On Wednesday, NBC received a package from Cho Seung-Hui containing a video, several pictures, and a long note. NBC made the decision to release this material to the public, and the hateful video was shown on every newscast that night and the pictures were on the front page of every newspaper the next day.
But should this have ever been seen by the public?
It's a difficult question to answer. On one hand, it's breaking news, even if it is absolutely disgusting, and it's an important development in the story. It's sick and twisted that this package was mailed between the shootings, and the content gives the public some idea of what the killer was actually like. Plus, imagine the backlash that would've happened if the public learned later that this package was sent and the public was not informed.
But on the other hand, there needs to be some respect for the families of the victims. They are dealing with enough without being bombarded by this horrible video and these disturbing pictures of the man who killed their loved ones. My friend from high school's older brother was among the victims, and I can't even imagine what it must've been like for her and her family to see this video. There's a sensitivity chip that seems to be missing among the media.
I watched Anderson Cooper on Wednesday, and someone he was interviewing said they were worried that giving the video so much attention would lead to copycats, especially since Cho counted the Columbine shooters among his heroes.
Plus, showing the video over and over is giving him the attention that he wanted. He doesn't deserve that. It makes me absolutely sick that he thought of himself as some kind of martyr.
I don't know. I think that it should have been shown MAYBE once, and then dropped. In the hour-long news program that I watched the day the news broke, the video was shown at least four times. And then in morning, the front page of every newspaper had a huge picture of one of the many disturbing pictures the killer sent. Was that really necessary?
Finally, the networks have decided to cut back on airing this video. CNN and Fox have banned it completely, and NBC, CBS, and ABC will "severely limit" the usage. I'm glad they're doing this, but it's too late. The video has already been shown far more times than it ever should have been.
Katy Donoghue @ Fri, 04/20/2007 - 3:47pm
I think it's something that should have been released. It was mailed to NBC, and as I watched it being aired it was noted by the news anchor that NBC was regretfully doing exactly what the killer wished the news network to do. But did they need to keep playing it? No, but it had to be done nonetheless.
As far as copy-cat issues though, I think that there are bigger threats than a news coproration running the video. This kind of information cannot be kept from the public just because they are afraid someone might do the same...