To: President Donald Trump, The United States House of Representatives, and The United States Senate
Stop Promoting Fame for Mass Murderers and Terrorists
Prohibit the reporting in mass media of specific names, photographs and other information identifying individuals and organizations who commit heinous crimes. Instead create a central archival website where media can report and the public can readily obtain identifying information, but on it's own volition, thereby defeating mentally ill individuals and organizations in their quest for global fame through broadcast publicity surrounding terroristic acts while preserving First Amendment rights to responsibly speak and inform the public of their existence.
Why is this important?
I live in Tucson and share the devastation of public acts of murder with those living in Roseburg, Charleston, Newton, Kileen , Blacksburg, San Ysidro, Austin, Edmond, Binghamton, Littleton and on and on-- all of our cities in which mentally ill individuals have sought fame by committing a mass murder. As a psychotherapist, it's obvious to me that major media collude in these heinous acts by rewarding the perpetrator with worldwide fame.
At the same time, I am someone who has filed a federal lawsuit against the government in defense of the First Amendment, so treasure the media's right to inform the public about these events.
I am asking Congress and the White House to create and adopt legislation that requires the media to RESPONSIBLY speak: In the same manner that we prohibit an irresponsible cry of, "Fire!", when none exists in a crowded theatre, we must limit the media from divulging specific identifying information about the perpetrator to only one readily accessible archival website where those who want to immortalize in their minds the identity of a mentally ill killer of children (or a terrorist committing a beheading) can go and do so....
...BUT NOT AT THE EXPENSE of encouraging other disturbed people to compensate for their feelings of powerlessness and damaging the American psyche-at-large by the systematic destruction of families, knowing they will be push-glorified, their rantings read and their faces globally seen and remembered for shooting bullets into school children, folks watching a movie, people eating lunch in a restaurant....folks just like us, future victims served up on a platter to all the would-be murderers watching the news, reading the headlines, surfing the web and plotting their immediate paths to similar fame.
At the same time, I am someone who has filed a federal lawsuit against the government in defense of the First Amendment, so treasure the media's right to inform the public about these events.
I am asking Congress and the White House to create and adopt legislation that requires the media to RESPONSIBLY speak: In the same manner that we prohibit an irresponsible cry of, "Fire!", when none exists in a crowded theatre, we must limit the media from divulging specific identifying information about the perpetrator to only one readily accessible archival website where those who want to immortalize in their minds the identity of a mentally ill killer of children (or a terrorist committing a beheading) can go and do so....
...BUT NOT AT THE EXPENSE of encouraging other disturbed people to compensate for their feelings of powerlessness and damaging the American psyche-at-large by the systematic destruction of families, knowing they will be push-glorified, their rantings read and their faces globally seen and remembered for shooting bullets into school children, folks watching a movie, people eating lunch in a restaurant....folks just like us, future victims served up on a platter to all the would-be murderers watching the news, reading the headlines, surfing the web and plotting their immediate paths to similar fame.