Second-Guessing On Use Of Cho Pictures

(AP)  Did news judgment really compel NBC and other organizations to use the material Virginia Tech shooter Cho Seung-Hui intended for his epitaph? Or was this a case where revulsion should have left them in a desk drawer?

They're tough questions for journalists, not made any easier by an apparent attempt by television news organizations to have it both ways when the heat was turned up.

"This is the classic ethical issue where there could be multiple right answers and multiple wrong answers," said Bob Steele, a senior journalism ethics faculty member at the Poynter Institute in Florida.

NBC News was at the tip of all these issues when the package of photos, video files and written ramblings from Cho arrived in its mailroom Wednesday. Every other news organization faced the same questions when the material reached the public domain, and virtually all reached the same initial conclusion.

The pictures alone — 11 showed a gun pointed at a camera lens — were repulsive. Many who saw them viewed it as a second attack, an invitation to copycats and a fulfillment of Cho's demented wish for attention.

They sickened Peter Read, whose aspiring schoolteacher daughter Mary Karen was one of the 32 shot dead by Cho on Monday.

"I want to issue a direct personal plea, to all the major media," he told The Associated Press on Thursday. "For the love of God and our children, stop broadcasting those images and those words. Choose to focus on life and the love and the light that our children brought into the world and not on the darkness and the madness and the death."

"Use of the videos and pictures served no compelling purpose and only risked heightening public disgust toward journalists," said Alex Jones, director of Harvard University's Shorenstein Center on the Press, Politics and Public Policy.

NBC should have released transcripts of what Cho said, and maybe one still picture, and locked away the rest, he said.

Journalists say it's not for them to decide whether or not the pictures are unpleasant to see, only to judge whether they are newsworthy.

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[oleander8]

P.S. All you angry people that want to turn this into a political discussion are just plain nuts. This has nothing to do with Bush and his gang, or Republicans in general.

[oleander8]

"NBC and others believed the information could help the public understand some of the reasons behind Cho's rampage."

I don't believe this for a second - "help the public"?? Get off the cross. This was sensationalism at it's worst. The general public was apalled and angry at this validation of a maniac. He got everything he wanted - and the media set the stage for another maniac to do the same.

[jacksteen1]

Ravings of a lunatic ? How about that sad, one-page speech that George Bush delivered over and over and over again in 2000 that "got him elected"? I laugh as I type those words, 'cuz we all know his Daddy's Supreme Court handed him the election...no one voted him to be anything.

So what's the diff ?

This cross-eyed CVhong was a murderous dog...he killed dozens of innocents.....it's news.

Run the photos of the carnage in the classrooms so the Republishit Party supporters can see what their gun lobby has made possible.

[samthetvcat]

PS WOW - Jennifer, I'm so sorry to hear about your precious daughter. I will say a prayer for you and her tonight. You know Bill O'Reilley can be so annoying but I watch his show to keep in tune with what others think on the other side of the political spectrum and he's really good about holding lenient judges accountable - he might want to hear about your story.

[samthetvcat]

It's kind of a fine line sometimes I guess because it seemed like CBS had begun to pull away from the focus on the gunman and then NBC released all the pictures and videos and stuff and I'll bet the site hits on CBS started dropping like flies, thereby pressuring them to meet public interest in the horror show.

Maybe I feel some loyalty to CBS since I hang out here so much, but I do feel like NBC does bear some special responsibility in this instance, especially after having looked at the contents and heard the references to Columbine and knowing copycat incidents had started to crop up all over the country.

I did notice though that none of the news stations have been showing the photo of the NASA gunman and that the focus really hasn't been on the gunman - I don't know what the appropriate protocol ought to be now . . . like maybe once might be okay (?) I don't know though . . . maybe better to err on the side of caution (?) Or maybe it just hasn't been released yet (?)

[drew30319-2009]

By the way, CBSNews.com also showed a horrible lapse in judgement on the day of the murders. They had a large graphic proclaiming "BLOODBATH IN BLACKSBURG."

It's shameful when journalistic fervor overrides basic humanity.

[drew30319-2009]

I thought much more of NBC News prior to their misguided "journalistic judgement." Their national spotlight on the ravings of a cowardly sociopath is a slap in the face to the victims and their families.

Understand something - please.

Our focus, as a society, needs to be on Victims and their rights, not on the criminals.

Tomorrow is the beginning of National Crime Victims Week. If you have a chance please attend a memorial service and spend some time educating yourselves about the victims of crime.

My high-school student daughter was murdered last year by an ex-boyfriend. He had just recently been released from a "boot camp" program after three months. He had committed three felonies.

Less than a month after his release he murdered my daughter with a shotgun and left her body in the woods.

If the judge that "slapped his wrist" had focused more on the victims of his crime rather than "going easy" on a criminal she would still be alive.

Jennifer Ann's Group
JenniferAnn.org

[likeitis5050]

But Katie and Matt put on their most serious and thoughtful expressions when they prefaced how long and hard they had thought before showing what had been sent to them...THEM...the gunman knew the media wouldn't be able to muster the integrity to refuse. It is possible to report the news without glorifying gore and disrespecting victims' families and survivors still dealing with the horror only hours old, but it requires putting others who are suffering first. We have no one in any vein of news today who can walk away from a story if it means it will do more harm or disrespect at the time. Their awards and notoriety come first. There was no reason to air that ***...not then, not now, not ever. This maniac has gotten exactly what he hoped to get...and he knew who to send it to for that to happen. NBC bombed.

[colonieny]

For all their high and mighty attitute, NBC again shows itself be what it is.
Please just say you are sorry and apologise to the country and the families. NBC , you are a sleezy outfit. Can't you do better ?


Why do you think this nut decided to send the tapes to NBC ?

[victoriarum]

With all due respect for the victims regardless who it is, the pictures should have been handed over to the authorities at that moment, as it is evidence, compiled it then released to us, the viewer.

What happen to ethics in journalism?

Pray for Peace, Joy, and Love. God Bless.