Companies spend enormous amounts of money sponsoring the news media. The reason is simple…Advertising works!

The news media are pervasive, powerful forces in the lives of everyday folks. When they promote products, the products sell and companies profit. People who hadn’t thought about buying a product often realize they want the product. That’s good for the economy.

When the media irresponsibly hype a story by not only reporting the story, but purposely drawing great attention to the story, people who hadn’t thought about the subject of the story tend to think more about it. This is where copycats come from.

Not too long ago Robin Williams committed suicide by hanging himself. Kate Spade also left the world this way the other day. Antony Bourdain hanged himself this morning in France.  In all these cases, the media went crazy with excessive coverage.

Strangely, the media noted how, when these things occur, the general suicide rate rises substantially. The media don’t recognize the correlation.

Schools shootings have become all too common and are always sensationalized. The media blame guns. Seventeen year old Dimitrios Pagourtzis wanted to commit suicide and hatched a plan to shoot up his Texas high school. He did so, killing ten people and injuring ten others. He couldn’t bring himself to actually die in the effort and was taken alive. He’s indicated he wanted his story to be told. By whom? The media, of course. You see, he knew he’d become famous through his heinous deed. He is just another copycat.

What is the answer? The answer may lie in how these stories are covered. How much the media hype the story.

The media need to cover the news and these stories are news, but here’s the caveat: Having been a newsman myself, I can tell you suicides of average folks are almost never covered by the media. The same is true with gang related violent crime. News stations don’t want to aggrandize gang members and their nasty behaviors. So, why do they do the opposite with celebrity suicides and school shootings? Answer: Ratings = $.

More social responsibility is required from the media. Don’t hold your breath.