Shame On You, NBC News
Obviously by now most of us have seen the videos and photos that NBC News aired last night on Nightly News…the ones that Cho Seung-Hui, the Virginia Tech killer, sent them in between his shooting rampages.
And I have to say NBC News was dead wrong to air those sensitive items.
Why? Let’s take a deeper look:
- NBC, whether it was their intention or not, promoted Cho’s agenda for the world to see on a medium that he otherwise could not reach. He knew he was about to commit the worst shooting in U.S. history, and by sending that tape to NBC and them airing it, he advanced his agenda and bared his creepy thoughts for the world to see…including the victims’ families and friends. Way to rub it in, 30 Rock.
- The investigation is incomplete. I don’t see why NBC just didn’t hand the documents over to the FBI and leave it alone from there. Then again, I do…NBC had stated they received a manifesto from Cho, and the other networks were waiting to see whether they were telling the truth. From a competition standpoint, NBC News had no other option but to prove they weren’t lying and show the video. That’s my guess.
- Take a look at your calendar. Tomorrow is the eight-year anniversary of the Columbine shootings. I’m sure someone somewhere in this world has watched the Cho video, seen his photos he sent, sympathized with him, PLUS they sympathize with the Columbine shooters, and they’ve got a treasure trove of ideas with which to act upon.
I’m sure there are more reasons that could spring to mind but I don’t want to focus on them all. I have my own opinions on the Virginia Tech shooting but they’re too volatile to post on this blog. I am sickened that someone would gun down one innocent person, much less 32. I’m sickened that the campus cops didn’t do more to save the people they swore to protect. I’m equally sickened by people who didn’t have any personal connection to anyone anywhere near Virginia Tech acting like it affected them so deeply (I do have a personal connection to VT, for the record).
Terrible week in American history — in 1993 we had the Waco incident, in 1995 Timothy McVeigh blew apart the Murrah Federal Building in OKC, in 1999 we had Columbine and now the VT massacre. All of them are linked together somehow, and it’s tragic…all four incidents resulted in massive loss of innocent lives.
5 Comments, Comment or Ping
Sybil
You don’t have to have a personal connection to be bothered by these brutal murders. I’m not sure I understand what you are saying with that comment. It should deeply affect us, that someone gunned down innocents in a place where they should be safe.
Apr 20th, 2007
Mel
I actually disagree… I’m very close (in distance) to VA Tech and I can’t even count how many people I know that were friends with at least one person who passed away. NBC was wise in only showing small portions of those videos and they didn’t show them for very long. Cho Sueng-Hui certainly had no valid motive (I don’t think there’ll ever be a valid motive for something like that) but at least the videos offered some form of an answer to the “Why?” that family and friends were asking. I think that some of the images they chose to show were unnecessary, but I think showing the slight but of the videos was NBC’s way of offering a very, very small portion of closure and don’t think they had any intentions of encouraging other sick-minded people to be like Cho Seung-Hui.
Apr 20th, 2007
Aftan
I agree with your mom. You don’t have to know anyone from VT to be affected by what happened there. Just the fact that it happened should be enough to bother anyone. It is a very shallow thought on your part that you would judge people being affected with the shootings when you haven’t any clue their history or how it is affecting them. Instead of focusing on how sickened you are on the fact that people are being affected why are you not praying for their comfort and aid in your understanding so you can relate to them? It is very difficult to get comfort or understanding from someone that doesn’t open their mind as to why they are bothered by the situation.
In stating that one is bothered by the shootings doesn’t mean that the people are trying to take attention away from those that knew someone and are closely connected to VT. It simply means that it has bothered them on some level and you need to be there to help them through those feelings. Not state how sickened you are.
Apr 22nd, 2007
Mel
Just wanted to add something that’s related to the VA Tech topic, but not the VA Tech post… I know tons of people that either go to Tech or know people at Tech… I have never heard most of these people mention God or prayer and then as soon as the tragedy hit EVERY single one of them had away messages on AIM that said “Praying for Tech.” Sadly, it upset me because why does God only get to come into the picture when something bad happens? Wouldn’t it make sense to spend your time getting to know Him so that way when tragedy hits you actually KNOW the one who is comforting you? And then I keep hearing people ask why would God let this happen. This morning I heard such a wonderful statement… Delmar said something about how when tragedy hits people ask why God wasn’t there, but then at the same time, people aren’t inviting God to all the other parts of our lives.
Apr 22nd, 2007
Sybil
Good points Melissa! I wonder about that too. It’s hard enough to go through a senseless tragedy, but then they add insult to injury by blaming God as if He caused it to happen. But really people try to figure things out that are too big for them, like the shooting, and if they can’t find an suitable answer God gets blamed.
Like you said, people don’t serve Him yet He is the One they blame when things go awry.
Apr 23rd, 2007
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