Showing Revision 6 created 08/20/2020 by Erin Gregory.

1. Title:
   A call to end the media coverage mass shooters want
2. Description:

   On July 20, 2012, a mass shooting in a movie theater of Aurora, Colorado left the town, and the nation, reeling. To many -- including Tom Teves, who lost his son in the tragedy -- the news coverage that followed focused on all the wrong things. Why did the reporting overwhelmingly fixate on the shooter rather than the lives of the victims or the heroic efforts of first responders? With urgency and measure, Teves calls for media attention that acts in the interest of the public (instead of profit) by revoking what shooters want most: infamy.

3. Speaker:
   Tom Teves
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   Every parent's worst nightmare:
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   July 20, 2012,
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   my phone rings at 4:30 in the morning.
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   It's my son Alex's girlfriend, Amanda,
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   saying hysterically,
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   "Tom, Tom, there's been a shooting,
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    and they dragged me out of the theater.
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    They wouldn't let me stay.
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    I wanted to [stay],
    but they dragged me out."
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    I say to Amanda,
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    "Amanda, are you OK? Have you been hurt?"
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    And she said no, that she was fine,
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    that Alex had saved her life.
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    I then say,
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    "Amanda, where's Alex?"
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    And she says, sobbing,
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    "I don't know, we can't find him.
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    They dragged me out of the theater.
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    They made me leave.
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    He was shot.
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    I tried to wake him up,
    but I couldn't wake him up.
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    He wouldn't get up.
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    They dragged me away.
    I didn't want to leave him."
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    And I say to Amanda,
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    "The last time you saw Alex,
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    was he bleeding?
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    Did you have any of his blood on you?"
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    And she cries, "Yeah, a lot,"
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    and breaks down.
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    Alex loved Amanda.

    ¶

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    And he was one of the most
    honorable men on earth,
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    and at the age of 24,
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    he had to make the decision
    to risk his life
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    in order to ensure she would live.
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    I knew in my heart if he couldn't get up,
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    he was dead.
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    I had just arrived

    ¶

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    the night before
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    with my wife Caren
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    and my youngest son
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    for a week's vacation in Hawaii.
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    We were literally
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    3,300 miles away.
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    Caren and I frantically started
    calling his cell phone,
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    to no avail.
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    We left multiple messages.
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    We then turned to the media.
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    But all we could find
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    was information on the murderer
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    and his booby-trapped apartment.
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    We tried calling
    the Aurora police station,

    ¶

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    but it was impossible to get an answer.
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    But in hindsight, it was understandable.
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    They were dealing with
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    12 dead, 70 injured,
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    the carnage so bad,
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    the police had to bring
    some of the victims to the hospitals
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    in the backs of their police cars,
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    because they had run out of ambulances.
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    It was a horrific and chaotic scene.
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    We would never see Alex again,

    ¶

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    his injuries so severe
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    I had to shield even his mom
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    from looking upon him,
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    for fear that would be
    the lasting image of him in her mind.
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    But you know who we would see
    again and again?

    ¶

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    The murderer.
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    His pictures were everywhere.
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    One article was six paragraphs long
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    and featured his name 41 times.
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    The media had made him famous.
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    But my firstborn son, Alex,
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    a hero,
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    was absent from those initial reports.
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    Caren and I immediately realized
    that there was something wrong

    ¶

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    with the way the media responds
    to these random mass shootings
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    since Columbine.
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    We started doing research,
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    and we realized
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    that if we could change
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    the way the media reports,
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    we could reduce the amount of shootings
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    and save lives.
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    (Applause)

    ¶

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    Let me explain.

    ¶

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    Almost every single random mass shooter
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    has something in common.
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    Can anybody guess what that is?
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    They want notoriety.
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    They want to be famous.
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    In fact,
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    these murderers
    are telling us this themselves.
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    The Sandy Hook murderer
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    kept a spreadsheet
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    of previous mass murderers
    and their number of kills.
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    The Orlando Pulse nightclub murderer
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     called a local news station --
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     during his attack! --
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     and then stopped to check Facebook
     to see if he'd gone viral.
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     The Parkland murderer
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     recorded and posted
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     a video
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     stating,
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     "When you see me on the news,
     you'll know who I am."
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     The Aurora theater murderer
     told his psychiatrist
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     that he recognized he couldn't
     make an impact on the world in science,
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     but he could become famous
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     by blowing people up.
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     And most telling,
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     the Umpqua Community College murderer
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     wrote on his blog
     about a previous mass murderer,
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     saying,
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     "I've noticed that people like him
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     are all alone and unknown,
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     but when they spill a little blood,
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     the whole world knows who they are."
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     A man who was known by no one
     is now known by everyone,
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     his face splashed across every screen,
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     his name on the lips
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     of everyone on the planet,
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     all in one day.
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     It seems like the more people you kill,
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     the more you're in the limelight.
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     These are just a few examples.
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     I could go on and on.
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     These murderers are telling us
     they want to be famous
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     like the murderers before them,
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     and the media continues to give them
     exactly what they seek:
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     notoriety.
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     The gun debate is very emotional,

