Shooting at Va Tech

[Colson39]

Why are people blaming the news for showing the news!!!!! It's not like this is the Disney Channel showing these videos, this is the news.

And I find it funny that everyone is lambasting the news agencies for not talking about the victims, when I haven't seen a single post in this thread talking about the victims for quite a while. Rather ironic huh?

Problem with modern day society, everyone is just looking for someone to place blame on....sigh

 

[beachblanket]

All that is accomplished by airing them is to validate and glorify a twisted, sick individual.

Per this logic, any video of Bin Laden, Teb Bundy, Adolf Hitler et. al should be censored, for publishing and broadcasting them apparently "validates and glorifies" terrorism, serial killings and mass murder.

 

[Amlee]

I completely disagree. The still pictures from the video are plastered on the front page of every major newspaper in the country. You couldn't possibly walk down a major city downtown and avoid seeing them. I had three of the pictures delivered to my office this morning - on the front page of the three major papers I subscribe to.

I accept the fact that if the video exists, it's going to eventually be shown. But YouTube is available, and people could make the choice to watch it or not. And I think NBC would have been okay publishing the text of the killer's "manifesto". It does have some news value. But the videos don't. All that is accomplished by airing them is to validate and glorify a twisted, sick individual.

It's also on every news webpage. I'm not crazy about the images and get chills every time I bring up CNN.com and have that gun pointed straight at me. My stomach turned just now when my local ABC news showed those images. But I knew before I went to that page or before the news came on that those images would be shown. But I made the choice to go to that page or to watch my mid day news.

I also knew last night that those images would be the front page of every newpaper in the country.

 

[Corwin12]

Why are people blaming the news for showing the news!!!!! It's not like this is the Disney Channel showing these videos, this is the news.

And I find it funny that everyone is lambasting the news agencies for not talking about the victims, when I haven't seen a single post in this thread talking about the victims for quite a while. Rather ironic huh?

Problem with modern day society, everyone is just looking for someone to place blame on....sigh

On Hannity and Colmes the night of the shooting: they displayed the names of all the victims continuously on the ticker while showing photographs of them with their DOBs, class status, and major. And the pictures were not yearbook pictures or anything ... they were spontaneous pictures like kids like to take of each other. That was the most powerful reporting of the victims I had seen.

 

[ZuZugal]

For anyone interested, Dan Murphy started a thread with a slide show about the victims...take a look: http://www.disboards.com/showthread.php?t=1425793

And for what it's worth, just because NBC made the choice to release the contents of the envelope with information from the killer, that does not inherently make it "news".

 

[beachblanket]

You imply by the use of "understandably" that the VT community should be very upset by NBC's actions. I'm curious, why should their reactions be different from that of the general public with regards to this particular decision?

Not necessarily different, but stronger .

Perhaps I base that sentiment on the fact I was in Manhattan on Tuesday, September 11, 2001. Subsequent nationwide travel showed me that while people everywhere were emotionally damaged that day, their scars didn't come close to the ones left on those who actually witnessed the attacks. You had to be there to really understand the horror.

 

[Colson39]

On Hannity and Colmes the night of the shooting: they displayed the names of all the victims continuously on the ticker while showing photographs of them with their DOBs, class status, and major. And the pictures were not yearbook pictures or anything ... they were spontaneous pictures like kids like to take of each other. That was the most powerful reporting of the victims I had seen.

Every news agency has done this, at least the TV one's. What I was stating, is that everyone in this thread is all of a sudden going "WHY IS NO ONE TALKING ABOUT THE VICTIMS", when the majority of this thread now is people blaming people for doing stuff, and has absolutely nothing to do with the victims.

People here are doing EXACTLY what they are blaming the news agencies for not doing, covering the victims. Like I said, it's a culture of blame, don't look at me, blame someone else.

 

[beachblanket]

On Hannity and Colmes the night of the shooting: they displayed the names of all the victims continuously on the ticker while showing photographs of them with their DOBs, class status, and major. And the pictures were not yearbook pictures or anything ... they were spontaneous pictures like kids like to take of each other. That was the most powerful reporting of the victims I had seen.

