Public Perception of Mass Murder

I saw this article on CNN.com today entitled “Are mass killings on the increase?  Expert says no”, and opened it, naturally thinking it was about the recent violence in the Middle East or in Mexico.  To my surprise, it was in part a reaction to the shooting at Oikos University in Oakland, and more generally about the phenomenon of gun violence in the U.S.  The article highlighted the recent wave of high-profile shootings across the nation, and posed the question of whether or not such mass killings were on the rise.  Statistically, it turns out that while there are more murders and mass killings now than there were in the 1960’s, there has not been a recent upwards trend of mass murder specifically.  Instead, the article points out that there has been a dramatic increase in media coverage relating to these tragedies, and this increase combined with attention- grabbing headlines and sensationalist reporting might have skewed the frequency of these events in the minds of many Americans.

            I bring up this article because in our discussions of historical genocides, we often use the terms “genocide” and “mass killings” interchangeably.  While the two terms are technically different (according to the article a mass killing means four or more deaths not counting terrorism, while genocide is the specific targeting of groups for destruction), both have been used to describe the murderous actions of Hitler, Stalin and Pol Pot, among many others.  Indeed, many recent events such as the violence in Darfur and Somalia have been labeled genocides, and there is hardly a recent conflict in any part of the world that unfortunately has not involved some sort of mass killing. 

After studying mass murderers like Stalin, or hearing news about the deaths of thousands in Syria, however, it is a bit jarring to read a report describing the Oakland school shooting that killed seven, or the recent attack on Representative Giffords that left six dead and thirteen injured, as mass murders.  While the media certainly sensationalizes headlines to draw attention to their reports (mass murder sounds more exciting than seven dead), I think this phenomenon also speaks to the way we view violence and death, both in our country and throughout the world.  After all, we will remember the Columbine Massacre long after we forget about Anders Breivik, the Norwegian mass murderer who killed 77 people last year and is scheduled to go on trial in two weeks.  Ultimately, any murder is a tragedy, and I do not want to take away from the awful nature of any of the events described above.  Rather, I think the issues of collective memory, regional and national biases, and the constant role of the media are important concepts to keep in mind whenever issues like genocide and mass murder are discussed.