On Friday, the comic called for a “media blackout” on school killers. He said that the constant attention that is paid to them can make some people want to commit similar crimes.
On Friday’s “Real Time with Bill Maher,” a listener asked Maher why he didn’t want to see anything about the accused shooters. Maher said it was because he didn’t want to give them the attention they wanted, which he thought would stop someone else from choosing to shoot up a school. A ban on the culprits and what they did might be a good idea while the media waits for information about the gunman, Maher said.
The crowd cheered. Maher continued, “You know, this is… The baseball season started yesterday, and when a player runs on the field, the camera doesn’t show it. No one in the media pays any attention to that person. Why can’t we at least do that in this country?”I don’t want to talk about it at all. What happened is a sure thing. I don’t care about this person’s sexual orientation, their age, or what their credo says. He went on to say, “I don’t give a rat’s behind about any of it because they all eat each other, so I don’t see any reason to worry about any of it.” That’s the bare least the press should give. Just days after the 2018 shooting at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland, Florida, editor emeritus Ben Shapiro asked The Daily Wire to make a change that was similar to Maher’s idea.
Shapiro wrote at the time that it had become clearer over the past few years that the risk of supporting more mass killings far outweighed the benefits of letting the public know the names and pictures of mass shooters. According to study, “media coverage of mass shootings can have a big effect on the minds of people who might commit mass shootings.” This is because people who are likely to commit mass shootings have a “cognitive craving for attention,” and they know that committing crimes will get them attention.