The teenagers: the two shooters are framed to best present the possibility that they are individuals who are
very likely to be responsible for such a horrendous crime. They are described at the trial as being unrepentant
of their actions. When the husband of the teacher who was killed testified about how his wife died, they were
described as staring at the ceiling, and refusing to make eye contact. One of the teenagers was said to cover
their mouth. This is presented as a reaction of two teenagers who are not sorry for what they have done. The
media makes it easy for us to point the finger at them, when they are presented as unrepentant and defiant
even when confronted with the effects of their actions.
 

Their past: the media tell the story of the two boys growing up in families that used guns and hunted. The  parents of both allowed their children to become familiar with guns, and to shoot from an early age. Both of the  children were also allowed to hunt, and were raised to enjoy it and see it as a positive sport of conquest. Their  parents presumable instilled the mentality that when they were able to kill something, they were successful.  This contributes to the idea that their past made them feel like they would be able to get away with the  shooting. There is also the suggestion in many of the articles that the teens made comments about their plans  to shoot people or to take revenge and neither their parents not their teachers recognized or checked these  thoughts or the speech. The implication is that if the children had been more disciplined they would not have  done this.

The society: The society the boys grew up in is also a prevalent reason the media cites for the actions of the
boys. The admiration of hunting in the society the teenagers grew up in influenced them to think that hunting
was fun and that handling guns was the norm. The accessibility of associations like gun clubs was also
mentioned by the press to instill the fact that society allows teenagers to be exposed to clubs that promote the
use of guns and also implies that this instills inappropriate thoughts and behavior. There is also a mention of
the entertainment of the society the shooters grew up in. The media presents this as a strong influence on
their beliefs growing up. Everything from TV shows to movies to action figures promote the war and violence
and the media suggest that this might have had an impact on their decision to carry through on the shooting.

Mental illness: a final possibility of a place fort the society to place blame, is that of mental illness. Mental
illnesses such as depression have received a lot of publicity recently, and by mentioning this as a possible
cause for the shootings, it allows people to distance themselves from the cause of the shooting. Mental illness
is considered a blameless condition, and by saying that this is responsible for the deaths in Jonesboro, it
removes any possibility for the specific placing of blame, and makes everyone reading it feel better about their
involvement. It allows people to say, "oh, it’s mental illness" and they automatically dismiss it as a situation
that could not have been changed.