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LIFESTYLE

Many Believe Media Coverage of Shootings Inspires More Violence

Following the most recent mass shooting at a synagogue in Pittsburgh, Americans still worry the media’s coverage of such violence inspires copycats.

A new Rasmussen Reports national telephone and online survey finds that 33% of American Adults think the media covers mass shootings like the one in Pittsburgh too much, though that’s down from 44% following the shooting in southern California in 2014 and 54% following the 2013 shooting at a Washington, DC Navy Yard.

A plurality (46%) now thinks the level of media coverage for mass shooting events is about right, up from 33% four years ago, while 15% think there isn’t enough coverage. (To see survey question wording, click here.)

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The survey of 1,000 American Adults was conducted on October 29-30, 2018 by Rasmussen Reports. The margin of sampling error is +/- 3 percentage points with a 95% level of confidence. Field work for all Rasmussen Reports surveys is conducted by Pulse Opinion Research, LLC. See methodology.

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