News Worthiness

Thursday, April 19, 2007

Since releasing the excerpts from the package sent by Virginia Tech killer Cho Seung-Hui, NBC News has received more than just a little criticism. Indeed, this story is so big that every little nuance... anything remotely connected to the story is being put under a microscope and reported on <i>ad nauseam</i>. Ironically enough, the decision to air the material delivered to NBC News has become itself a news story.

If not for the "gift" left by Cho, the media would be filling all of that airtime and every available inch with anything and everything it could discover about this "seriously disturbed individual." Cho saved the media a huge amount of legwork and opened insights about what drove him. Did he get what he wanted? Some are saying that by airing this "manifesto," Cho has ultimately won.

But think about how ridiculous that sounds. Cho is dead - and he&#39;s not getting any better. Last I checked, to get any enjoyment or satisfaction from an act, one must be alive to experience it. Furthermore, even if Cho could somehow relish his media spotlight from the grave, he would soon realize that no one agrees that he was any kind of victim. He would be crestfallen in the discovery that he is being regarded - at best - as "a seriously disturbed young man." Mostly he&#39;s being viewed as some kind of homicidal whacko.

For those with a religious leaning, I&#39;m guessing that Cho&#39;s last act earned him a one-way ticket straight to Hell. Do not pass go, do not collect $200. Yet he is somehow enjoying the last laugh? I don&#39;t think so. Does this coverage intensify the pain of the community, the survivors and the victims&#39; families? Undoubtedly, but surely they would understand that news of this magnitude must be reported. Even without Cho&#39;s help, there would be extensive coverage of Cho - a disproportionate amount.

But even without considering the civic responsibility of the news business, let us remember that it is a business. If no one tuned into this stuff, no one would report it. People want to know, despite how much they say they don&#39;t. The numbers don&#39;t lie. Did NBC and others overdo it? Was there more coverage of Cho&#39;s package than "necessary?" That&#39;s a matter of opinion and judgment. But to say that NBC had a responsibility to quash this information is nonsense. They have a responsibility to report it.

It&#39;s a tough job, but someone&#39;s got to do it.

Posted by Mr. Althouse at 5:30 PM

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Original Source: <a href="http://25yearplan.blogspot.com/2007/04/news-worthiness.html">http://25yearplan.blogspot.com/2007/04/news-worthiness.html</a>

Licensed under <a href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/2.5/">Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivs 2.5</a>.

Michael Althouse

2007-06-02

Brent Jesiek

Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivs 2.5

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Dispassionate Reporting

Monday, April 16, 2007

Thirty-one... now 32 killed at Virginia Tech. Initial "breaking news" headlines emailed and forwarded to my BlackBerry from the <i>New York Times</i>, then the <i>Washington Post</i> and finally the <i>Sacramento Bee</i> reported the number dead at 20 or 21. I received these reports while sitting in a classroom at Sacramento State University - peeking at the screen of my personal digital assistant, surreptitiously answering its silent vibrations. Now, more than two hours later, I finally have occasion to open my laptop to read the full story and it&#39;s worse than I imagined.

It could have gone either way. Initial reports in instances such as this are often inaccurate. When news like this breaks, details are often sketchy; new and updated information is constantly becoming available. I was hoping that the initial reports were wrong - that the death count was too high. As we now know, it went the other way. There are many questions yet to be answered, but the resounding senselessness of it all couldn&#39;t possibly be more pronounced.

Although I haven&#39;t yet reported on a tragedy of this magnitude, I have covered other breaking news and experienced the singleness of purpose that getting the information to print as quickly as possible represents. While in the midst of the event, whether it&#39;s a fire, an accident or a shooting, getting the information out is the reporter&#39;s only job. The gravity of the event, at least for me, doesn&#39;t come into play until after I&#39;ve had a chance to decompress - after the deadlines have been met. While reporting, I simply don&#39;t have time to make any judgments about what it all means, only to report on what it is.

In this instance, I am a news consumer like most everyone else hearing about this calamity today. I am shocked, disgusted, dismayed... and distracted. If I were assigned to this story, all of those emotions would have to be put on hold - it&#39;s all about getting the story out. Like nurses, firefighters, emergency medical technicians and many other professions where a level dispassionate decorum is essential, reporters must be able to disassociate themselves from their story or risk becoming part of it. There is no time to think.

The irony of where I was when I received this terrible news is not lost on me. It could happen anywhere. It <i>did</i> happen anywhere - this time at Virginia Tech. No one is immune to this kind of idiotic violence and there is no defense. Sure the debate regarding gun control and a hundred other acts of second-guessing will shortly ensue, but at the end of the day, we can&#39;t shield ourselves from every nut-case in the great big world. Unfortunately, this sort of insanity will likely be repeated again somewhere, someday. And there will be reporters there to cover it. The moral? Perhaps there is none. Perhaps it&#39;s as simple as appreciating each day like it could be your last. For at least 31 at Virginia Tech, it was.

Posted by Mr. Althouse at 1:04 PM

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Original Source: <a href="http://25yearplan.blogspot.com/2007/04/dispassionate-reporting.html">http://25yearplan.blogspot.com/2007/04/dispassionate-reporting.html</a>

Licensed under <a href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/2.5/">Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivs 2.5</a>.

