Glenn, it's quite true that the nonstop media coverage serves to encourage copycat crimes.
A couple of little b*st*rds involved in a shooting said as much.
There's another aspect to oversaturation, though, which is the public's response to it.
Whether it's Monica-all-the-time, Elian-all-the-time, or Columbine-all-the-time, in the end the public
gets sick of it, to the point where they want something done just to make it go away. In the case of Monica, they said let Clinton go.
In the case of Elian, many are saying just send him back. And, in the case of Columbine, they're saying OK, pass some laws and shut up. In many respects, media oversaturation has the same effect as terrorism, causing people to accept anything just to make the "problem" disappear.
Kirk Douglas made a movie called "The Big Carnival" back in the 50's that, at the time, seemed like a parody of media behavior. It would now be a reflection of our media's behavior.
Dick