Mass shootings are so normalized and media coverage so sanitized that society as a whole, doesn’t appreciate the true horror of these events. How can this be changed? By publishing photos.Just as horrifying images during the Vietnam War played an enormous role shaping public opinion and awareness of the reality of the war, so too can published photos shape public opinion of the mass shootings in our schools and elsewhere.
A simple Google search generates a plethora of articles citing emergency room doctors supporting publishing photos of mass shooting victims. It’s a position not taken lightly and with no disrespect for the victims, but a position becoming a probable necessity for our society to viscerally absorb the carnage produced by these military-style weapons.
This is not an anti-gun position. Simply put, these military weapons have no place on our streets. If a picture is worth a thousand words, then publishing honest photos of these massacres just might make people appreciate the reality of bodies so damaged that they are unidentifiable.
Thoughts and prayers can’t fix the slaughtered victims and ruined families. How many more deaths will it take for the U.S. House and Senate to create meaningful gun regulations?
— Christian Morgan
Anchorage
Have something on your mind? Send to letters@adn.com or click here to submit via any web browser. Letters under 200 words have the best chance of being published. Writers should disclose any personal or professional connections with the subjects of their letters. Letters are edited for accuracy, clarity and length.