Post-Dedication Interview

After the intermediate memorial dedication ceremony, interviews such as this one were commonplace. But while there was clearly a media presence at this event, it was subdued in comparison to the immediate aftermath of April 16.

Licensed under <a href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/3.0/">Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 3.0</a>.

Brent Jesiek

2007-08-20

Brent Jesiek

Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 3.0

eng

Media Coverage of VT Tragedy Irresponsible

By Tammesia Green

Following the massacre that occurred at Virginia Tech University on April 16, many have come to question their own safety at universities across the country. The profile of a school shooter, once narrowed to a lonely white male high-school student with a fascination with and open access to guns, was quickly re-examined as we discovered the shooter to be 23-year-old Cho Seung-Hui. But before the news had been released that the shooter was Asian, the question on everyone&#39;s mind was whether this catastrophe could have been prevented. This question is a good one, and should be debated, but reflecting on the length of time the press devoted to this subject was unsettling for me.


I remember going to class the morning of the shooting and hearing news reports that two people had been shot at a Virginia Tech dormitory. Upon my return five hours later I was shocked to see the death toll had escalated to 33. Immediately, I wanted to know what had happened and if the killer had been caught. Watching the news, all I could find were reporters asking questions like, "Why wasn&#39;t the school placed on lockdown? What time was the first e-mail sent to students? Why wasn&#39;t more done to prevent this tragedy?"


It became clear that I would not learn anything about what actually took place on the campus that could account for the casualty numbers rising; I had to resort to the Internet to try to make sense of all that was happening. After getting a clear account, I was upset at the amount of time the network news channels devoted to placing blame on officials at Virginia Tech—only, the "placing blame" was not seen for what it was. Instead, it was promoted as good investigative journalism.


I understand that it is the job of a journalist to ask the hard questions and uphold a level of accountability toward officials. However, I found that the questions posed by reporters in press conferences regarding Virginia Tech were not necessarily out of line, but a result of constant criticism of their inability to question authority in high-stakes situations.


Past disasters such as Hurricane Katrina and the logic behind going to war with Iraq played their roles in the types of questions posed to Virginia Tech President Charles Steger. These questions were simply a ploy to preemptively avoid any backlash from the public for not addressing accountability.


Following the invasion of Iraq and never finding weapons of mass destruction, the public began to demand that journalists not be afraid to question authority and command answers from high-ranking officials. Hurricane Katrina allowed for reporters to regain some credibility by analyzing slow relief efforts and the lack of preparation from the government. It is no surprise that in order to keep credibility and uphold the public&#39;s faith in reporters, journalists continued to grow a backbone and demanded answers from those in power.


The word "accountability" is ultimately what forced the media to focus on how administrators screwed up and not the shooter. But accountability is not to be placed on school administrators and campus police when the act was really the work of one man, and only he can be blamed. Real investigative journalism would have been to expose the motives of Cho, not debate whether an e-mail should have been sent earlier or been more detailed. Even as students from the Virginia Tech campus were being interviewed and asked if their administration at the university should have done more, the look of "Are you really asking me this now?" ran across most of their faces. They, like me, could not understand why their administrators were being harassed as if they made the events unfold, and not Cho.


There is no way administrators at Virginia Tech could have predicted that a domestic dispute incident would be cause for the closing of an entire university. Anyone who thinks they would have had the notion to suspend classes and not think of the first attack as an isolated incident is thinking in the context of hindsight. Colleges enroll large quantities of students, equivalent to the population of some U.S. cities. Just like a city, Virginia Tech did not shut down when evidence of a homicide was discovered.


It is nice to want to believe that our college campuses are the last step before entering the real world, and are therefore void of the many threats society holds. But evil does exist and it knows no bounds. This evil of one individual is the only factor that should matter in evaluating who is accountable for the Virginia Tech massacre.

--

Original Source:<a href=http://www.newuniversity.org/showArticle.php?id=5789>New University - April 30, 2007</a>

Tammesia Green

New University

2007-08-19

Sara Hood

Zachary Gale <newueic@gmail.com>

eng

EDITORIAL - Media exploits killer&#39;s manifesto

By: STAFF EDITORIAL
Posted: 4/20/07

Just days after the tragic shooting at Virginia Tech, NBC made the inappropriate decision to release videos of killer Cho Seung-Hui angrily ranting about the reasoning behind his crimes.

Cho had sent a package that contained 43 photos, 28 video clips and a 23-page letter directly to NBC headquarters in New York during a break in his shooting spree on Monday. After NBC first released the shocking "multimedia manifesto" on the NBC Nightly News broadcast, 24-hour news networks quickly followed suit, constantly showing the disturbing video excerpts and photo clips.