I saw that too, and completely agree on the impact.

 

[bsnyder]

Looks like the vultures at NBC got what they wanted:

FLASH: RATINGS BLOWOUT FOR NBC NEWS... 7.4 RATING/15 SHARE FOR BRIAN WILLIAMS AND CHO TAPES, NIELSEN OVERNIGHTS SHOW... 6.2/12 FOR ABC 'WORLD NEWS'... CBS COURIC AT 4.2/8...

From an LAPD cop's persepctive:

None of them will ever admit this publicly, of course, but in the safety of their corner offices at Rockefeller Center sit men and women who are privately gleeful at the ratings boost they were given in the form of the box that landed in their mail room Wednesday morning. That the box was sent by a man who had just killed two people and would within the hour kill 30 more, well, that’s unfortunate, but business is business so let’s get this stuff on television. Proof of this is in the way the NBC News logo is displayed on the tape and in the still photos that accompanied it. Rather than appearing unobtrusively in a lower corner of the frame as is customary, the logo appears in bold letters very near the center of the screen. This was done ostensibly for copyright protection, but it also informs viewers who chance to see the images on other networks that the real scoop is over on NBC, so why not pick up the remote and join us?

Yes, Brian Williams assured us, they informed the FBI and the Virginia state police about what they had received, and they dutifully turned over the materials to FBI agents, but not before they made the copies they’ve been running in an almost continuous loop since they first put it on the air Wednesday night. “We’re allowing him to be heard in a limited way,” Williams told viewers, “because it advances, maybe, our understanding of why 32 people were killed along the way during one day, the last day of his life.”

Thus in nobility is cloaked NBC’s mercenary decision to air the killer’s tape, providing him in death that which was denied him in life: attention, power, and even sympathy. I haven’t bothered to search for them, but in America today one need not read them to know there are websites where even now can be found expressions of sympathy for a man whose 32 victims have yet to be buried. Sad to say, but had the killer not committed suicide and instead been captured and imprisoned, he would have received fan mail and even marriage proposals in tomorrow’s mail and in every day’s thereafter for years to come.

I don’t blame people for watching the killer’s tape, but they should acknowledge that in doing so they are not being “informed” or “educated” or otherwise advancing some lofty intellectual pursuit, but are instead satisfying their lurid curiosity. The killer’s tape is pornography; it’s okay to watch it, just don’t tell me you’re interested in the plot.

http://article.nationalreview.com/?q=NWU0ZjZmYzFkOTAyMzdmY2Q0MjJhNzZkNGI1NjZiY2M=

 

[ZuZugal]

from the above poster's quote:

"Yes, Brian Williams assured us, they informed the FBI and the Virginia state police about what they had received, and they dutifully turned over the materials to FBI agents, but not before they made the copies they’ve been running in an almost continuous loop since they first put it on the air Wednesday night. “We’re allowing him to be heard in a limited way,” Williams told viewers, “because it advances, maybe, our understanding of why 32 people were killed along the way during one day, the last day of his life."

Matt Lauer said on the Today show this morning that they would release a limited number of photos and in no way would run them "in any sort of loop".

Sorry Matt, too late.

 

[Colson39]

Looks like the vultures at NBC got what they wanted:

Same as the vultures at CBS, ABC, CNN, MSNBC, and Fox. They ALL have been showing the video non-stop. What, do you think Fox news wouldn't have shown this video had they been given it? I knew this was going to happen, people have already turned this into nothing but another national agenda for whatever politics they follow, it is a SHAME. This is what happens when news stations think that attacking other news stations is ACTUAL NEWS. It's so idiotic, news is not "MSNBC did this", or "CNN did this", or "NBC did this", or "Fox did this". THAT IS NOT NEWS. This is why TV news now is nothing but mind feed for people to follow, it's journalistic tabloidism at it's best, and is nothing but hate talk.

Funny that some random LAPD guy has an opinion, but the actual police chief of Virginia said NBC treated the issue with respect. Just goes to show you what random opinions are worth.

