Sources lol

Aaron Alexis: Washington navy yard gunman 'obsessed with violent video games'

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/northamerica/usa/10314585/Aaron-Alexis-
Washington-navy-yard-gunman-obsessed-with-violent-video-games.html

Grand Theft Auto gamers 'behind 14 shootings in one UK city' says councillor
http://www.mirror.co.uk/news/uk-news/grand-theft-auto-gamers-behind-6137453
Lawsuit: 'Grand Theft Auto' Led Teen to Kill
http://www.foxnews.com/story/2005/02/16/lawsuit-grand-theft-auto-led-teen-to-kill.html
14 Mass Murders Linked to Violent Video Games
http://www.charismanews.com/culture/52651-14-mass-murders-linked-to-violent-video-games

To succeed in journalism, you sometimes must write a good article. You sometimes have to be a good
journalist. But all that really matters in finding success, is the tricking people into reading your stuff,
with sensational headlines. With think of clickbait as something belonging to the internet age, but its
tactics have long existed. We will explore how sometimes newspapers will latch onto peoples fears,
suspicions and insecurities, to achieve sales or online clicks.

In todays digital age, there is a relatively new form of mass media dominating. This is video games.
Two of the biggest video game franchises are the Call of Duty and the Grant Theft Auto series. The
newness of this medium, and older generations lack of knowledge or trust for it have perhaps fed
their use in newspapers to create sensationalist headlines from.

Call of Duty is a level based game in which players take part in dramatized versions of warfare;
contemporary, historical and science fiction. Grand Theft Auto is a sandbox game in which players
can do anything from taking a leisurely drive, to hiring prostitutes and indiscriminately murdering
innocents.

There have been a lot of attempts by news outlets to link these highly prevalent games with specific
incidents of violence, suggesting that there is a causation between the two things, that video games
make people more violent, or can inspire acts of violence in the unstable. This media panic as its
referred to fuels itself as more and more articles are released, the more the public panics, and the
more perceived legitimacy these articles gain.

For example, 14 mass murders linked to violent video games from the Christian website
Charismanews makes many bold claims. According to them One cannot turn a blind eye to the
obvious link between violent video games and mass murders. And it them goes on to list murders
with a link to video games, even claiming that Anders Behring Breivik actually used the video game
Call of Duty to train for his shooting massacre. However, the article offers no sources, instead
opting to push the fact that the connections are common knowledge, making reference to the media
panic preceding itself. Some of the connections are extremely tenuous, such as simply stating that
many of the murders on this list played video games. The website itself is very right-wing, dressed up
in a friendly family values package, with articles that are openly and proudly anti-LGBT, for
example.

In its favour, it is very compelling in terms of how it builds its emotional argument. Also, the links it
makes such as peoples tactical behaviours learnt from video games to conserve bullets and to
maximise fatalities are very strong. However, as mentioned above, it offers no sources of any kind,
and many of the links are extremely vague and tenuous.
Another example of this type of article in the more mainstream end of right-wing journalism is Fox
News story Grand Theft Auto Led Teen To Kill. It reports of a lawsuit. In this lawsuit, 3 companies
are being sued for participating in the training of a murderer, through their involvement in
producing and selling the game. The article does not actively blame video games itself, but its
subject matter of a game being legally blamed is testament to the widespread nature of the media
panic.

In its favour, it itself remains impartial on the matter, using quotes from 3rd parties to argue both
sides of the argument. In its detriment however, it offers no evidence that the murder would not
have taken place have it not have been for the games. And even if the content is impartial, the
creation of another sensationalist headline contributes to the overall media panic.

Also to look at, there is he Telegraphs article, Washington navy yard gunman 'obsessed with
violent video games' in which accounts from the murderers friends are used to create the strong
link between his shocking actions and his habits prior to this.

In its favour, it uses people that were close to the killer as sources, meaning that the information is
true and unspeculative. However, it does not use professional opinions, meaning that all conclusions
drawn in the article are entirely speculative.

A large proportion of these articles is centred around the effects debates, that exposure to the
explicit violent imagery has effected these individuals, and affects us all on a societal level, resulting
in a desensitisation to violence, a craving for it, or even a difficulty to determine what is real and
what isnt. Fox News article quotes a killer as saying I didnt realise you wouldnt get up again and
life is like a video game, you have to die at some point, to this effect.

How is it that these articles and moral panics attribute these pieces of media with peoples actions?
To determine this, we need to look at a number of media theories, which attempt to explain in
different ways how we are affected by the media.

There is the Hypodermic Needle Theory. It was largely believed during the early 20th century, and
was employed in propaganda such as posters promoting the Nazis in fascist Germany. Since then
however a more complex understanding of how media affects audiences has been developed, and it
is totally disregarded. And yet, it is the theory assumed by all of these articles blaming video games
for violence. But what is it? It is the theory that the attitudes and beliefs portrayed or put across in
media is directly absorbed by its passive audience, that accept it without question. For example,
seeing people murder without emotion will make you more take on the same relaxed feeling
towards killing. It is this theory used by politicians, pressure groups and parents when they object to
strong content like violence and sexual content.

Contrasting this is the Uses And Gratifications Theory, which many more people today believe. It
states that the media does not control and helpless and passive audience through its messages, but
rather audiences decide what they want the media to deliver to them. As opposed to the media
feeding you violence and making you violent, you might buy a violent video game to gratify your
desire for violent content.