The media&#39;s release of Cho&#39;s photos and diatribe gave a deeper look into the mind and motivations of the killer, a decision that has had a great ripple affect across the country. While NBC stands by its decision to release the material, we believe the choice was made too hastily, without much thought or sensitivity for the families of the victims of the shooting, who have only had days to handle the emotional effects of losing their loved ones.

Forensic psychiatrist and ABC News consultant Michael Welner appeared on "Good Morning America" yesterday to discuss the troublesome consequences. "This is a social catastrophe," Welner said. "This is perversion...[Cho] needs to create and produce his own picture in order to give himself a sense of power. Nobody saw him that way...that&#39;s why he set this up and he did this to achieve immortality."

Welner&#39;s argument is logical. This footage does not present the public with any deeper knowledge about the crimes and, for that reason, it is not at all newsworthy. Instead, showing the video is a disrespectful and insensitive action toward the Blacksburg victims. Furthermore, the broadcast footage gives the fame-seeking Cho an audience and a stage where he can attempt to justify his crimes. In other words, it gives him exactly what he wanted.

The problem is that 24-hour news networks have the unsettling habit of overeagerly reporting breaking news before having time to reflect upon the consequences of their coverage. NBC and other media outlets are pressured to constantly search for exciting and stimulating material to put on the air and as a result, they neglect to spend time on research and deliberation.

That&#39;s what went wrong here. Cho&#39;s video collection was treated as news gold and was broadcasted without enough forethought. NBC and the other news networks had an obligation to act more responsibly. The videos and photos should have been carefully investigated before they were broadcast. Someone should have sat back and reflected upon the material and the negative repercussions that could follow.

Unfortunately, our media tends to do this kind of thing all the time. As soon as we turn on our televisions, we are bombarded with news tickers, terror alerts and breaking stories that are blown up and emphasized to the extreme. Networks play on fear and paranoia to attract viewers, giving us shocking and reactive spurts of material that only serve to rouse our emotions.

Instead of focusing on being the first to get the scoop, NBC and other media outlets should concentrate on thoughtfully investigating material before putting them on the air.

--

Original Source:<a href=http://media.www.pittnews.com/media/storage/paper879/news/2007/04/20/Opinion/Editorial.Media.Exploits.Killers.Manifesto-2870222.shtml>The Pitt News - April 20, 2007</a>

STAFF EDITORIAL

The Pitt News

2007-08-19

Sara Hood

Annie Tubbs <annietubbs@gmail.com>

eng

Provost Update August 17, 2007

Date: Fri, 17 Aug 2007 11:25:23 -0400
From: Provost@vt.edu
To: Multiple recipients <LISTSERV@LISTSERV.VT.EDU>
Subject: Provost Update August 17, 2007

August 17, 2007
Dear Faculty and Staff Colleagues:

You are probably noticing that the students are moving back to Blacksburg this week. (It is a good time to stay away from Washington Street.) The start of the fall semester is always an exciting time and we will be welcoming over 5,000 freshmen in the great new class of 2011. We will also be welcoming approximately 100 new faculty colleagues across all eight colleges. The first day of class will be a memorable adventure.

Many departments and colleges have been busy this week with pre-semester retreats, planning sessions, and orientations. I realize that you are receiving multiple forms of communication about ongoing and new activities. I am going to highlight a few key issues and events recognizing that you have heard or will hear more about each of these items in different ways.

1. The three internal reviews requested by President Steger will be presented soon. James Hyatt chaired the group looking at infrastructure and security; Erv Blythe chaired the group looking at networking; and Jerry Niles chaired the group looking at the relationships among the academic, judicial, counseling, and legal systems. Each group will provide an overview of existing structures and programs and will make recommendations for enhancements. Some of the relevant items have been or are being implemented already (such as VT Alerts), and a comprehensive summary and outline of additional security enhancements was prepared by Executive Vice President James Hyatt. A note of immediate relevance to faculty instructors: the general assignment classrooms are being fitted with hardware that will allow rooms to be locked from the inside with automatic unlocking features when exiting.

2. The dedication ceremony of the memorial on the Drillfield will be held at noon on Sunday. All members of the university and extended community are invited. Faculty and student representatives will provide brief comments.

3. Human Resources and the Cook Counseling Center are coordinating efforts to provide counseling support to faculty, staff, and students next week. There will be two primary sites staffed by trained professionals: a tent on the Drillfield and Squires Student Center. Counselors will be able to travel to other locations as needed. In addition, counselors will be specifically assigned to a few key locations (including Norris Hall). In April, faculty members implemented a plan to invite a faculty colleague to attend class on the first day. The colleague was available to provide collegial support and to be available, if needed, to help with any issues that came up.