Michael Althouse

2007-06-02

Brent Jesiek

Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivs 2.5

eng

Now You Have Blood On Your Hands That Will Never Come Off

Wednesday, April 18, 2007

Cho Seung-Hui, a 23-year-old senior majoring in English at Virginia <a href="http://technorati.com/tag/virginia+tech">Tech</a>, has completed his transformation from Clark Kent to, well, Rambo. Having killed and maimed over thirty people, in a calculated and merciless way, he has shown another facet of evil and pain to the world. Alone, bitter, unhappy and insane, his sad story reverberates on several levels.

Is it better to have stricter gun control, or have more guns in the hands of law abiding people to protect themselves? Have privacy laws and rights for the mentaly disabled gone too far, or should involuntary committment for treatment be easier to order? Has community and the support of family been destroyed by the cheapening of our culture, or has the stigma of needing help become so great that those most in need shun it?

There were heros at Virgina Tech - Professor Lucinda Roy, who tried so hard to get Mr. Cho the help he so badly needed; another Professor, Liviu Librescu, a 76 year old Holocaust survivor who gave his life offering his body as a shield for his students; during the aftermath the poet, Nikki Giovanni, leading students in a cheer to affirm that they will survive and be stronger - &#39;We are HOKIES!&#39;.

<i>But there is one party who will not be a hero during all this</i>, and that is the National Broadcasting Company news organization. After Mr. <a href="http://technorati.com/tag/cho">Cho</a> shot his first two victims in his dormitory, he made a rambling videotape with his jeremiad on debauched rich students and how they had driven him to this action, shortly before he entered a classroom, chained the doors shut and killed thirty more people. This insane person took the time to film and mail his video between murders, and <a href="http://technorati.com/tag/nbc">NBC</a> chose to make it public.

Poor Dylan Klebold - he never thought of making videos before killing his classmates at Columbine High School. Now, Mr. Cho has created a new item in the iconography of mass murder, one that we will surely see again. We have come a long way from the days when shooting Ronald Reagan to impress Jodie Foster was a ticket to fifteen minutes of fame and becoming an answer on a Trivial Pursuit card. Now we present a news network with 27 videos, 43 photographs and an 1,800-word narration described as "multimedia manifesto" from a "uniquely sick mind." NBC was quick to turn the package over to the FBI, right after making copies for itself.

Mr. Cho could be speaking to NBC when he observes, "You had 100 billion chances and ways to have avoided today, but you decided to spill my blood. You forced me into a corner and gave me only one option. The decision was yours. Now, you have blood on your hands that will never wash off." By choosing to give this presentation the validation of a platform, NBC has sent our nation and our heritage just one more step down a dank and violent road.

Update: From &#39;Below the Beltway&#39;, an informative tribute by Doug Mataconis about <a href="http://technorati.com/tag/librescu">Prof.</a> <a href="http://belowthebeltway.com/2007/04/20/a-hero-laid-to-rest/">Liviu Librescu</a>

posted by Peter Porcupine at 9:07 PM

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Original Source: <a href="http://capecodporcupine.blogspot.com/2007/04/now-you-have-blood-on-your-hands-that.html">http://capecodporcupine.blogspot.com/2007/04/now-you-have-blood-on-your-hands-that.html</a>

Licensed under a <a href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nd/2.5/">Creative Commons Attribution-NoDerivs 2.5 License</a>.

Peter Porcupine

2007-06-02

Brent Jesiek

Creative Commons Attribution-NoDerivs 2.5 License

eng

Blame Game and The Ghosts of Waco

Adam Roberts / <a href="http://themetropolistimes.blogspirit.com/">The Metropolis Times</a> (Blog)

Tuesday, April 17, 2007

<span style="font-style: italic">"There is nothing intelligent to say about a massacre." - Kurt Vonnegut</span>

<b>I don&#39;t really want to write this blog.</b> I wanted to just take a few days off and give condolences to the victims at Virginia Tech. But before the bodies have even been identified, the media has already started playing the blame game. Apparently, if we had banned Hollywood, Nintendo and guns, this wouldn&#39;t have happened. I feel compelled to counter their bullshit.

It makes me very angry <a href="http://www.beliefnet.com/story/87/story_8770_1.html" >when moralists so brazenly exploit</a> a tragedy like this. I can&#39;t do anything about the murders, I can&#39;t stop people from trivializing deaths by turning them into moral panics, but maybe if I channel my anger into blogging, I can convince at least a few readers to pause before surrendering freedoms.

<b>Blaming guns is just stupid.</b> Guns were already banned on campus. The gun ban didn&#39;t work.

Last year, the State of Virginia dismissed a bill that would have allowed law-abiding students with a concealed-carry permit to bring their guns on campus, just as they are allowed to bring them anywhere else in the state. It was struck down. Its insensitive to say, but if just one of those hundreds of students had a single gun, more people would be alive today.

