All Blog Posts from Public Eye

By now, you've probably seen the disturbing pictures and video that Virginia Tech shooter Seung-hui Cho sent to NBC News. The debate has already begun as to whether NBC News, as well as the rest of the media, should have broadcast the killer's final message.

"[W]hat is the possible journalistic explanation for splashing Cho's self-dramatizing poses and self-justifying b------t over network and cable air?," wrote Harry Shearer at the Huffington Post, adding: "Cho's pathetic outpourings deserved to be put back where they came from--in a small room, with FBI guys sentenced to read/see and parse them. Instead, a hundred thousand self-pitying mentally ill young men (and women?) have just been shown the road to glory one more time."

An emailer to TVNewser, menwhile, defends the NBC decision.

"NBC News is taking enormous heat for airing and sharing the video and photos tonight," wrote the emailer. "People do not understand the journalistic obligation to do so. The business has itself to blame for people's lack of understanding because it has blurred the line between news and sensational news/entertainment. All of us who are serious about journalism need to defend a news organization's right and obligation to do what NBC did."

Soon after NBC News aired the video, some commenters denounced the decision to do so on the network's Web site. Wrote one: "I am totally appalled that NBC News has chosen to broadcast the videos of a psychopath according to his wishes and thereby possibly encourage other disturbed individuals to attempt to gain infamy through similar or copycat acts. I find this to be irresponsible and particularly disrespectful to the families of the victims."

NBC News reportedly spent "hours" debating whether or not to release the materials, which included a rambling, 1,800-word letter, and how much to release if they did. "We tried to be sensitive to the families involved and to the investigation," NBC News President Steve Capus told Howard Kurtz. Capus said that while some may be troubled by the network's decision to give Cho the platform he sought, "they also may say, 'We want to know why. We need to know what was in his head, what drove him to do this.' This is a portrait of a killer."

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NBC News has started calling the situation in Iraq a civil war. And the network has stressed that they didn't make the decision to do so lightly. On the "Today Show" this morning, Matt Lauer said this: "As you know, for months now the White House has rejected claims that the situation in Iraq has deteriorated into civil war. And for the most part, news organizations, like NBC, have hesitated to characterize it as such. But, after careful consideration, NBC News has decided the change in terminology is warranted -- that the situation in Iraq, with armed militarized factions fighting for their own political agendas, can now be characterized as civil war."

Over the past week, CBS News has repeatedly used the phrase "civl war" in reference to Iraq – but only when discussing what the situation might eventually become. "…one of the worst weekends of violence in Iraq since the war began, the debate is on: Is this a civil war?" asked Gloria Borger on "Face the Nation" yesterday. Here's Tracy Smith on Saturday's "Early Show": "Also in the Middle East today, Vice President Dick Cheney arrived in Saudi Arabia, where he'll meet with Saudi leaders and with Iraq's prime minister. It's part of the diplomatic push by the Bush administration to prevent full-scale civil war in Iraq." And Elizabeth Palmer, on the Nov. 24 "Early Show": "Calm is holding for now. But once the funerals are over for yesterday's victims, Iraqis fear that reprisal killings could spiral rapidly into all-out civil war." Here she is on that night's "Evening News": "Iraq remains on the brink of civil war."

Appearing on CBS News recently, figures such as Henry Kissinger, John Murtha and Claire McCaskill have all referred to Iraq as a civil war. The Los Angeles Times, as Jim Romenesko notes, is calling it as such. But according to Linda Mason, Senior Vice President, Standards and Special Projects, CBS News does not presently see any reason to refer to the situation as a civil war. She said that any decision to do so would come from the network as a whole, not any individual program.

"We're just covering the war, and I think we're doing a good job," said Mason. "We don't see a need to characterize it one way or another right now." Mason noted that "that could change."

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A great deal of attention has been paid to yesterday's announcement at NBC as it pertains to the repercussions for prime time programming. But we're more interested in how the shakeup affects the news. NBC News is being "streamlined," something that involves shifting headquarters and job cuts – 220, according to Radar, though NBC has not set a number. It's unclear if there will be significant new investment in the Web, though the rhetoric suggests as much.

One striking quote, from NBC News President Steve Capus, appeared in this morning's New York Times. "I'm not saying that now every story will get just one person who is going to meet the needs of every entity,' said Capus. "That's not the point. But maybe, instead of 30 people, we can send 25. I believe we can do that, and viewers will have no idea that behind the scenes, those are the conversations going on.'

That may be true, but the comment does seem to suggest that news organizations are continuing to move away from having people on the ground. In recent years, we've seen many news organizations close or scale back foreign bureaus in an effort to cut costs.

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