#5. "Sorry" - Virginia Tech.

As the news of Virginia Tech came into the public sphere there were calls for restraint in reporting (1: 2). Some called for avoiding, "racial identifiers unless there is a compelling or germane reason" (1). Others decided to avoid completely using the murderer's name (2) to avoid giving him any publicity. Earl Maucker of The South Florida Sun - Sentinel said that the news has to be, "evaluated on its merit and its level of public interest" (7) and therefore, this story was newsworthy. The story took on the issue of gun control, (3) and the topic of sensationalism and repitition was also discussed (4). The subject of the coverage having the possible effect of encouraging copycats was discussed (8). And the issue of, "the pursuit of the 'facts' has forced the human aspects of the tragedy to the back seat," was taken on in the CJR Daily (6).

In the media classes I attended since the massacre, the main question asked was, "Should the media have aired the murderer's video and photographs?" Paul Mc Leary wrote on the CJR Daily that, "we've been reduced to squabbling over whether or not to show images of the killer" (5). If the material was not aired, he says, the media would have been criticized for too little and instead they are being criticized for too much (5). In comparing to the 9/11 coverage, Mc Leary says that the coverage of the 9/11 footage may have had a cathartic value (5). The implication is that the coverage of the murderers footage may also have a cathartic value.

I believe that all answers to the question are valid. Any reasonable human being can see that there are many answers to (any) question depending on who is being asked the question. So, in an attempt to grasp some understanding of the complexity of issues involved in the media coverage of Virginia Tech I will try to answer the question from 6 different perspectives: Murderer, Yours Truly, Network/Producer, Family of Victims, Family of Murderer and
Murderer-from-beyond-the-grave.

The question is, "Should the media have aired the murderer's video and photographs?"

1. Murderer (on April 16th, 07): "Yes, absolutely. I want to get my message out. People need to
know what I've been through."

2. Yours Truly: "The video and photographs should have been aired in the late evening and with warnings of its airing. Parents should have had the opportunity to keep their children from seeing this footage and people should have had a choice to not view it. Victims families
may have chosen to not view it. The constant repitition of the footage was not at all
necessary. Periodical updates in the late evening would suffice for ongoing coverage."

3. Producer/Network: "Yes, absolutely. We had to show this news-worthy footage to the
public. If we didn't, other networks would have and we would have lost ratings. The
footage was sensational and sensation sells."

4. Family of Victims: "The footage was repeated over and over again and this became painful.
However, we did want to see who this murderer was but less would have satisfied that
purpose. We could have viewed it in private. He doesn't deserve the publicity that he
seeked."

5. Family of Murderer: "I wish it would go away. I wish he had not produced the media footage. If it helps the families of the victims then it's o.k. I cannot believe what has happened. I just wish I could turn back the clock and stop it all from happening."

6. Murderer-from-beyond-the-grave: "I am sorry. I can't believe what I did. If I could take
it all back, I would. I am so sorry. I feel that my words are so empty because they cannot
change what I have done. I feel powerless. All I can say is I am sorry. Please believe me.
I am sorry. I am sorry. I am sorry.




(1). http://www.aaja.org/news/aajanews/2007_04_16_01/

(2). http://www.dailycollegian.com

(3). http://www.onenewsnow.com/2007/04/media_coverage_of_virginia_tec.php

(4). http://media.www.roundupnews.com/media/storage/paper474/news/2007/04/26/Opinion/S...

(5). http://www.cjrdaily.org/behind_the_news/nbcs_damned_if_it_does_and_dam.php

(6). http://www.cjrdaily.org/behind_the_news/post_21.php

(7). http://0-proquest.umi.com.opac.sfsu.edu/pqdweb?dex=1&sid=1&srchmode=1&vinst=P...

(8). http://blogs.reuters.com/2007/04/19/virginia-tech-and-social-media-some-questions-for-ne...