The college deans&#39; offices are helping to promote and encourage a similar system next week. Last spring we relied on the good judgment of faculty members to decide how best to address and respond to the events of April 16. We will do so again. I anticipate that most students and faculty in the classroom will be eager to focus on what we do best: teaching and learning. CEUT held some sessions for faculty this week and will have follow-up sessions over the next few weeks. Your feedback about your experiences and the experiences of the students will be helpful.

4. You have received advice about media attention early in the week. You are free to talk with the media, but you are under no obligation to do so. Also, you can decide what issues you want to discuss. You have control over who is admitted to your classrooms.

5. The "Concert for Virginia Tech" on Thursday, September 6 is going to have an impact on classes that evening. As of now, we are planning to cancel classes beginning at 5 p.m. so that all faculty, staff, and students may attend the concert if they wish. Unlike the situation with football games, the parking lots are open to regular use and no one will be expected to vacate spaces in specific lots. As provost, I am never thrilled when the regular academic schedule is affected by non-academic events. We are going through an important phase of the healing process and I hope you will embrace the positive features of this unique contribution to the Virginia Tech community.

6. One of the highlights of the academic year will be a special program that brings emphasis to our commitment to the unique responsibilities and opportunities that come from being Virginia&#39;s senior land-grant university, as well as highlights the Student Engagement component of our Strategic Plan. The program, which we are calling VT-ENGAGE, is a university-wide initiative that reaffirms our motto, Ut Prosim, by facilitating and leading opportunities for students, faculty, staff, alumni, and community members to participate in community service, service learning, and volunteerism. During its inaugural year 2007-2008, VT-ENGAGE will honor the victims of the tragedy of April 16 and the commitment to service they demonstrated within their communities worldwide.

A Steering Committee, which includes broad representation of faculty, staff, students, administrators, and community leaders, is working diligently on the planning for VT-ENGAGE. The committee has established a goal of at least 300,000 hours of service/service learning. Each member of the university community will be challenged to commit at least 10 hours during the academic year. We hope that each of you will choose to participate and that you will find creative ways to include the spirit of VT-ENGAGE in your teaching, research, and outreach.

A major event will be held on the Drillfield the evening of October 16 to kick-off VT-ENGAGE. Community organizations are being invited to have displays and to sign-up volunteers. The event will be festive and feature stories of how Virginia Tech students, faculty, staff, students, and alumni make a difference in communities around the world. Much more to come.

We believe VT-ENGAGE will send another positive message that Virginia Tech is a very special community with a spirit that does indeed prevail.

Best wishes for a successful start to the new academic year.

Mark McNamee
University Provost and Vice President for Academic Affairs

Mark McNamee

2007-08-17

Brent Jesiek

eng

Media and the return to school

Date: Tue, 14 Aug 2007 22:09:39 -0400
From: Virginia.Tech.news@vt.edu
To: Multiple recipients <LISTSERV@LISTSERV.VT.EDU>
Subject: Media and the return to school

Wednesday, August 15, 2007

TO: The students, faculty, and staff of Virginia Tech

RE: Media and the return to school

With the beginning of the fall 2007 semester, there will be intense media interest in the Virginia Tech community in light of the events of April 16. While some may prefer otherwise, there will again be many broadcasters, reporters, and cameras on the campus. Indeed, some already are on campus.

Our university is public property. Our roads are public thoroughfares. We cannot bar the media from campus. However, although our buildings are open to the public, residence halls, offices, and classrooms are restricted. Faculty members control entry to classrooms while teaching there. Labs are open only to those authorized. Offices are semi-private spaces open to anyone with a reason to be there. University residence halls are living quarters and open only to those living there and their guests.

What should you do if a member of the news media approaches you for an interview? You are never REQUIRED to speak to the media. Politely telling a reporter "no thank you" will suffice. If a reporter is particularly troublesome, just walk away and do not feel guilty about doing so.

However, I am proud -- very, very proud -- of our university community and how we have represented ourselves to the world through the media over the past several months. You have shown the world the special nature of Hokie Spirit. If you are comfortable, feel free to speak about yourselves, your involvement with the university, or your feelings about the future. I wouldn&#39;t be surprised if reporters want to take you back to April 16. You control discussion and you talk about what you want to talk about. It&#39;s your time.

Should you engage a reporter, take advantage of the opportunity to share some Hokie Spirit. The world mourned with us and maintains an interest in the collective health of our extended university community. I believe that most reporters share this concern and compassion. With so many reporters present, this is a unique opportunity to again convey the character of our community and tell a little about why Virginia Tech and Blacksburg are such very special places.