But yea, only a couple days after the shooting, let's all go back to partisan politics and start blaming liberal media for this and right wing gun owners for that, that will solve everything!

This thread had become a joke now, it's no longer about the victims, it's about people trying to do nothing but blame someone for something. So continue to judge, continue to blame, continue to care more about the politics than the reality, I will no longer be joining that discussion on this thread, it's a joke.

Goodbye.

 

[grlpwrd]

Every news agency has done this, at least the TV one's. What I was stating, is that everyone in this thread is all of a sudden going "WHY IS NO ONE TALKING ABOUT THE VICTIMS", when the majority of this thread now is people blaming people for doing stuff, and has absolutely nothing to do with the victims.

People here are doing EXACTLY what they are blaming the news agencies for not doing, covering the victims. Like I said, it's a culture of blame, don't look at me, blame someone else.

I mean no disrespect, but this forum is not the only and best (?) place to memorialize the victims and those affected. My school (a community college here in Virginia) and I think many other schools here in Virginia are having vigils tomorrow. I am also in direct contact with my neighbors who are alumni and some who have children who attend Tech. There are also websites like Facebook where students themselves and the public in general are involved.

The point being made revolves around the media. I think the media could do a better job giving them (victims/families/survivors/etc) some respect and showing some responsibility, that's for sure.

 

[bsnyder]

Same as the vultures at CBS, ABC, CNN, MSNBC, and Fox. They ALL have been showing the video non-stop. What, do you think Fox news wouldn't have shown this video had they been given it? I knew this was going to happen, people have already turned this into nothing but another national agenda for whatever politics they follow, it is a SHAME. This is what happens when news stations think that attacking other news stations is ACTUAL NEWS. It's so idiotic, news is not "MSNBC did this", or "CNN did this", or "NBC did this", or "Fox did this". THAT IS NOT NEWS. This is why TV news now is nothing but mind feed for people to follow, it's journalistic tabloidism at it's best, and is nothing but hate talk.

Funny that some random LAPD guy has an opinion, but the actual police chief of Virginia said NBC treated the issue with respect. Just goes to show you what random opinions are worth.

But yea, only a couple days after the shooting, let's all go back to partisan politics and start blaming liberal media for this and right wing gun owners for that, that will solve everything!

This thread had become a joke now, it's no longer about the victims, it's about people trying to do nothing but blame someone for something. So continue to judge, continue to blame, continue to care more about the politics than the reality, I will no longer be joining that discussion on this thread, it's a joke.

Goodbye.

My criticism of NBC has absolutely nothing to do with politics. I think Fox would have jumped at the chance to air the video too, and I would have been equally critical of them. Or ABC, or whomever.

This thread was never just about the victims at VT. When it first was started, we didn't even know if there were any victims. It's about the shootings at VT. And the media coverage is pertinent.

And just so I'm not misunderstood. I'm not blaming NBC for what happened at VT. I'm not blaming anyone but the killer. But yes, I AM judging the media, for their coverage. I think it's disgusting.

 

[meloneyb21]

I'm still confused as to how he got a frickin gun....his great-aunt states that he has always been "cold" and that he was diagnosed with autism years ago. It also states on CNN that "In 2005, Cho was declared mentally ill by a Virginia special justice, who found he was "an imminent danger" to himself, a court document states."

Was this stuff not documented or what?

 

[notAgain]

And for what it's worth, just because NBC made the choice to release the contents of the envelope with information from the killer, that does not inherently make it "news".

Sure it's news. It is information, heretofore unknown, about the murderer, that he thought was important enough (to him at least), to actually go an mail, in between his killings. If what is contained in that media isn't news enough to actually be shared, I'm not sure what is. I'm interested in what type of fantasy this person was living that made him want to do this. Is that "lurid curiousity" (from the random cop above)? Maybe. So what. Does that helps people understand what was going on here? Probably. Could it help in the future, to show people what someone going through this might be like? Probably.