<a href="http://www.roanoke.com/news/roanoke/wb/wb/xp-50658"><span style="font-style: italic">"Virginia Tech spokesman Larry Hincker was happy to hear the bill was defeated. &#39;I&#39;m sure the university community is appreciative of the General Assembly&#39;s actions because this will help parents, students, faculty and visitors feel safe on our campus.&#39;"</span></a>

<b>CNN Headline Prime kept showing movie posters for <span style="font-style: italic">Grindhouse</span></b> while Nancy Grace&#39;s substitute was blaming media violence. Apparently, <a href="http://themetropolistimes.blogspirit.com/archive/2007/04/07/review-grindhouse.html">the Tarrantino/Rodriguez double-feature</a> is going to be turned into <a href="http://www.revisionisthistory.org/matrix.html">the next <span style="font-style: italic">Matrix</span></a> by the media. (Marilyn Manson-blaming is out of style) I&#39;ve already heard the <a href="http://kotaku.com/gaming/feature/columbine-survivor-talks-about-columbine-rpg-171966.php">Super Columbine RPG</a> referenced on both Fox News and CNN Headline News, even though there is absolutely no reason to suggest that the killer even knew about the game, and the &#39;game&#39; is an anti-violent interactive documentary.

I remember coming home from seeing <span style="font-style: italic">Grindhouse</span> with a bunch of friends, and talking about how awesome the car battles were. We passed a real-life wreck on the freeway - the tone immediately changed and we all expressed sadness and hoped that no one was killed. There was no desensitization.

It is true that a small number of criticized studies have found links between exposure to media violence and aggression, especially in children. However, there has never been a study that showed exposure to media violence changed people into the type that commit real-life violent crimes. In fact, <a href="http://themetropolistimes.blogspirit.com/archive/2006/05/12/vlog-video-games-and-violence.html">there is probably a cathartic effect</a> - violence in video games helps quell natural violent tendencies.

<b>Nevertheless, violence in the media can sometimes inspire real-life violence. Its called the "Copycat Effect."</b> 19th Century terrorists called it "<a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Propaganda_of_the_deed">Propaganda of the Deed</a>," modern terrorist fighters call it "<a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/4GW">fourth generation warfare</a>." Simply put, alienated young male sees an example of how a violent death made someone infamous and important. Alienated young male is evil, depressed and angry enough to place his own lust for importance over his own life and the lives of others. So alienated young male becomes an anarchist, neo-Nazi or Mujahideen and plots a crime that he&#39;s sure will get him attention in the newspapers.

Historical examples are well-documented. Read <a href="http://hammernews.com/copycateffect.htm">Michael Hammerschlag&#39;s essay</a>. "<i style="font-style: italic">The 1774 Goethe book</i> The Sorrows of Young Werther <span style="font-style: italic">caused so many copycat suicides of lovelorn young men who dressed alike and shot themselves at the same time at their writing desk- straight from the story- that it was banned in Germany, Italy and Denmark</span>." Others include Shakespeare&#39;s <span style="font-style: italic">Romeo &amp; Juliet</span>, Stephen King&#39;s novel <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rage_%2528novel%2529"><span style="font-style: italic">Rage</span></a>, Scorsese&#39;s <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_Hinckley%252C_Jr.#Obsession_with_Jodie_Foster"><span style="font-style: italic">Taxi Driver</span></a> and, more than any other, the <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Zapruder_film">Zapruder film</a>.

We don&#39;t know anything about the shooter yet, but it seems obvious that this was a Columbine-copycat. At this time every year, somewhere in the country, kids get caught planning a Columbine-style attack. This Virginia Tech terrorist was probably trying to outdo the Columbine murderers.

<b>The Columbine massacre occurred on April 20th - this Friday</b>. Although this is also Hitler&#39;s birthday, the murderers&#39; videos indicate that the attack was originally scheduled for April 19th - the same day at the Oklahoma City attack, which, according to their videos, the Columbine terrorists hoped to outdo. The Oklahoma City bombing of course, was scheduled for April 19th in order to avenge Janet Reno&#39;s misdeeds in the Waco disaster.

The shooter&#39;s actions demonstrate advance planning. He didn&#39;t get spurned by his girlfriend and suddenly decide to go on a rampage - although a domestic dispute could have pushed the massacre up a few days.

This is all just speculation. If the terrorist turns out to be an exchange student from overseas, he might not have been able to appreciate the significance of Columbine in our generation&#39;s psyche, and the timing could be coincidental.

People need someone to blame - the police, Hollywood, the NRA, our "culture of violence" - anyone.</b> It is almost incomprehensible that tragedies of this magnitude can happen for no good reason at all.

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Original Source: <a href="http://themetropolistimes.blogspirit.com/free_markets/">http://themetropolistimes.blogspirit.com/free_markets/</a>

Licensed under <a href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/2.0/">Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivs 2.0</a>.

Adam Roberts

2007-05-29

Brent Jesiek

Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivs 2.0

eng

Rightwingers Go Insane Over VT Shooting

Thursday, April 26, 2007

<span style="font-weight: bold;">The latest death toll figures from Hurricane Katrina can be seen on this website <a href="http://robertlindsay.blogspot.com/2007/03/katrina-death-toll-passes-4000.html">here</a>.</span>

Have any fellow Lefties noticed that the Blogosphere seems to be a disgusting, rightwing place? Have you noticed that it seems like rightwing blogs are far overrepresented in terms of the percentage of rightwingers in society, and leftwing and centrist blogs seem to be less common?

I do not know what the answer is, but it may have something to do with how organized the rightwing is in this country and how unorganized the Left and even the Center are. The whole newspaper, newsmagazine, TV news and radio news industry in the US is tilted towards the Right. The Left is broke or lack voices in a corporatized media.

