CNN's Anderson Cooper lays down the law on why he won't air the Santa Fe shooter's name or face

CNN's Anderson Cooper explained in the wake of the deadly shooting in Santa Fe, Texas, on Friday that his program, "Anderson Cooper 360," makes an effort to reduce the attention and glory that such killers receive.

"As always on this program, it will be [the survivors'] stories we tell, theirs and lives of those who did not make it," Cooper said. "The name of the alleged killer will not be said nor will his face be shown. The only thing he deserves is justice. His victims deserve far better."

An increasing number of media outlets have adopted this policy or others like it in an attempt to reduce the notoriety that killers receive after committing atrocities. Since these types of killers are often motivated by the desire for attention and recognition, many fear that delivering this kind of coverage perpetuates the problem.

“There’s hard evidence that says, well, a mass killer got more attention than Kim Kardashian this month, and you know how many people are influenced by Kim Kardashian," said Adam Lankford, an associate professor in criminology at the University of Alabama, in an interview with WBUR in 2017. "So it’s not surprising that a tiny, tiny percentage of people with significant problems would be influenced by that mass killer.”

Last year, Lankford and 149 other researchers and experts signed a letter asking outlets to stop naming the alleged killers in these crimes and showing their pictures.

Watch the clip below: