title: Media Agenda Setting Regarding Gun Violence before and after a Mass Shooting.
abstract: Gun violence is related to substantial morbidity and mortality with surrounding discussions framed and shaped by the media. This study's objective was to explore national news media's reporting of gun violence around a mass shooting. National news pieces were coded according to categories of gun violence, media frames, entities held responsible, responses, and reporting of the public heath approach. Individuals were held responsible for gun violence in 63% of pieces before and 32% after the shooting. Lawmakers were held responsible in 30% of pieces before and 66% after. Background checks were a proposed gun violence prevention method in 18% of pieces before and 55% after Sandy Hook, and lethality reduction of firearms was in 9% before and 57% after. Following a mass shooting, the media tended to hold government, not individuals, primarily responsible. The media often misrepresented the real picture of gun violence and key public health roles.
authors.affiliation: Department of Health Promotion and Behavior, University of Georgia , Athens, GA , USA.
authors.forename: Jared Michael
authors.initials: JM
authors.lastname: Jashinsky
authors.affiliation: Department of Health Science, Brigham Young University , Provo, UT , USA.
authors.forename: Brianna
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Magnusson
authors.affiliation: Department of Health Science, Brigham Young University , Provo, UT , USA.
authors.forename: Carl
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Hanson
authors.affiliation: Department of Health Science, Brigham Young University , Provo, UT , USA.
authors.forename: Michael
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Barnes
keywords: gun violence; mass media; media agenda setting; news media; violence prevention