     ¶

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     and our mental health issues
     are very complicated.
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     Both will take time to correct.
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     But to reduce the carnage,
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     we don't need an act of Congress.
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     What we need is an act of conscience
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     on the producers
     and consumers of mass media
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     to remove the reward of notoriety.
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     (Applause)

     ¶

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     So to save lives,

     ¶

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     Caren and I launched "No Notoriety,"
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     dedicated to challenging the media
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     to protect our communities
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     by adhering to these
     research-backed principles.
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     One: report all the facts

     ¶

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     on the mindset,
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     demographics
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     and motivational profile
     of these shooters,
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     but minimize their names and images,
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     unless they're at large.
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     Two: limit the use of the shooter's name

     ¶

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     to once per piece,
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     never in the headlines
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     and no pictures in prominent locations.
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     And three --

     ¶

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     Three.
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     (Laughter)

     ¶

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     I'm not good with numbers.

     ¶

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     (Laughter)

     ¶

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     Refuse to publish
     any self-serving material

     ¶

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     provided by the shooters.
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     (Applause)

     ¶

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     To be clear:

     ¶

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     this is not an infringement
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     on anyone's First Amendment rights.
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     This is not censorship.
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     We are merely asking the media
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     to leverage guidelines
     they already have in place.
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     For example,

     ¶

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     the media does not report
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     on journalists that have been kidnapped
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     in order to protect them.
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     The media does not report
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     the names and images
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     of victims of sexual assault or suicide.
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     These responsible journalistic practices
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     protect public safety
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     with zero impact
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     on the public's right to know.
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     Academic studies show

     ¶

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     that the average news consumer
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     wants to hear less about the shooters.
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     Instead,
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     the media should elevate
     the names and images
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     of the victims,
     both murdered and injured,
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     the heroes
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     and the first responders.
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     They should --
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     (Applause)

     ¶

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     They should promote data and analysis

     ¶

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     from experts on the fields
     of mental health and public safety.
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     All the experts agree.

     ¶

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     The FBI,
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     the International Police Association,
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     the Major City Chiefs Association
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     and A.L.E.R.T.,
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     the law enforcement organization
     dedicated to training first responders
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     to stop active shooters,
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     all endorse the principles
     of No Notoriety.
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     In fact, in 2014,
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     the FBI started the "Don't Name Them"
     campaign in support of the idea.
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     The American Psychiatric Association
     supports reducing and minimizing
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     the identification of these shooters.
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     The idea has gone worldwide,
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     with the Prime Minister of New Zealand
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     calling for no notoriety
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     after the Christchurch shootings.
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     But as much as we want
     the media to change,

     ¶

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     they are for-profit organizations.
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     They won't change unless
     we hold them accountable.
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     (Applause)

     ¶

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     The media makes their money

     ¶

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     from advertising
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     based on the number of viewers and clicks.
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     If we can reduce the number
     of viewers and clicks on any subject,
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     the media will change
     the way they report on it.
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     So the next time you see
     any media organization --

     ¶

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     print, digital, radio or television --
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     gratuitously leveraging the names
     and images of these shooters,
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     stop watching,
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     stop listening,
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     stop clicking,
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     stop liking
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     and stop sharing.
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     Write to the producers,
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     editors, station managers and CEOs
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     of these news organizations.
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     Take note of the advertisers
     who support those segments
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     and write to their CEOs.
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     Because together,
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     we can push the media
     to act in the interest
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     of public safety,
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     not profits.
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     It's too late for Alex,

     ¶

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     and it's too late for my family.
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     But please don't join
     our club by inaction,
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     the club nobody wants to join.
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     The due's too high.
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     Because it's not too late
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     for people who aren't victims yet.
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     We have the power
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     to reduce random mass shootings.
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     Let's use it.
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     Thank you.

     ¶

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     (Applause)

     ¶