Unraveling the Phenomenon of Mass Shootings in the U.S.

Sandy Hook, Colorado Movie Theater, Columbine, and Virginia Tech all have one thing in common they known as mass shootings. Mass shootings are defined as the study of having four or more victims and do not include gang killings or slayings that involve the death of multiple family members. In Jen Christensen’s article, “Why the U.S has the most mass shootings” published by CNN, she discusses a recent shooting and ties it into mass shootings. Jen Christensen is a producer/editor with CNN’s Health, Medical and Wellness Unit. She has also earned the highest awards in broadcasting; Peabody and DuPont are some, as a producer. Prior to CNN, she was an award winning investigate producer with WSOC-TV in Charlotte, N.C. She has launched and managed an award-winning

investigative unit at WTVQ-TV in Lexington, K.Y. The article was published by CNN, and they are a widely known network. CNN is a bias network, and known for only going at one side of an argument. CNN is a .com, which is a for-profit organization. The ads on their website were all CNN ads, hoping that we go to more of their articles, which in return helps them make money. Christensen wrote this article August 28, 2015 about a shooting that happened on live TV. The article is relevant because it talks about things that recently happened and the trend of mass shootings. It gives us different point of views to help better understand why some mass shooters do what they do, and it explains what the shooter was thinking before he killed people. This article is effective in using logic, emotions, and ethics to convince concerned citizens that there is a problem with mass shootings in the U.S.
Mariano Castillo explaining the shooting that Christensen briefly mentions in his article, “Who was Bryce Williams/Vester Flanagan?” Castillo is also a writer for CNN. He covers national and international news for CNN. In his article, he says that the shooter had previously worked at the WDBJ-TV, where he was a reporter in Roanoke, Virginia. The news station fired Vester around 2 years ago. His name was Bryce Williams on-air, but his name is Vester Lee Flanagan II. In this article, he explains that the shooter Vester Lee Flanagan II opened fire on two Virginia journalist and the women who that they were interviewing. He fatally shot the two journalist, Alison Parker and Adam Ward. Vickie Gardener the other victim of the shooting underwent surgery and is now recovering. Two hours after the shooting he decided to take his own life. The shooting had be done on live TV, and it was during the interview. He put on Twitter that Parker had made racist comments towards him, and another tweet suggested that Ward complained to human resources officials after the pair worked together, stated in the article written by Castillo. This however is not an example of a mass shooting since he shot three people killing two, but that does not mean their deaths were not tragic. Christensen then took this opportunity to help raise awareness of the mass shooting problems in the U.S. She stated that between 1966 and 2012, there were 90 mass shootings in the U.S. and 292 globally, which means U.S. made up nearly a third of the shootings. Dr. Adam Lankford, an associate producer of criminal justice at the University of Alabama, did the analysis. Lankford is a criminal justice professor at The University of Alabama. Dr. Lankford has published two books; CNN, MSNBC, Fox News, and more have featured his research. Lankford research has also found that in the U.S. you have a higher chance of dying if you are at work or at school. It makes me never want to leave my house again knowing that the place I would feel safest at could also be the last place I ever see. Raising awareness of mass shootings can help lower the amount of shooters, especially if the whole public is aware of mass shooting situations.
No matter the age of a person, everyone should be aware of mass shootings.

Knowing that kids will be safe at school, mom and dad will be safe at work, is something all Americans should be able to feel. I think she aimed the article to people who are in their mid-twenties and up. The purpose of her article is to educate the public on mass shootings, and how in the past few years, the number of mass shootings has gone way up. In 2011 to 2014, the number of mass shootings has nearly tripled, according to Harvard School of Public Health. It is insane to think that in 29 years, there were 90 mass shootings and in the past 4 years, it is around 270 mass shootings. Copycats are also a huge phenomenon in the U.S. since guns are more accessible than other countries, stated by Lankford. She is also trying to raise awareness on the problem with mass shootings, and I feel like she has done a nice job on including the facts and support that her article needs. The same goes for Castillo, because he adds the shooters twitter account into the article to show that he was on a mission to kill innocent people. This is not an example of a mass shooting, but it is a good example to help show that anyone can do what he

did.
During the previous 29 years, mass shootings happened every 200 days on average, now on average it happens every 64 days, according to Harvard’s research. This makes me trust her article because she uses facts and research from other people. She took the time to do her research before she made this article. She has used many other facts within her article using Harvard and Northeastern University’s research to help back up her claims. She also uses emotional appeals to help make readers connect to what she is writing. The shooter Vester said that he admired mass shooters like those at Columbine High School in 1999 and Virginia Tech in 2007, and that he put down a deposit for a gun two days after the Charleston, South Carolina, church shooting in June, according to Christensen. That statement makes me angry because it was planned out, and because someone can just purchase a firearm to do harm to others. She states that other countries have less mass shootings because their gun control is a lot stricter. I trust what Christensen is saying because she is an award-winning investigative producer with WSOC-TV in Charlotte, N.C. She also backs up her claims by citing where she received her information. The way she worded things makes me want to believe her, and she does not shove a ton of information at the reader. Even though the article was written by CNN, which like I said earlier is known for being bias, it provides so many facts and stirs up so many emotions.
Overall, I really liked this article and the amount of facts that Christensen used. I do however feel like it is lacking a story. She starts the article off by talking about a recent shooting, but it does not go in depth on the shooting. The focus on the article is mass shootings, but it never gave a real example of a mass shooting. I think that is where her article was not at its best. Giving a real life example of mass shootings and the casualties that came from the shooting, would help make her article even stronger. It could help set the tone of the story, and it would set the reader up for what they are getting ready to read. She did however provide some mass shooting examples, but never the detail along with it. The mass shootings that she listed widely known mass shootings, but if someone is not familiar with one of the shootings, they might have to research it further. I really liked the past mass shootings compared to the past few years. It shows that mass shootings have become a problem in the U.S. I do agree with her argument on mass shootings. It is apparent that gun control does play a huge part in mass shootings, since other countries have stricter gun control laws; mass shootings have become less common. Christensen also stays on topic, which helps make it easier to follow the information that she is trying to get across. She does use plenty of facts, which I think makes the article very believable, and true. Just a little small changes and I think it would be an amazing article.