MMMM #588--- The Advertiser launches, er, solutions. And The Media-Violence connection

"We are excited about what we are doing and how we are doing it. Every person who cares about Montgomery should feel the same."

The Montgomery Advertiser's Executive Editor, in a story editorial message in Saturday's paper. What you "should" be excited about is solution based reporting. HERE's the full story. It even comes with a cute little light bulb logo.

If you are for some reason not excited about what they're doing, remember:

you. don't. care. about. Montgomery.

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"I'm not talking about him, I'm not saying his name, I'm not saying anything other than he's in custody," he added. Russell County Sheriff Heath Taylor, explaining that his silence about the name of a man charged with shooting three people, killing one. 

He posted this in Facebook:

Let me be very clear, the offender in the incident that occurred today in Hurtsboro will not be mentioned by me in the press. Please understand that once he was arrested and incarcerated in jail, his personal information and photo becomes public information, and all media sources are aware of this. If the public sees his photo in the media it’s because the media chose to put it there. We are required by law to provide this information upon request.
Please keep Hurtsboro and all involved in your prayers.

Sincerely,
Sheriff Heath Taylor

The sheriff believes the media encourages other violent criminals by using the names and photos of people charged with similar crimes. Not the first law enforcement agent to say so, probably not the last. 

"Overall, a causal link between media exposure and violent criminal behavior has yet to be validated, and most researchers steer clear of making such causal assumptions. Instead, many emphasize that media does not directly cause aggression and violence so much as operate as a risk factor among other variables (Bushman & Anderson, 2015; Warburton, 2014). In their review of media effects, Brad Bushman and psychologist Craig Anderson concluded,
In sum, extant research shows that media violence is a causal risk factor not only for mild forms of aggression but also for more serious forms of aggression, including violent criminal behavior. That does not mean that violent media exposure by itself will turn a normal child or adolescent who has few or no other risk factors into a violent criminal or a school shooter. Such extreme violence is rare, and tends to occur only when multiple risk factors converge in time, space, and within an individual."

SOURCE:  http://criminology.oxfordre.com/view/10.1093/acrefore/9780190264079.001.0001/acrefore-9780190264079-e-189

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60 Minutes has conducted an interview with the porn actress Stormy Daniels about her relationship with Donald Trump, and there may or may not be a legal fight to block CBS from airing it. Here's The Washington Post report on the story.

 

[The Monday Morning Media Memo is a regular feature of www.TimLennox.com, now in its 11th year online.]