ABSTRACT
After the Jonesboro shootings, the author gave an unsuccessful drive-time interview to a St. Louis radio talk show. The co-hosts were professional, polite, and single-minded. They seemed to think that gun control was the obvious main topic of the day. Details were sketchy, but everyone jumped in anyway, offering standard responses. Guns, television violence, and the popular culture in general all drew early and predictable abuse. A reporter for a major newspaper couldn't resist applying her gender theories: the boys may have been influenced by the "many men" who stalk or kill their wives and girlfriends. The "Southern culture" theory seemed to blanket TV coverage for an hour or two, then play itself out. Researchers report that homicides associated with a personal grievance are four times more common in the south than in the mid-west. In response, southern politicians tended to argue that violence is a product of the national culture.
