news media constructions and policy implications of school shootings in the united states

Glasgow Theses Service http://theses.gla.ac.uk/ theses@gla.ac.uk Doran, Selina Evelyn Margaret (2014) News media constructions and policy implications of school shootings in the United States. PhD thesis. http://theses.gla.ac.uk/5298/ Copyright and moral rights for this thesis are retained by the author A copy can be downloaded for personal non-commercial research or study, without prior permission or charge This thesis cannot be reproduced or quoted extensively from without first obtaining permission in writing from the Author The content must not be changed in any way or sold commercially in any format or medium without the formal permission of the Author When referring to this work, full bibliographic details including the author, title, awarding institution and date of the thesis must be given. 1 News Media Constructions and Policy Implications of School Shootings in the United States. Selina Evelyn Margaret Doran Master of Research (Social Research) BA Hons. (Journalism and Creative Writing and Sociology) Submitted in fulfillment of the requirements for the Degree of Doctor of Philosophy School of Social and Political Sciences College of Social Sciences University of Glasgow April 2014 2 Abstract This thesis focuses on ‘school shootings’ in the United States. Examined here are the news media constructions and public reactions to such incidents, as they pertain to scholarly conceptualisations of fear, moral panics and vulnerability; as well policy responses relating to emergency management in educational institutions and gun-related legislative proposals and actions. Current literature in the field defines ‘school shootings’ as a particular type of ‘spree’ or ‘mass’ killing, involving the murder or attempted murder of students and staff at an education institution. This phenomenon is most prolific in the United States. Two case studies were selected from a list of possible incidents based on their high profile news media coverage, policy impact and infamous natures. The examples used are the school shootings at Columbine High School, Colorado (1999) and Virginia Polytechnic University, Virginia (2007); although the developments provoked by the 2012 Sandy Hook Elementary School, Connecticut shooting are noted throughout. The objectives of the research are: exploring the effect of my two case studies on reshaping or entrenching current moral panic and fear debates; whether the two shootings have transformed emergency management and communication practices; the role that fear plays in the concealed carry on campus movement which arose after the Virginia Tech incident; surmising about which gun-related legislative actions are possible in future. Employed here is a theoretical framework pertaining to moral panics, fear of crime risk management, and framing of news media and policy. My methodological approach was qualitative in nature. A total of 14 interviews were conducted with experts in gun violence prevention, and emergency management and communication. Ethnographic research was carried out in the form of participant observations at a school safety symposium and a gun reform activism event. Content and critical discourse analyses were employed to assess 728 news media articles, 286 letters to the editor, comments from 32 YouTube videos, 14 policy documents and 10 public opinion polls. My original contribution to knowledge is the examination of policies that have not received much scholarly attention to date: emergency management plans, training, operation and communications to deal with the possibility of a school shooting incident occurring; the ‘concealed carry on campus’ movement, where students lobby to carry firearms in higher education institutions as a way to negate potential threats. Relatively uncharted territory in fear of crime research was embarked upon with an examination of YouTube comments relating to: concerns about attending school; insecurities about the 3 ability of law enforcement to offer protection in a school shooting scenario. To offer a predictive angle to the research, the current public sentiments, framing strategies being utilised by interest groups, and Supreme Court rulings shaping the future of gun reform were debated. Further avenues for school shooting research are provided. 4 Contents Abstract 2 Acknowledgements 11 Author’s Declaration 12 Introduction to Thesis I. Introduction 13 II. Research Objectives 13 III. Contribution to Current Research 17 IV. What is a ‘School Shooting?’ 