In the middle of his shooting spree, the gunman responsible for the Virginia Tech shootings mailed a package to NBC News. In the package was a video explaining why he felt he had to commit these murders and a collection of photographs depicting himself in poses with various weapons. NBC News decided to air some of the footage and the photographs. Was this the right decision, or should they have quietly sent these items to the FBI without broadcasting them?
if possible add sites for info thanx a bunch!!!
2007-05-20 13:15:29 · 6 answers · asked by mrlittleman 2 in News & Events ➔ Media & Journalism
Was this the right decision...at first I was going to say no but, I and so many others needed to know why this massacre happened. It made no sense. Once they aired the tape, it cleared up some things - no it did not make the situation any better but I guess it does something to the psyche knowing the person was out of his mind and had been for a long time versus thinking it was a hate crime or some sort of terrorist act. Just think, if we were left up to our own imaginations and possibly promoted a terrorist type theory, a lot of people could have gotten hurt.
2007-05-20 13:26:33 · answer #1 · answered by Emerald Jones 5 · 0⤊ 0⤋
NBC did air some of what was taped . they did not air anywhere near all of what the demon possessed man wrote or taped .
this was a good idea as it was not of use to the FBI in anyway to know that moment what the man had taped or written.
now if he had said i have a bomb and it will go off at some time or i have a hostage someplace then that would be different but he had nothing like that he was dead and all this crap he made about his evil reasons would not have stopped anyone from coming to harm .
NBC did as you know send this info to the government soon after they had quickly gone through it and determined that it was not of imminent need to the protection of the public.
i think NBC did balance the need for freedom of the press with the need of the police well in this matter.
i do wish something more had been of use from the demon possessed man to point out how to stop such matters in the future
2007-05-20 20:32:27 · answer #2 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 0⤋
I think they should have allowed to FBI to review the tapes and then broadcast the details after a short period has elapsed. While this short period would not have allow the victims families to grieve properly, it would afford them the dignity that seems to me to be missing from these instant, breaking-news type exposés. It would also allow the news station to develop a more rounded news item for broadcast, instead of the Flash! Bang! Wallop! "Hey, look at what's happening in a school / hospital / workplace near you!" type things that we currently get dished up to us as news stories.
Maybe I'm being old-fashioned, breaking news sells. But what of the moral and ethical rights of victims and grieving families. I noted a few years ago the unsteady close-ups of crying relatives had replaced the dignified long-shots of the funeral party. Now you are forced almost to participate in the trauma of such events by the egotistical behaviour of the news teams who fight amongst themselves to get the most horrific pictures and beam them live into your living space. Such broadcasting is ego-driven and basically tells the other news stations, "hey, this nut wrote to us/sent us a video - we must be really important people!"
I see this lack of distance as prompting other emotionally disturbed individuals to copy the same idea, and that is just wrong.
I don't think it's just a matter of controlling the availability of firearms within our cultures, but also placing certain controls upon the news media, to ensure that they don't glorify what can be life-changing events for the victims, families and ultimately the viewers.
2007-05-20 21:11:56 · answer #3 · answered by cornflake#1 7 · 0⤊ 0⤋
I don't think that it was right at all cuz i mean like the parents of all these people who got killed needed to see that i mean it was senseless all it did was cause them more pain to see there kids murderer talk about why he supposedly had to kill them and the pictures were just disturbing i think this was awful to put on the news and hopefully next time NBC won't make such a dumb mistake to do so as to do that. They shouldve just sent it to the FBI or the cops or some kind of law enforcement.
2007-05-20 20:27:59 · answer #4 · answered by coolgirl1376 3 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Hon, I have no idea. I was just heartened to see your "Tech-related" question; it was beginning to seem as though we have forgotten about this tragedy already.
What pathetically short attention-spans we Americans have.
2007-05-20 20:26:10 · answer #5 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 0⤋
it just further proves that the media doesnt care about the public's welbeing and cares more about money in their pocket.
2007-05-20 20:25:41 · answer #6 · answered by That Girl 3 · 1⤊ 0⤋