batman theater shooter and the Oregon mall shooter like celebrities. We are all too aware of the name Adam Lanza. Dylan Klebold and Eric Harris are household names, but do you know the name of a single victim of Columbine? The quest for fame is often at least some of the impetus for committing atrocities. If the mass media stops publicizing the criminals and instead makes the names of the heroes and victims known, that will give at least one sick person pause. Let's call upon the media to make it their responsibility to make it less glamorous to be a monster and more glamourous to be a hero. TV networks and newspapers and all other media outlets- please take it upon yourselves to take away power from monsters. If need be, let's legislate this social contract. Stop glorifying monsters now. Stop showering our screens and print media with the names and faces of the monsters and instead those of the heroes and victims.