Anyway, seems the VT shooting case has been most taken up by rightwing bloggers. Why is that? Doesn&#39;t the Left have anything to say about this?

But a look at the rightwing blogs and their take on this shooting is instructive. For one thing, the entire rightwing blogosphere is in hyper-defensive screech mode regarding gun control.

That&#39;s the only significant noise I hear out of the US media, bloggers or otherwise, these days on gun control and VT: <span style="font-weight: bold;"> Well, despite this shooting, we sure as Hell don&#39;t need gun control, now do we?</span> The cries for more gun control are few and far between. What a strange way to react to a mass shooting.

One wonders how many more mass shootings it will take before Americans come to their senses about gun control, if ever. The reaction of the foreign press is instructive: Most foreign outlets, from India to Britain, are flabbergasted at how easy it is to buy a gun in the US.

They treat Americans like a bunch of insane aliens and our society as sick and depraved. On that level, they are correct. Do we Americans deserve what we get? We love our guns, we react furiously to any attempts to control them, and consequently we put up with appalling amounts of gun crime and regular mass shootings. Are we asking for it?

Just as I suspected, a <a href="http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2007/04/20/virginiatechshooting/main2712826.shtml?source=RSSattr=HOME_2712826">poll</a> showed no change in Americans&#39; attitudes about gun control. The public is pretty much split down the middle on this issue, with 49% supporting no change or loosening of gun laws and 47% supporting increased restrictions.

60% of women support tightening gun laws, while only 35% of men do. 55% of minorities support tougher laws, while only 44% of Whites do. Urban dwellers support tougher laws, while suburban and rural residents (read: Whites) do not. 60% of Democrats support tougher gun laws, while only 35% of Republicans do.

What is truly insane about these statistics is that the populations that are least affected by gun violence are the most vociferous in favor of guns, usually on the basis that they are terrified of crime.

Republican White suburban and rural males are the strongest gun supporters, yet they are the least likely males to be affected. Same with Republican White suburban and rural women. The more gun violence a population experiences, the more they are in favor of restrictions. The less gun violence an area experiences, the more strongly they want their guns.

I&#39;m sure there is a psychological explanation for this somewhere, but I wish someone would show it to me.

The political class is terrified of the issue, including both the Republican and Democratic Parties. Democratic Party operatives <a href="http://news.scotsman.com/international.cfm?id=618542007">blame</a> the party&#39;s pro-gun control stance to the party&#39;s losses in the 1994 elections and Al Gore&#39;s win, which the Supreme Court turned into a loss, in 2000.

For those who doubt that the US has an insane gun homicide rate, check out this statistic: America has a higher gun homicide rate amongst kids age 5-14 than in the top 25 other industrialized countries combined. Now tell me that statistic is caused by "too few guns" or has nothing to do with America being a gun-flooded society.

To show you just how deranged the US rightwing is, look at the coverage of the VT shooting. What was it focused on? Stupid liberals allowed the shooting to happen <span style="font-weight: bold;">by refusing to arm all your students</span>! I kid you not.

<span style="font-style: italic;">Update: As of April 30, in light of this case, Virginia has <a href="http://www.cnn.com/2007/US/04/30/gun.virginia.tech.ap/">tightened up</a> its gun laws so that no one who has ever been involuntarily hospitalized for psychiatric reasons can buy a gun in the state. Cho slipped through a loophole in a previous law because he was treated as an outpatient, and, while evaluated, he was not committed. The loophole enabled him to make his gun purchases.

Predictably, <span style="font-style: italic;">Furious Seasons</span> is <a href="http://www.furiousseasons.com/archives/2007/05/05012007_media_madness.html">opposed</a> to the new regulations. This blog strongly supports gun control and thinks hardly anyone should be able to own a handgun, much less someone with a record of being hospitalized as a danger to yourself or others.</span>

Another common theme was the lunatic Right&#39;s insane Islamophobia and outright hatred for all Muslims. Although Cho surely is about as far from being a Muslim as anyone can get, the Rightwing has been utterly obsessed, to the point of near-psychosis, with the notion that Cho must have been a Muslim terrorist! Evidence? Well, that Ismail Ax thing written on his arm. That proves he&#39;s Al Qaeda, right?

They have been digging up statistics showing that a whole 50 South Koreans are studying Islam at madrassas and that Islam is the fastest growing religion in (largely nonreligious) South Korea (a dubious statistic). All this proves that Cho is...a South Korean Muslim terrorist Al Qaeda!

What about Emily Hilscher, his first victim? Name sounds kinda...Jewish, huh? Bingo! Al Qaeda Muslim terrorist! He nailed a Jew first thing. None other than "Drudge" came up with that bit of insanity.

What about that Saudi reporter who shot the video camera footage of the shots outside Norris Hall? Investigate the Arab bastard! He was obviously in on it!

Not to mention, Arabia being evil enough, that his name is Bargouti, and he is really one of those evil Palestinian non-peoples; in fact, he is related to a prominent Palestinian family and one of his relatives is a dirty Pallie terrorist! Investigate the Arab-PLO-Saudi-South Korean Al Qaeda connection right now!

When people talk about Islamophobia or hatred of Arabs, I tend to roll my eyes. There is certainly a lot to criticize about Arab culture and Islam period, actually existing and historical versions. But the Rightwing&#39;s hatred for Arabs and Islam is simply pathological and insane, and nothing proves it more than the VT shooting.

