No respect for NBC news

[WilliamHBonney]

Originally Posted by Danase

It was turned over to the police/FBI. The FBI asked them to wait to break the news and they did. I saw an interview last night with a former FBI agent and they asked him about NBC breaking it an airing it and he said it was two fold. He said 1) If you didn't air it that it would eventually be in the hands of the tabloids which you don't want. 2) Once people found out that you had such an item they would want to see it anyway.

To be honest, I am not the biggest fan of some of the media but I think it is more the fault of the viewers who watch this stuff and demand stuff like this. Look at reality TV shows. They are the hottest shows on right now. Personally I can not stand to watch them but I seem to be alone on that. LOL

Totally agree, if the viewers did not watch and the ratings fell we would not have the problem of the media reporting this stuff. The media is just out to sell ad space, thats it. There is nothing noble in what they do.

[paul34]

Maybe I'm just misunderstanding this, but why was it so wrong to release this? I mean, it is their job to report the news, right?

Needless to say, they don't really ever do that job most of the time, but if its information they have access to... why not? I also know NBC will make a killing off this story, and off the photos no doubt as well. I think if they were going to release it, they should have done so publicly (I'm not sure if they did).

I'm not trying to be rude, I'm just geniunely curious as to why you all thought this should have been hidden from the public.

[Yal]

^I think one of the main fears is copy cats. You see someone sick that is watching it may see glory in this kind of murder/suicide and attempt to do the same. Also there isn't a lot of useful information gleaned from it for normal folks that we couldn't have got from seeing the end result.

In fact the one useful information is one of the things the killer said which was that he admired the Columbine guys from watching footage of their rants. Now the media is doing it again for another child out there with Cho's rants.

[paul34]

Originally Posted by Yal

^I think one of the main fears is copy cats. You see someone sick that is watching it may see glory in this kind of murder/suicide and attempt to do the same. Also there isn't a lot of useful information gleaned from it for normal folks that we couldn't have got from seeing the end result.

In fact the one useful information is one of the things the killer said which was that he admired the Columbine guys from watching footage of their rants. Now the media is doing it again for another child out there with Cho's rants.

Ahh I understand now. Thanks.

[Tasty]

Let me preface my rant by saying that I feel for the families that lost their young people to this individual.

The argument going around right now about how this shouldn't be shown because it glorifies violence or encourages others, holds absolutely no water in my opinion. This society is mired in violence, and lack of respect for other human beings. When movies like Hostel or American Psycho do so well at the box office that they keep on cranking them out it becomes pretty obvious that people in this country like violence. Go watch CSI if you want to see some stuff that, IMO, is pretty unnecessary for television broadcast. People continue to cry about violence on TV, in movies, and in music in this country, yet it continues to generate massive amounts of money. However, God forbid we should see a woman breast feeding her child in public. Now there's something we can all agree should be outlawed, right? Does anyone but me see the irony?

I could go on and on about video games and movies ad nauseum, but we've all heard it before. I don't watch crap like Hostel because where, where is the point of watching someone be tortured and killed whether it's real or not??? I absolutely do not understand. Then NBC shows this video and we all want to act outraged and shocked that such a thing would be done. It's a bogus reaction from a society that ought to stand up and take a look at some of the crap we allow these days.

Then again, some people like this loser that murdered the young people at VT are just not wired right. I believe that you can try and raise a child correctly, give them love, and try to instill good values and they may still have a disconnect from other human beings or a mental illness that will allow them to commit atrocities such as this. The quick glimpse I got of this guy on TV staring down the barrel of his gun was absolutely chilling, and it makes me shudder to think that is the last thing that 32 young people saw in their lives. I have not seen the video and I really don't care to, nor do I care to support much of the violence that passes for "entertainment" in our country today.