19 V. Personal Interest in Topic 21 VI. Roadmap of Thesis 22 Part One: The Process and the Framework 1. Case Studies, Gun Legislation and Recent Developments Introduction 24 1.1 Case Studies 24 1.1.1 Columbine High School 24 1.1.2 Virginia Polytechnic and State University 29 1.2 Selecting Case Studies 34 1.3 Contemporary Developments: A Post Sandy Hook Future 38 2. Understanding Fear, Policy and School Shootings: An Overview of Existing Research Introduction 42 2.1 Panic, Fear and Risk: Exploring the Literature 42 2.1.1 Moral Panic Theories 43 2.1.2 The State of Being Afraid 45 2.1.3 Crisis and Risk Management 48 2.2 Defining Social Problems and Formulating Policy 49 5 2.2.1 Gaining Agenda Status 50 2.2.2 Framing the Policy Debate 51 2.2.3 Media Framing 53 2.2.4 Policy-Making Model: Key Actors in the Process 56 3. Research Sample Introduction 60 3.1 News Media Sample 60 3.1.1 Selecting News Media Sources 61 3.1.2 Selecting Articles for Coding 62 3.2 Letters to the Editor 65 3.3YouTube Sample 66 3.3.1 The Importance of Online Samples 66 3.3.2 Selecting a YouTube Sample 68 3.4 Official Policy Documents 69 3.5 School Safety Research Participants 72 3.5.1 School Safety Symposium 73 3.5.2 Interviewees 73 3.6 Gun-Related Research Participants 75 4. Methodological Approach and Process Introduction 78 4.1 Epistemological Stance: Constructionism and Critical Realism 78 4.2 Ethical Considerations of Research and Data 80 4.2.1 Interviews 80 4.2.2 YouTube 82 4.3 Exploring News Media-Policy Linkages 83 4.3.1 Official Policy Documents 84 4.3.2 Interrogating a Culture of Fear 85 4.3.3 Blaming Official Actors 86 4.3.4 Concealed Carry on Campus Movement 87 4.4 Uncovering Fear and Ideologies: Critical Discourse Analysis 87 6 4.5 Voices from Gun-Related and School Safety Actors: Interviews and Participant Observation 90 4.5.1 School Safety Symposium 91 4.5.2 School Safety Interviews 93 4.5.3 Recruitment of Gun-Related Interviews 95 4.5.4 First Stage of Gun-Related Interviews: Skype and Telephone 96 4.5.5 Second Stage of Gun-Related Interviews: Face-to-Face 97 4.5.6 Mayors Against Illegal Guns Event 100 4.5.7 Analysing Interviews 101 Part Two: Fear and Managing Risk 5. Understandings of School Shootings Introduction 103 5.1 Reshaping Risk Perceptions 105 5.1.1 Infamy of Columbine and Virginia Tech 106 5.1.2 On-going Trend 109 5.1.3 Normalisation 112 5.2 Feelings of Fear and Terror 115 5.2.1 Fear of Future Attack 116 5.2.2 Associated Terror: Experiences and Empathy 120 5.3 Counteractive Culture of Fear 124 5.3.1 Schools as Safe Places 125 5.3.2 The Absence of Fear 127 Conclusion 128 6. Managing School Shootings: Plans and Responses Introduction 133 6.1 Emergency Management Plans 134 6.1.1 Columbine Shooting: Emergency Management Plans 134 6.1.2 Virginia Tech Shooting: Emergency Management Plans 137 6.2 Emergency Management Training 140 6.2.1 Columbine Shooting: Emergency Management Training 140 6.2.2 Virginia Tech Shooting: Emergency Management Training 143 7 6.3 Emergency Management Response: Changes to Law Enforcement Tactics 144 6.3.1 Criticism of Law Enforcement Response 144 6.3.2 Changes to Law Enforcement Tactics: Both Shootings 150 Conclusion 152 7. Managing School Shootings: Crisis Communication Introduction 156 7.1 The Virginia Tech Shooting: Blaming University Officials 157 7.1.1 Policy Document Critiques 157 7.1.2 Media and Public Response 160 7.1.3 Lawsuit 164 7.1.4 Managing Post-Incident Reputations 165 7.2 Emergency Communication Improvements 166 7.2.1 Federal and State Level Recommendations and Changes 166 7.2.2 Virginia Tech University Recommendations and Changes 167 7.2.3 LiveSafe: The Transformation of Emergency Communication 169 Conclusion 173 Part Three: Gun-related Sentiment and Actions 8. Introduction to Part Three: The History and Politics of Gun Legislation in the United States Introduction 177 8.1 Policy-making in the U.S.: Political Actors and Interest Groups 177 8.2 Key Gun Legislations 179 8.3 Interpretations of the Second Amendment 181 8.4 The Heller (2008) and McDonald (2010) Supreme Court Rulings 183 8.5 Concealed Carry on Campus: Background Context to Movement 185 9. Concealed Carry on Campus Movement Introduction 187 9.1 Conflicting Sides: Sentiment about Concealed Carry on Campus 188 8 9.1.1 “Why does my right to defend myself end when I go to class?” The Individual Rights Paradigm 188 9.1.2 “We can’t take civilian life and turn it into war”: The Question of Safety 189 9.2 A Lack of Trust and Legitimacy in Law Enforcement 191 9.2.1 “When seconds matter, police are just minutes away.” 192 9.2.2 “The police have no duty to protect private citizens,” 193 9.3 Self-Defence Argument 194 9.3.1 “An armed student could have saved so many lives”: Blaming the Virginia Tech Shootings on the Concealed Carry Ban 195 9.3.2 “Gun-Free Zones are an Invitation for Criminals”: Feelings of Insecurity and Victimisation 196 9.3.3 “I refuse to be a victim”: Defying Concealed Carry Bans 199 9.3.4 The ‘Bruce Willis Argument’: Will Concealed Carry Guarantee Protection? 201 Conclusion 204 10. Gun Policies to Reduce School Shootings? Introduction 208 10.1 Background Checks 209 10.1.1 Universal Background Checks 209 10.1.2 Prohibited Persons Criteria 216 10.2 Assault Weapons and Magazine Rounds 219 10.2.1 The Federal Assault Weapons Ban 219 10.2.1 Large Capacity Magazines 222 Conclusion 224 11. Current Political Terrain: Is Gun Regulation Achievable? Introduction 227 11.1 The Supreme Court Rulings 228 11.1.1 The Continuing Presence of the ‘Slippery Slope’ Argument 228 11.1.2 The Future of the Second Amendment 230 11.2 Public and Guns 232 11.2.1 The Problem with ‘Gun Control’ 232 9 11.2.1 Gun Violence: A Diminished Issue? 