Sound the P.R. Retreat - public relations for the firearms industry - Brief Article

Progressive, The, July, 1999 by Fred McKissack

Instead of spurring a serious self-examination on the part of the entertainment industry and the gun lobby, Columbine just prompted a P.R. retreat. And many commentators badly overreached by lumping shoot-'em-all-up video games like Quake with thoughtful, albeit violent, television such as HBO's The Sopranos.

The tragedy of Columbine is that fourteen kids died in an act of violence so alien to the rest of society that it almost defies reason. Yet we've compounded the tragedy with reactionary measures and rhetoric. Despite the very public grieving period after Columbine, we find ourselves wondering why teenagers seem to be in more pain today than ever before.

Fred McKissack writes a monthly column on culture for the Progressive.