# Should the media report on dangerous people who crave the attention? **URL:** \ **Category:** Great Debates\ **Created:** [December 11, 2010, 11:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/should-the-media-report-on-dangerous-people-who-crave-the-attention/563775 "2010-12-11T11:50:49Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 5\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Knigel](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/bbe5ce/32.png) [@Knigel](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Knigel)\ **Post date:** [December 11, 2010, 11:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/should-the-media-report-on-dangerous-people-who-crave-the-attention/563775/1 "2010-12-11T11:50:49Z")
Socially undesirable people sometimes commit taboo acts such as murder or rape in order to gain negative attention from the public. They may do deeds that shock the public because they enjoy the publicity. What is the media’s responsibility in these situations? Should the media self-censor? Are the rules for mass media and bloggers different? ---
**Author:** ![fusoya](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/ecccb3/32.png) [@fusoya](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/fusoya)\ **Post date:** [December 11, 2010, 2:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/should-the-media-report-on-dangerous-people-who-crave-the-attention/563775/2 "2010-12-11T14:04:08Z")
In NYC, most of the media outlets will now self-censor suicides, in order to avoid inspiration. About 5 years ago, there were a string of suicides at the NYU library, by people jumping off the 8th floor balcony. The NY Post (aka the scumbag of scumbag newspapers) actually put a photo of a student falling mid-air on the front page! Every other news outlet in the city ripped them a new asshole. ---
**Author:** ![The\_Amazing\_Hanna](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/977dab/32.png) [@The\_Amazing\_Hanna](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Amazing_Hanna)\ **Post date:** [December 11, 2010, 2:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/should-the-media-report-on-dangerous-people-who-crave-the-attention/563775/3 "2010-12-11T14:08:40Z")
I think they shouldn´t publish names and pictures of criminals unless it´s really vital to public interests. ---
**Author:** ![godix](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/278dde/32.png) [@godix](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/godix)\ **Post date:** [December 12, 2010, 12:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/should-the-media-report-on-dangerous-people-who-crave-the-attention/563775/4 "2010-12-12T12:21:25Z")
It depends on how it’s done. I can see it being covered in a way that doesn’t encourage copycats. For example, and this is an old example, Reagan was shot to impress a movie star. From the coverage I’ve seen of that, it was covered in such a way that everyone realized how insane and stupid that was. So more people weren’t encouraged to go on a shooting spree to with a starletts love. OTOH a lot of coverage of over the top protests seems somewhat fawning, or at last gives attention and encourages more of it. Code Pink, tea party, whatever. When they cross lines, perhaps the media should stop and ask if they need to cover that. ---
**Author:** ![Bosda\_Di\_Chi\_of\_Tricor](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bosda_di_chi_of_tricor/32/16845_2.png) [@Bosda\_Di\_Chi\_of\_Tricor](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bosda_Di_Chi_of_Tricor)\ **Post date:** [December 12, 2010, 2:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/should-the-media-report-on-dangerous-people-who-crave-the-attention/563775/5 "2010-12-12T14:35:20Z")
Temple of Artemis…arson…Herostratus…the question is nothing new, & cannot be resolved. > **[Temple of Artemis | Destruction](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Temple_of_Artemis#Destruction)** > > In 356 BC, the temple burned down. Various sources describe this as a vainglorious act of arson by a man, Herostratus, who set fire to the wooden roof-beams, seeking fame at any cost; thus the term herostratic fame. For this outrage, the Ephesians sentenced the perpetrator to death and forbade anyone from mentioning his name; but Theopompus later noted it. Aristotle's Meteorology describes the temple's conflagration, but not its cause. In Greek and Roman historical tradition, the temp Herostratus... > **[Herostratus](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Herostratus)** > > Herostratus (Ancient Greek: Ἡρόστρατος) was a 4th-century BC Greek, accused of seeking notoriety as an arsonist by destroying the second Temple of Artemis in Ephesus (on the outskirts of present-day Selçuk). The conclusion prompted the creation of a damnatio memoriae law forbidding anyone to mention his name, orally or in writing. The law was ultimately ineffective, as evidenced by surviving accounts of his crime. Thus, Herostratus has become an eponym for someone who commits a criminal act in ...