People Magazine calls on readers to demand action on gun violence

People Magazine calls on readers to demand action on gun violence

Last Thursday evening, as details continued to emerge about the fatal shooting at Oregon’s Umpqua Community College, People Magazine Editorial Director Jess Cagle and his team were beginning to plan their coverage of the tragedy for the following week’s magazine—“finding out everything we could about the victims; covering it the way we cover all mass shootings.” At the White House, President Obama was about to deliver the 15th post-mass shooting press conference of his presidency.

“I was waiting for Obama to speak and I sat there rolling my eyes thinking, ‘Here we go again,’” Cagle said. “Nothing has been done since the last time.”

But Cagle found himself surprisingly moved by the president’s words, not only by Obama’s visible frustration with the frequency of such tragedies, but in his charge that the media’s coverage—and, in turn, his responses—to these events have become “routine.”

“I thought, ‘let’s do something more this time,’” Cagle said.

So he wrote a call to action for People's readers, urging them to demand that their elected representatives get serious about solving the problem of gun violence. The letter was printed in this week's issue—which boasts the largest magazine audience in the country—alongside the office phone numbers of all 535 sitting members of Congress.

“I was careful not to make it a political statement,” Cagle said, noting that the letter itself doesn't offer any policy proposals or suggested solutions but rather emphasizes the need for lawmakers to come up with some.

“It’s not like solutions are being offered up that we disagree with,” he continued. “As citizens, we see that nothing is being done and the quickest way to get something done is to hold elected officials’ feet to the fire.”

The shocking statistics on gun violence in the U.S., culled from nonprofits like the Gun Violence Archive and the crowdsourced Mass Shooting Tracker, have been widely reported. There have been 294 mass shootings in the U.S. this year—more than one every day. Since the December 2012 massacre that killed 20 children and six adults at Sandy Hook Elementary School, there have been 142 school shootings. So far in 2015, 10,148 people have been killed—and more than 20,000 injured—by gunfire.

The sheer volume of these incidents alone makes the existence of a problem somewhat inarguable. And each one prompts calls for a solution. However, as Cagle argued, it seems that any attempt to discuss what that solution might be—whether it involves stricter gun laws, looser gun restrictions, or increased access to mental health care—becomes instantly politicized and quickly devolves into disagreement.

Already this week, talk of legislative action in the wake of the Umpqua shooting has been partisan and contentious.

“Politicians particularly, even religious leaders at times, seem more interested in taking a political stance instead of looking at the problem from all angles,” Cagle said.

While it’s ultimately up to elected officials to enact real change, Cagle said he thinks the media is also in a position to influence the conversation, pointing to the debate over whether to report the Oregon shooter’s name as an example.

“Think about Columbine, we immediately knew the shooters’ names,” he said. “This time I think a lot of people would be hard pressed to name the shooter because the media hasn't mentioned it over and over again. We don’t want to glorify those people and we know the power of not giving them attention.”

Going forward, Cagle said People plans to cover “individuals and communities doing something about gun violence that may be helping.”

“A lot of those initiatives have nothing to do with politics, nothing to do with gun laws, nothing to do with politics, just things to curb gun violence in their communities,” he said. “Shining a light on solutions rather than opinions is something the media can do.”

Of course, Cagle said, for every supportive email and Facebook message he’s received in response to his Editor’s Letter, there is a slew of negative reader comments. But he expected that.

“Whenever you talk about gun violence, there is a segment of our population who gets angry, and takes a political stand,” he said. “But I wasn’t taking a political stand. I was just saying, this is a problem and something needs to be done.”