234 11.2.2 Post Sandy Hook Sentiment 236 11.3 Ways to Reframe the Issue 238 11.3.1 The Personal Approach 239 11.3.2 Bullet Control 243 11.3.3 Rights and Responsibilities Message 246 Conclusion 247 12. Conclusion to the Thesis Introduction 251 12.1 News Media and Public Responses to School Shootings 253 12.2 The Policy Legacy of School Shootings 255 12.3 Projections for a Post Sandy Hook Future 259 12.4 Areas for Future Research 262 12.5 Epilogue 264 Bibliography 265 Appendices Appendix A: Overview of News Sources 290 Appendix B: Protocol for Policy Documents 291 Appendix C: Timeline of Emergency Management Plans and Training Changes 292 Appendix D: Timeline of Emergency Communication Changes 293 Appendix E: Timeline of Gun Legislation Changes 294 List of Accompanying Material Figure 1: Firearms used in Columbine Shooting 25-26 Figure 2: Front page coverage of Columbine Shooting 27 Figure 3: Firearms used in Virginia Tech Shooting 30 Figure 4: Front page coverage of Virginia Tech Shooting 32 Figure 5: Children being evacuated from Sandy Hook Elementary 39 Figure 6: Obama at press conference 40 [...]... research, my interests and knowledge lies in looking at the structural processes in society and assessing the production of news media content I commenced my PhD at the University of Strathclyde, with the intention of conducting a sociological inquiry into the phenomenon of school shootings and the role the news media plays When the sociology department at the university was closed down, I made the decision... reactions of fear and vulnerability (these will be defined momentarily), school safety and the way firearms are perceived in the United States; policy- making centred on emergency management of school shootings and guns Fieldwork was carried out in the United States in 2013, with trips to Colorado, Virginia and the District of Columbia The aim of this chapter is to set the context for the rest of this... disturbing because the perpetrators were much younger than Harris and Klebold The main noticeable difference with Columbine was the presentation of the news story The broadcast news stations had footage of the scenes as they unfolded: SWAT teams entering the building, 9 I took this photograph of the front page coverage in the archives of the Newseum (a museum examining the history of the U.S media) in. .. outlining the research objectives and approach of this study; defining what school shooting’ means and give brief synopses of the case studies used; providing an overview of the thesis structure II Research Objectives In the context of this thesis, I sought to interrogate the perceptions of fear, risk and vulnerability surrounding school shootings and youth violence more generally and how this then... school shootings My thesis will focus mainly on representations of fear in the news media and the exhibition of feelings of vulnerability in public discourses of letters and YouTube discussions At present, there have only been a handful of studies (Böckler and Seeger 2013; Lindgren 2011) on the connection between discourses on YouTube and how people make sense of school shootings 18 The main theoretical... within society that forms the core of sociology and is relevant to Mills’ (1959) notion of the ‘sociological imagination’: looking beyond one’s immediate situation to see the influence of the larger (hence ‘macro’) social context In the case of my thesis, this relates to the ways in which: the news media construct stories, policy is debated and implemented, the public make sense of school shootings Since... of gun legislation in the United States and the opposing sides of the debate; the role of interest groups in the process of shaping gun legislation; the Supreme Court rulings in 2008 and 2010, which have set some legal parameters on gun regulation Chapter nine uses findings to explore the origins, development and possible future of the ‘concealed carry on campus’ movement Chapter ten questions whether... Since school shootings, in the U.S., are rare events that do not directly affect a large portion of people, the representations in media discourse are the primary source of information for the public to attempt to make sense of the phenomenon (Muschert, 2013: 267) — this highlights the pertinence of news media to school shooting research With its examination of print news media sources in the U.S, therefore,... United States, compared to a combined total of forty-four for the rest of the world Given the majority of incidents and the most policy reform have occurred in the United States, I am only focusing on events there 15 The 15 Böckler et al (2013: 10) found that the three countries with the highest numbers of school shootings respectively are: United States, Germany and Canada I did consider comparing and. .. selected from the factsheet sample because they exemplify the issues being examined with this thesis: fear, managing school shootings, and gun reform of other countries and possibly comparing these to the findings of this thesis could be an avenue for future research 16 The selection of case studies had to be done at the beginning of the research process and this list was current when the researcher . Killingbeck 2001) that the news media has distorted the risk of school shootings. My thesis will focus mainly on representations of fear in the news media and the exhibition of feelings of vulnerability. Glasgow Theses Service http://theses.gla.ac.uk/ theses@gla.ac.uk Doran, Selina Evelyn Margaret (2014) News media constructions and policy implications of school shootings in the United States. . to limit the variables and allow me to focus solely on linguistic framing. The linkage of news media and policy framing of school shootings has been explored by scholars (Birkland and Lawrence