How bout some other angles. I would have thought pulling an anti-immigrant angle out of this would be too low, but a number of rightwingers found reason to call for an end to immigration. Why? One guy, who immigrated 15 years ago, went nuts and killed some people. Let&#39;s lock down the borders!

We all know the Rightwing is racist, no matter how much they insist that they are not. What I didn&#39;t know is that they hate Asians too. But of course they do. When they weren&#39;t examining the hidden Cho-Al Qaeda link, they were plumbing the depths of something called "South Korean supremacism".

Does it even exist? Turns out a lot of South Koreans don&#39;t like Americans too much. Consequently, Cho being an anti-American South Korean Leftist radical and all that, this inscrutable Asian supremacism combined with Commie America-hatred surely spurred this mad spree.

You would think this is the lunatic Right, but no, what we are talking about is the solid 30% of population or so that continues to support George Bush and everything dumb he has ever done to the hilt. The "normal" Right and the insane Right in the US are equivalent. That&#39;s almost as scary as Mr. Cho.

Examples? Look at the comment threads on <span style="font-style: italic;"><a href="http://hotair.com/">Hot Air</a></span>, the huge rightwing blog, <a href="http://hotair.com/archives/2007/04/17/new-vtech-thread-victims-roommate-debunks-the-jilted-lover-theory/">here</a>, <a href="http://hotair.com/archives/2007/04/18/new-vtech-thread-was-cho-schizophrenic-mean-or-both/">here</a> and <a href="http://hotair.com/archives/2007/04/19/new-vtech-thread-the-telegraph-fills-in-the-timeline-maybe/">here</a>. Check out the comment thread on the big rightwing blog <a href="http://www.riehlworldview.com/carnivorous_conservative/2007/04/getting_inside_.html">Riehl World View</a>. Don&#39;t even bother with the comments - check the actual <a href="http://lordofswans.blogspot.com/2007/04/virginia-tech-blog-3208229018.html">post</a> itself on the loony <span style="font-style: italic;"><a href="http://lordofswans.blogspot.com/">Lord of Swans</a></span> blog. That&#39;s pretty representative, but if you look around you find that insanity reproduced all over the rightwing blogosphere.

<span style="font-weight: bold;">Note: Readers should carefully read the <a href="http://robertlindsay.blogspot.com/2005/03/rules-on-commenting.html">Commenting Rules</a> before commenting to avoid having their comments edited or deleted and to avoid being banned from the site.</span>

posted by Robert Lindsay at <a href="http://robertlindsay.blogspot.com/2007/04/rightwingers-go-insane-over-vt-shooting.html" title="permanent link">4/26/2007 06:00:00 PM</a>

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Original Source: <a href="http://robertlindsay.blogspot.com/2007/04/rightwingers-go-insane-over-vt-shooting.html">http://robertlindsay.blogspot.com/2007/04/rightwingers-go-insane-over-vt-shooting.html</a>

Licensed under a <a href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/2.5/">Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 2.5 License</a>.

Robert Lindsay

2007-05-29

Brent Jesiek

Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 2.5

eng

Virginia Tech Grieves Online

Posted by <a href="http://www.profy.com/profile/cyndy-aleo-carreira/">Cyndy Aleo-Carreira</a> on April 17th, 2007

I know that I speak for everyone here at Profy when I say that our thoughts are with the family and friends of the victims of yesterday&#39;s events at <a href="http://www.vt.edu/">Virginia Tech</a>.

The horror of yesterday will live in the hearts and minds of the Virginia Tech community, the United States, and much of the world for some time to come, but what moved me the most was the way in which what would have been a local, and somewhat national, event even a few years ago moved worldwide due to a global online community.

The first reports of what was happening on the VT campus came from students sending reports via their cell phones. Today, the grief of the VT community has moved online.

On the University&#39;s own <a href="http://www.vt.edu/tragedy/">website on the tragedy</a>, updates are presented in blog format, the Convocation held today was streamed live, and is available to students, faculty, and families as a podcast, as it contains information on resources available for counseling and information.

On <a href="http://www.livejournal.com">LiveJournal</a>, a professor shares his grief online, giving us a mere glimpse of the person (and student) that <a href="http://tekmagika.livejournal.com/672246.html">Reema Samaha</a> was.

On <a href="http://www.facebook.com">Facebook</a>, comments have been left on the pages of victims from friends as well as students at rival schools, and sorority sisters and fraternity brothers from other chapters.
<a href="http://www.myspace.com">MySpace</a> includes an &quot;official&quot; <a href="http://profile.myspace.com/index.cfm?fuseaction=user.viewprofile&amp;friendid=42548491">VT page</a>&nbsp;called HokieNation which has been updated with a VT emblem with wings and a cartoon showing anthropomorphic characters of other universities gathered around the VT character with the caption &quot;Today we are all Hokies.&quot; Many user icons of VT alums and students as well as people affiliated with the university, like radio stations that broadcast VT games have changed their avatars to a black ribbon with the VT emblem.

And comments have been left on articles ranging from blogs to news sites.

