Analysis of 48 Hours of Television News Coverage Following the Columbine High School Shooting

• Published in: School psychology review 2023-01, Vol.52 (1), p.57-71
• Main Authors: Mosqueda, Christopher M., Heath, Melissa A., Cutrer-Párraga, Elizabeth A., Ridge, Robert D., Jackson, Aaron P., Miller, Erica
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: At Risk Persons; Columbine; High School Students; juvenile superpredator; Law Enforcement; Mass Media Effects; Media coverage; media framing analysis; Misconceptions; News Media; News Reporting; Prerna Arora; School Administration; School Safety; school shooting; School violence; Secondary schools; Television; Television news; Violence; Weapons; youth violence risk factors
• ISSN: 0279-6015; 2372-966X; 2372-966X
• DOI: 10.1080/2372966X.2020.1870410

On April 20, 1999, two Columbine High School students started a shooting rampage, ultimately killing 12 students and one teacher, wounding 21 victims, then completing suicide. Using media frame analysis (MFA), we examined 265 transcribed major network television news stories aired during the 48 hours following the shooting. In these stories, we investigated the frequency of warning signs of youth violence. Though later disputed, stories included warning signs that fortified the myth of the juvenile superpredator. Television news coverage of school shootings often spotlights perpetrators, fuels false narratives, creates an inflated sense of risk and vulnerability, and fails to place such events in the larger context of youth violence. We urge professionals to contextualize news stories within a broader framework of youth violence; to support fact-based communication between the media, school administrators, and law enforcement; to eliminate the spotlight on perpetrators; and to carefully consider reactionary responses that are not evidence-based nor proven effective. Impact Statement Television news coverage following the Columbine High School shooting demonstrates how the media portrays details and frames a story that fuels public concern and fear. In contrast, data from the 1990s to the present day describe a significant decline in youth violence and crime. However, the media's portrayal of Columbine failed to provide a broader context of decreasing youth violence and the extremely rare occurrence of school shootings. Following Columbine, flawed school safety and discipline policies led to increased school expulsions and youth incarceration. Additionally, national organizations created a list of youth violence risk factors. However, these risk factors do not accurately predict or explain extremely violent acts, such as school shootings.