In an increasingly mediated society, mass media have become inseparable from the production of daily life. Media now provides a platform for members of society to connect to world events and other people beyond their own personal experience. For many, the media is a major source of information and "stories of violence, as presented by the mass media, are the primary means by which the average person learns about crime and justice" (Barak, 1994). The following essay will explore theories of cultivation analysis, as established by George Gerbner, as well as those of agenda setting, renowned by Maxwell McCombs and Donald Shaw. These concepts will demonstrate how the recent Santa Barbara shooting is a major media event that reflects a familiar narrative through which social reality is shaped and social issues addressed. First, cultivation theory suggests that high television exposure encourages a world of coherent and biased ideas. towards reality, or what the culture perceives as reality, as depicted in the media. Although it was initially used to attract crowds, violence has since become a recurring theme in many forms of communication. Today, in a world where media content is saturated with violence, Gerbner's theory explains why this event has become so recognized. News about crime and violence is used as a powerful tool for political discourse, reinforcing existing sociocultural norms and fueling the economic power of media conglomerates. Furthermore, media industries also use violence as a recurring theme to create fear within society as well as to create suspicion and distrust within the community. Therefore, school shootings as media events can be considered familiar news...... middle of paper In the case of the Columbine shootings in 1999, the media was able to distance itself by blaming famous goth musician Marilyn Mason, films like The Matrix, and violent video games like Doom (Ruddock, 2013). Rodger created his own theme of misogyny and gender inequality as a motive for his actions. In doing so, he limited the media's ability to deflect their involvement in this event, because the use of media is part of the crime itself. Despite Rodger's actions, it is evident that the media is still able to control some of the themes surrounding these events. For example, current headlines suggest that mental illness is the primary cause of Rodger's actions. Mental illness is once again blamed for crime, a nice way of saying that violent misogyny is an individual problem, not a cultural one.