Twenty years ago, we&#39;d have seen this as a tragedy, watched the footage on CNN, and that would have been the end of it. In the age of Web 2.0, anyone with enough inclination and five minutes of time can reach out to those most closely affected by events and let them know how many people are thinking of them. Over 650 comments have been left on the HokieNation MySpace page alone in the past two days.

If Web 2.0 is remembered for nothing else, it will be remembered for giving us this ability to quickly connect with people. In this instance, it gives a personal insight into the lives of the victims that makes them much more than simply a name in a newcast.

Additional information: <a href="http://www.people.com">People</a>

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Original Source: <a href="http://www.profy.com/2007/04/17/virginia-tech-grieves-online/">http://www.profy.com/2007/04/17/virginia-tech-grieves-online/</a>

Licensed under <a href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/publicdomain/">Creative Commons Public Domain Dedication</a>.

Cyndy Aleo-Carreira

2007-05-29

Brent Jesiek

Creative Commons Public Domain Dedication

eng

Death in America, an ode to siblings

Monday, April 16, 2007

It was a crisp, clear, bright autumn day, the kind of day you drink in with every essence of your being. I was sleepy, woken early by my parents for the drive from Nashville to Blacksburg. But I was excited. Not only were we attending a Virginia Tech football game, I was going to see my brother, a student at VT and horn player in the marching band. The campus was quiet, beautiful, almost idyllic, and I was overwhelmed by my first views of college life.

My brother attended Virginia Tech in the mid-80&#39;s and graduated with a degree in nuclear engineering. His devotion to his alma mater has continued, as an alumnus and frequently attending football games. It isn&#39;t surprising, the mood of the campus that day was intoxicating, and had I showed any inclination towards engineering, science or mathematics, I might have returned there for my own college education. Blacksburg itself was a village filled with charm and friendly people, hip hangouts and the best record store I had ever been in.

I am <a href="http://news.ert.gr/en/4/24574.asp">grieving</a> the <a href="http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/americas/6560685.stm">shootings at Virginia Tech</a>, the shots that rang out across the peaceful campus, killing many, wounding others, and deafening the ears of college students that today learned one of the hardest lessons life can teach. I mourn the deaths with the families, friends, and teachers, and wish them all peace in the days and months ahead. But mostly I mourn for the siblings who, unlike me, will never again have the joy of seeing their brother or sister on campus after a sleepy drive through the fog laden mountains to that small college town that has lost so much today.

posted by melusina at 9:15 PM

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Original Source: <a href="http://litochoro.blogspot.com/2007/04/death-in-america-ode-to-siblings.html">http://litochoro.blogspot.com/2007/04/death-in-america-ode-to-siblings.html</a>

Licensed under <a href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nd/2.5/">Creative Commons Attribution-NoDerivs 2.5</a>.

Melusina

2007-05-27

Brent Jesiek

Creative Commons Attribution-NoDerivs 2.5

eng

NBC Should Never Have Aired the Virginia Tech Video

By: Jack Myers / <a href="http://blogs.mediavillage.com/jack/">Jack Myers Think Tank</a> (Blog)

May 07, 2007

The more I think and talk to people about NBC&#39;s handling of Cho Seung-Hui&#39;s videos following the tragedy at Virginia Tech, the more convinced I am the decision was mishandled and wrong. Roger Delaney of Zephyr Media Group commented "I think that, even knowing that the data would make it into the public domain though other channels, NBC erred when they decided to air Cho&#39;s &#39;multimedia manifesto&#39;. There is no question that he accomplished exactly what he&#39;d hoped to - his heinous actions gave him a forum through which he could spew his venomous message to the entire nation. Did any of us need to see that? Did airing that footage do anything other than grant Cho the postmortem glory he was clearly seeking? And was there any way for NBC to air that footage without appearing to be chasing ratings? The answer to all those questions is, in my mind, unequivocally &#39;no&#39;."

Neale Martin of Ntlec, whose daughter is a sophomore at VT, added, "NBC should never have provided a platform for this lunatic; it will encourage every sociopath to strive toward even more carnage. Even posted on YouTube, it would not have the same impact as being put on broadcast news. My daughter is a sophomore at VT and three classmates from her Monday 8 am class were killed the next period. As a former journalist I am sickened by how low this profession has sunk."

There are endless arguments about free speech, about how the videos would have found their way into the public eye and, of course, NBC&#39;s responsibility not only to the audience but to shareholders as well, for whom any ratings opportunity is more important than issues of the public good.

My initial instinct was to accept that NBC aired the videos, but to criticize both NBC and other networks for the gratuitous promotions they ran and the hype leading up to the news reports. In retrospect, I believe NBC has done great harm to the NBC network news brand, to Brian Williams, and to the overall public perception of network broadcast news. What an extraordinary opportunity NBC had to stand above the obvious commercial opportunism and draw a line in the sand. This is not about military action about which there is ongoing national debate. This is not about a major ongoing news story or about a celebrity or political figure.

This was about one mass murderer broadcasting his message of hate in America&#39;s most prestigious and trusted environment. This was a classically disturbed person who saw the media as his road to immortality - murder was the affect but media exposure was the cause. And NBC, through its actions, fell prey to the most base instincts of tabloid media upon which Cho depended.

