… The massacre in Newtown, Conn., set off a furious debate, prompting an unprecedented amount of media attention on America’s gun laws. But the press’s declining interest in gun control in recent months illustrates just how hard it is for advocates to keep a story alive once Washington stops fighting over it.
As I’ve written previously, media coverage in the wake of major shootings tends to follow what’s known as the “issue attention cycle.” Gun control stories spike immediately afterward but fall off the agenda as other events and issues emerge to occupy the media’s interest. …
The inherent newsworthiness of an event – such as the nearly unfathomable slaughter of 20 first-graders – is not enough to sustain the media’s interest. [cont.]
Danny Hayes (GWU), Washington Post