News Media Constructions of School Shootings in the Contemporary United States

The occurrence of school shootings has been a significant issue within the United States. The occurrence of school shootings within the United States is rising, and the media coverage of these school shootings is declining. This study examines the shift of media attention towards school shootings from 1999 to 2024 by analyzing the number of articles being published in The New York Times and The Washington Post regarding six school shootings - Columbine (1999), Red Lake (2005), Marjory Stoneman Douglas (2018), Santa Fe (2018), Oxford (2021), and Apalachee (2024). This study also qualitatively analyzes six articles from The New York Times to understand how the articles construct the trajectory of events and their associated effects. This qualitative examination of these six articles suggests that the media guides readers toward a redemptive closure. Together, these findings suggest that the media attention towards school shootings is declining, and news media may favor redemptive closure in the aftermath of such shootings.