Should Media Use Name Of Orlando Nightclub Shooter, Any Other Mass Murderer?
PHILADELPHIA (CBS) -- Following the Orlando nightclub massacre, there has been much debate about whether the media should use the name of the shooter in reporting.
Keep the focus on the victims and don't give notoriety to the gunman. That's part of the argument against using the name of the Orlando shooter or any other mass murderers when reporting the story.
David Boardman is the Dean of the School of Media and Communication at Temple University. He says he can appreciate that reasoning but releasing the identity serves an important purpose.
"The most important reporting we can do is the back story of what lead up to this and trying to understand the person's motivations, their background," he explained. "We can only fully report that by sharing the name."
And Boardman says there is other value in using the name.
"There have been instances where people, once they hear the name, have come forward," he said. "In the Virginia Tech shooting a few years back, for instance, teachers of the shooter came forward to report that they had voiced concerns about his mental health."
Boardman doesn't think omitting a gunman's name will become standard operating procedure. However, he does see an increasing number of news outlets not including the shooter in the death toll.