What would have been the end result if NBC has moved the videos onto the NBC news website, losing the ratings opportunity? Or what if NBC had simply refused to air the video at all and had turned it over to the FBI? Jeff Beliveau of Consumer Networks asked "Before acting, did my fellow human beings ask themselves &#39;Is what I&#39;m about to do creating good? Or evil? Am I doing nothing other than causing harm by pursuing my own narrow self-interests?&#39;" There are many arguments being used to justify NBC&#39;s decision, and it&#39;s unlikely any other network would have responded differently.

But what&#39;s missing in the aftermath of Virginia Tech is a true industry debate and dialogue on NBC&#39;s decision and the role of network broadcast news in a media environment in which news is ubiquitous and all-pervasive. Do the broadcast networks - ABC, CBS and NBC - have a responsibility to stand above the onrush of tabloid journalism? Is it their responsibility to air or not to air the rantings of crazed killers? Is it appropriate to give those people who have no further rights to be a part of our society the credibility that broadcast network television infers? Be a part of the debate. Let me know your opinion.

Share your comments at <a href="http://www.mediavillage.com/sound_off/">MediaVillage SoundOff</a>.

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Original Source: <a href="http://blogs.mediavillage.com/jack/archives/2007/05/nbc_should_neve.html">http://blogs.mediavillage.com/jack/archives/2007/05/nbc_should_neve.html</a>

Licensed under <a href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nd/2.5/">Creative Commons Attribution-NoDerivs 2.5</a>.

Jack Myers

2007-05-27

Brent Jesiek

Creative Commons Attribution-NoDerivs 2.5

eng

Defenseless Victim Zones

Harold X. O&#39;Boyle / <a href="http://www.the-extremist.com/">The Extremist</a> (Blog)

May 03, 2007

Mass murder invariably gets the Victim Disarmament Lobby into a lather promoting safety through helplessness. The Virginia Tech shooting is no exception. A brief but honest look at how the world works, however, should convince any but the most craven cowards that there is not much safety in being as helpless as a newborn. Acts of senseless violence will never be stopped by simply declaring them illegal.

It is ironic to me that many of the same people who so adamantly oppose self-defense in the face of violence are the same who claim that boosting "self-esteem" is the highest goal of education. Once we&#39;ve created people enthralled with their own individuality and inestimable worth how can it be that the lives of those people are not worth defending?

Education authorities create "defenseless victim zones" where if confronted by violence students are expected to stand and deliver, whether the delivery involves their property or their dignity. The theory is based on the idea that life is immeasurably precious, to be preserved at any price and that a sane criminal, like a thief or a rapist, will let you live if you just lie nice and still. But what if he isn&#39;t a nice sane criminal? What if he just wants to kill you?

There was a time, long before years of government schooling and media propaganda had removed the spine from so many Americans, when the failure to defend yourself was considered the equivalent of suicide. That theory was based on the idea that life was a gift from the Almighty, not to be taken lightly or abused. Educational discussion in those days more often centered on "self-respect" and "courage" than "self-esteem."

In keeping with the modern preference for self-esteem over self-respect Virginia Tech is a "gun free school zone." That means only law enforcement personnel and psychopathic killers can have weapons on campus. On the day of the recent shooting not a law enforcement officer could be found until after the psychopath had already shot more than 50 people and himself.

The cops that did show up, and the SWAT teams, hid behind their cars until the shooting stopped. Then they rushed inside the building and threatened all the survivors with sudden death till everyone was properly prone.

Despite the death toll and the utter failure of the police to protect anyone, college officials are steadfast in their enthusiasm for maintaining the campus as a "Defenseless Victim Zone." According to a spokesman, the administration wants students to "feel safe" on campus. I have to agree that "feeling safe" is an important part of a good education. But just think of how a policy that actually provided some safety would make everyone feel.

There is no way to know whether the dead and wounded at Virginia Tech "felt safe" attending class in a gun free zone. I&#39;m sure it finally dawned on them that no matter how they felt, they were in big trouble.

The shooter ignored laws against carrying a gun without a permit, bringing a gun on campus, assault and murder. The idea that another gun law or "gun free zone" or psych test would have prevented this tragedy is as about as credible as a Senator&#39;s promise.

In an astonishing turn of events Virginia higher education authorities already had experience with a campus shooting that should have made the solution to the safety problem clear.

Five years ago at a law school not far from VT 43-year-old exchange student Peter Odighizuwa shot two professors with a 38 caliber handgun. He also killed a student in the same building and wounded three others. But unlike today, Virginia colleges in those days were not a Helpless Victim Zones.

Two students, Tracy Bridges and Mikael Gross, acting independently, ran to their cars to retrieve handguns when they heard the gunfire. Gross was an off-duty police officer in his home state of North Carolina. He got his 9mm pistol and body armor from the car. Bridges returned with his .357 Magnum.

They approached Odighizuwa from different sides and proved that guns are not just for killing. Bridges yelled for the shooter to drop his weapon. He dropped it and several unarmed students subdued him. Gross went back to his car for handcuffs to detain the shooter until police arrived.

Other school attacks have also been cut short by armed civilians. A vice principal who got a handgun from his car stopped a student shooter in Pearl, Mississippi and detained him until police arrived. A restaurant owner in Edinboro, Pennsylvania used a shotgun to convince a shooter at a school dance to surrender. He did it without firing a shot himself.