Don't censor the material, just because it makes some people sad, or because you think the news station that holds it is after some ratings, or because it's shocking to some.

 

[bsnyder]

Funny that some random LAPD guy has an opinion, but the actual police chief of Virginia said NBC treated the issue with respect. Just goes to show you what random opinions are worth.

Not sure where you got your "random opinion" from the Virginia police chief, but he doesn't sound very complimentary of NBC to me:

“While there was some marginal value to the package we received, the fact of the matter is ... the package merely confirms what we already knew,” Col. Steven Flaherty, superintendent of Virginia State Police, the lead agency investigating the shootings, said in a brief statement Thursday.

That turned attention to NBC’s decision to broadcast the material and to publish more of it on MSNBC.com.

Flaherty said he appreciated NBC’s cooperation with investigators, but he said he was “rather disappointed in the editorial decision to broadcast these disturbing images.”

“I’m sorry that you were all exposed to these images,” he said.

 

[ZuZugal]

Why are people blaming the news for showing the news!!!!! It's not like this is the Disney Channel showing these videos, this is the news.

here you say this IS THE NEWS

I knew this was going to happen, people have already turned this into nothing but another national agenda for whatever politics they follow, it is a SHAME. This is what happens when news stations think that attacking other news stations is ACTUAL NEWS. It's so idiotic, news is not "MSNBC did this", or "CNN did this", or "NBC did this", or "Fox did this". THAT IS NOT NEWS. This is why TV news now is nothing but mind feed for people to follow, it's journalistic tabloidism at it's best, and is nothing but hate talk.

Here you say THIS IS NOT THE NEWS.

I really don't see anyone's "political agenda" coming into play here. Most people are giving opinions (in a civil way) and discussing how this event and the media have effected America and the victim's families.

Oh, and still looking for the "hate talk"

My criticism of NBC has absolutely nothing to do with politics. I think Fox would have jumped at the chance to air the video too, and I would have been equally critical of them. Or ABC, or whomever.

This thread was never just about the victims at VT. When it first was started, we didn't even know if there were any victims. It's about the shootings at VT. And the media coverage is pertinent.

And just so I'm not misunderstood. I'm not blaming NBC for what happened at VT. I'm not blaming anyone but the killer. But yes, I AM judging the media, for their coverage. I think it's disgusting.

bsnyder:

 

[Amlee]

I'm still confused as to how he got a frickin gun....his great-aunt states that he has always been "cold" and that he was diagnosed with autism years ago. It also states on CNN that "In 2005, Cho was declared mentally ill by a Virginia special justice, who found he was "an imminent danger" to himself, a court document states."

Was this stuff not documented or what?

In VA and many other states it seems that mental illness is not considered in the background check.

While it's too late, I see a major push for this to be added!

 

[yeartolate]

Ewwwwww

Here is the comment....

Lambs for the slaughter

One more thing. I have a question here. No answer .. just a question. Why didn't some of these students fight back? How in the hell do you line students up against a wall (if that's the way it played out) and start picking them off one by one without the students turning on you? You have a choice. Try to rush the killer and get his gun, or stand there and wait to be shot. I would love to hear from some of you who have insight into situations such as this. Was there just not enough time to react? Were they paralyzed with fear? Were they waiting for someone else to take action? Sorry .. I just don't understand.

Is this a backhanded way of saying - it was partially the students fault?

I think this guy has taken Ann COulter lessons.

 

[bsnyder]

Sure it's news. It is information, heretofore unknown, about the murderer, that he thought was important enough (to him at least), to actually go an mail, in between his killings. If what is contained in that media isn't news enough to actually be shared, I'm not sure what is. I'm interested in what type of fantasy this person was living that made him want to do this. Is that "lurid curiousity" (from the random cop above)? Maybe. So what. Does that helps people understand what was going on here? Probably. Could it help in the future, to show people what someone going through this might be like? Probably.

Don't censor the material, just because it makes some people sad, or because you think the news station that holds it is after some ratings, or because it's shocking to some.

The material WAS censored, by NBC, so there goes that argument.