Media coverage of mass shootings contributes to negative
attitudes towards mental illness News stories about mass
shootings involving a shooter with mental illness heighten
readers' negative attitudes toward persons with serious mental
illness, according to a new report by the Johns Hopkins
Bloomberg School of Public Health. The researchers also examined
how such news stories impact support for policies to reduce gun
violence. Compared to study respondents who did not read a story
about a mass shooting, reading a news article describing a mass
shooting raised readers' support for both gun restrictions for
persons with serious mental illness, and for a ban on large-
capacity ammunition magazines. The results, are published in the
April issue of the American Journal of Psychiatry and have
important implications for advocates and policy makers who
promote gun safety policy. "The aftermath of mass shootings is
often viewed as a window of opportunity to garner support for
policies to reduce gun violence, and this s