Directions: Read each passage. Then select the appropriate a…
Directions: Read each passage. Then select the appropriate answer to indicate the presence or absence of an error in reasoning. Some print media, such as the Chicago Times, are acting responsibly by refusing to report school shooting incidents on their front page. Television journalists should follow this example by refusing to broadcast intensive coverage of a child’s violent rampage. These reports do more harm than good. To attract viewers and increase their ratings, television news organizations emphasize the lurid details of a shooting incident and report it over and over again, especially when it involves children. This kind of television coverage desensitizes viewers to violence, and in the case of children, may well inspire them to commit copycat crimes in their own schools. After all, this is what happened when an Arkansas teenager acknowledged that he brought a gun to school after seeing footage of the Columbine tragedy on television. How much more proof do networks need and how much damage will they cause before they stop focusing so heavily on adolescent violence?
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