Fighting the copy-cat syndrome in the age of instant messaging

Bomb threats.

Suicides.

Gang names.

Things we often, as a matter of course, don't write about.

The reasons are all intertwined. Someone who gets his jollies causing a ruckus of a bomb threat, probably takes pleasure in hearing about it on radio and TV or seeing it in the newspaper -- media that may be unwittingly creating an atmosphere for more of the same. Studies suggest just the mention of a suicide victim and an attempt to portray his life in a humane way inadvertently might glorify the act, encourage others to do the same. Gang-bangers leave their signs everywhere; having them validated by a mention in the media could be viewed as enabling.

I use the term "matter of course" rather than "policy" because every situation is a little different. And the world changes before our eyes. If I had heard only six weeks ago that some vague threat had put Western Illinois University on lockdown, I would have told the editor who told me about it to do nothing -- unless the threat became real.

In the wake of the Valentine's Day tragedy at Northern Illinois University, I'll admit I didn't know precisely what to do with the information about WIU Wednesday morning. I knew the answer was very unlikely, "Nothing." So, I asked reporter Jake Griffin to get in touch with the WIU student whose father had told us about it. After a quick consultation with the higher-ups, we used Jake's interview with the West Chicago student to "localize" the wire reports and posted a story on our Web site before noon.

In the Thursday print edition, we had a fairly detailed story (almost 12 column inches), which we ran on Page 15 of our 16-page main news section about what turned out to be a threat, and, thankfully, nothing more.

And while we parents -- and no doubt, plenty of students -- fret severely about the safety of our college campuses, another picture of the mood of the WIU campus emerged Wednesday evening.

It was a beautiful day in Macomb. When word circulated that classes were optional, many took to the bars, people spilled into the streets and a party atmosphere ensued, according to a WIU student, a friend of my stepdaughter, who reported that her friend sounded "a little tipsy."

That got me on a mini-rant about how Bomb Threat Days are the new Snow Days. And, I said, I'll bet the clown who made the threat was out there throwing the Frisbee around, having a good ol' time.

I also fret about whether we media types are unwitting dupes in fostering this thing by simply reporting on it. A few other editors I polled on this topic still favor not reporting or reporting threats in as low-key a fashion as possible in hopes of staving off the copy-cat syndrome. But the information is quickly out there in this age of text messaging, e-mail blasts and other instant alerts.

"We need to be the guys to put things into perspective for people," said Fox Valley Editor Jim Baumann. "They get a cryptic e-mail that there is a threat of a shooter on campus, and people look to us to tell them what's really going on -- real or imagined."

Added fellow columnist Jim Slusher: "We're getting more caught between the rock of expectations that we will be a trusted information resource and the hard place of not giving nincompoops any ideas. I say our first instinct still should be to avoid publicizing if possible but to play individual circumstances case-by-case."

And that's the view of Managing Editor Madeleine Doubek.

The NIU shootings, she said, have "caused us to revisit each and every instance and examine each one more carefully and thoroughly."