Israel had to deal with armed attacks on schools in the 1970s. These were attacks by terrorists, not students, and even then there were cries for disarmament instead of self-defense. Instead of disarmament, the Israelis decided to arm and train their teachers. Terrorists went looking for easier targets. The school attacks stopped.

The belief that guns cause murder is like believing that spoons cause obesity or that matches cause arson. The problems of school violence won&#39;t be solved by increasing the helplessness of potential victims. When confronted by bad guys with guns we always call good guys with guns. Good guys with guns are like taxi cabs and waiters, the more there are the less time you have to wait for one. Mr. Rogers doesn&#39;t become Mr. Hyde just because he has a pistol in his pocket.

Declaring insanity illegal won&#39;t eliminate insanity. We can only be prepared to minimize the damage that the worst among us can do. To do that we must abandon insane policies that make us "feel safe" while in fact increasing danger.

The only sane response to insane violence is to allow armed people to defend themselves and others. The tools and will to confront evil with self-respect, courage and dignity will improve self-esteem more than any number of useless gun laws designed to make us "feel safe."

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Original Source: <a href="http://www.the-extremist.com/2007/05/defenseless_vic.html">http://www.the-extremist.com/2007/05/defenseless_vic.html</a>

Licensed under <a href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/2.5/">Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivs 2.5</a>.

Harold X. O&#39;Boyle

2007-05-27

Brent Jesiek

Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivs 2.5

eng

What Cho learned

<p>April 20, 2007<br />
Friday</p>
<p>Natalie Solent (Essex)</p>
<p>Nikki Giovanni found one of her Creative Writing students a trial.</p>
<blockquote><i>"And every class I&#39;m saying, &#39;Mr. Cho, take off your (sun)-glasses please, take your hat off please. Mr. Cho, that&#39;s not a poem. Can you work on it please,&#39;" Giovanni recalled. "And then I finally realized that something is not wrong with me, something is wrong with him, and I said to him, &#39;I&#39;m not a good teacher for you.&#39;"</i></blockquote>
<blockquote><i>One day, she arrived and found her class of about 70 students had dwindled to fewer than 10. When she asked a student after class about it, he confessed that "everybody&#39;s scared of (Cho)." Giovanni later had him removed from her class after she threatened to resign.</i></blockquote>
<p>Why did it have to come to that? Imagine if every class <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cho_Seung-hui">Cho Seung-hui</a> had attended had taken place at the invitation of the teacher- an invitation that could be rescinded at any time.</p>
<p>In reality his memories of school were of <a href="http://sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/n/a/2007/04/19/national/a090738D77.DTL">humiliation</a>, but imagine if, from the age of twelve onwards, or from even earlier if your imagination can stretch that far, school had been an option he could choose if he wanted it.</p>
<p>What if Cho&#39;s concepts of "school" and "college" had been formed by classes like the Karate class <a href=http://www.brianmicklethwait.com/education/2003/01/karate.php">described</a> by Brian Micklethwait?</p>
<blockquote><i>What struck me, so to speak, about these "martial arts" classes was that although the children present may have supposed that all there were learning was how to be more violent, what they were really learning was no less than civilisation itself.</i></blockquote>
<blockquote><i>The children were all told to get changed into their Karate kit in an orderly fashion, and to put their regular clothes in sensible little heaps. They all lined up the way he said. They all turned up on time. They left the place impeccably clean when they&#39;d finished, all helping to make sure that all was ship-shape and properly closed-up when they left.</i></blockquote>
<blockquote><i>Were these children being "coerced"? Certainly not. They didn&#39;t have to be there, any more than The Man had to teach them Karate if he didn&#39;t want to. If they wanted out, then out they could go, with no blots on their copybooks or markings-down on their CVs.</i></blockquote>
<p>Having reached the age of twenty-three, Cho was no longer forced to be taught - but his teachers were still forced to teach him and his fellow students to associate with him. True, there were a few last ways out from his menacing presence; the students could jeopardise their education by skipping class and the teacher could jeopardise her career by threatening to resign. Unfortunately by the time these sanctions were employed Cho had already got away with too much.</p>
<p>I sometimes think that practically every problem, inefficiency and cruelty of our education system has at its root compulsion. People who are forced into each other&#39;s society tend not to behave well to each other. Wherever the doors are locked, be the locks visible or invisible, those inside seem to revert to the hierarchy of the baboon troop. There is still room for free will: most do no worse than learn a few habits of obsequiousness or sullenness that can be shaken off. Cho was not forced to become a mass-murderer. (In fact I see his own claim to the contrary in his video as a sort of twisted acknowledgement of this fact; the thought that "I don&#39;t have to do this" had to be actively denied.) No, he was not forced to pull the trigger - but force did play too large a part in his life. Imagine if the doors had been open for the bullied Cho Seung-hui to walk away, or if the adult Cho Seung-hui had been shown the door at the first sign of discourtesy. Imagine this was the case not just for Cho Seung-hui on certain pivotal occasions but for everyone on all occasions. Then, I think, he would have learned differently.</p>
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<p>Original Source: <a href="http://www.samizdata.net/blog/archives/2007/04/what_cho_learne_1.html">http://www.samizdata.net/blog/archives/2007/04/what_cho_learne_1.html</a></p>
<p>Licensed under <a href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/1.0/">Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 1.0</a>.</p>

Natalie Solent

2007-05-27

Brent Jesiek

Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 1.0

eng