Sincerely yours,
Lawrence G. Hincker
Associate Vice President
University Relations

Lawrence G. Hincker

2007-08-14

Brent Jesiek

eng

[Untitled]

Media trucks are seen everywhere on campus.

Photo Courtesy of Patrick Donohoe

Patrick Donohoe

2007-08-08

Chad Newswander

Permission granted by Patrick Donohoe

eng

[Untitled]

An individual mourns and pays respect to the victims at one of the memorial sites on the drill field.

Photo Courtesy of Patrick Donohoe

Patrick Donohoe

2007-08-08

Chad Newswander

Permission granted by Patrick Donohoe

eng

FM slashes U.S. untruthful reports on campus shooting

www.chinaview.cn 2007-04-18 16:42:35

BEIJING, April 18 (Xinhua) -- Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Liu Jianchao Wednesday criticized some U.S. media&#39;s irresponsible reports on the Virginia Tech shooting before finding out the truth, calling on relevant sides to eliminate baneful impact of the incident.

Following Monday&#39;s shooting tragedy at Virginia Tech, some U.S. media reported the gunman was a Chinese student. Later, the U.S. police identified the gunman who killed 32 people as a student from the Republic of Korea, Cho Seung-Hui.

Calling the mass shooting a "very serious" incident, Liu said it was a terribly wrong move to give irresponsible reports before finding out the truth, which had violated the professional moral of the press.

The Chinese government and people are very concerned about this incident and lamented the deaths, the spokesman said, adding China expresses sincere sympathy and condolences to the families of the victims as well as the injured, hoping they will recover at an early date.

Foreign Minister Li Zhaoxing conveyed condolences to U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice over the shooting in a telegram Tuesday, expressing sincere concern to the U.S. government and those affected by the shooting.

Monday&#39;s shooting rampage is the deadliest mass shooting in the U.S. history. Liu Jianchao said on Tuesday evening China is "shocked" by the tragedy and strongly condemns the violence.

--

Original Source: XINHUA Online, China
<a href="http://news.xinhuanet.com/english/2007-04/18/content_5993865.htm">http://news.xinhuanet.com/english/2007-04/18/content_5993865.htm<a/>

Editor: Xiao Jie

2007-07-22

Na Mi

eng

NBC, MySpace and V.T.

By Behzad Varamini
Apr 25 2007

<i>Gain Through Loss</i>

Hours after students cowered behind desks and played dead in hopes that Virginia Tech killer Cho Seung-Hui would spare their lives, minutes after the body count was made public and started to climb, it took only seconds for the gluttonous demons in dark corners of men&#39;s souls to perk up and devise a plan on how to best capitalize on a tragic story that even satisfied the devil himself.

Atheists and evangelicals, gun-toters and arms opposers, and other talking heads with punches to throw delayed healing by using the backdrop of the tragic killings to guilefully push their own agendas. Amidst these vultures, perhaps the most flagrant exploiter of the catastrophe was NBC News, who decided to air self-taken photographs and a homemade video of Cho multiple times over national airwaves, just two days after the events took place and literally hours after the videos were received. In between the first and second set of murders last Monday, April 16, the killer put the finishing touches on the video and overnighted it, along with a series of photographs, to NBC News headquarters.

Soon after the tapes of wrath aired, NBC President Steve Capus made a statement assuring Americans that the network struggled with the decision to release the videos. In the end, however, NBC pinned their collective conscious into submission and granted the psychotic killer a public posthumous forum, completing the final phase of Cho&#39;s demonic plan.

Just a quick look at the pictures and videos makes Capus&#39; motives clear. Stamped into the top-left corner of the video and every still of Cho is the NBC news logo — peacock and all. NBC News anchor Brian Williams admitted in a later interview that airing even part of the video would promise the killer the martyrdom he hoped to achieve. In the name of profit, NBC served as an instrumental accomplice, helping make Cho&#39;s plan come to complete fruition and allowing the friends and families of the victims the opportunity to look into the eyes of the gun-wielding killer, the same eyes their loved ones saw before losing their lives.

Releasing the video helped further what Cho started, burying the lives of the innocent underneath layers of dirt and self-serving agendas.

Feeling disgust after being repeatedly showered with sponsored images and videos of the killer, I began to wonder how much information was publicly known about the innocent victim&#39;s lives.

Online newspapers such as the New York Times provided brief bios and one or two photos of each victim. Hometowns, majors and quotes from friends provided abbreviated and filtered second-hand accounts of the victim&#39;s lives; accounts which didn&#39;t seem to satisfy my suddenly aching need to find out who these kids really were, what they did for fun and what they hoped and dreamed of. As unthinkable as it may seem, links to MySpace profiles provided what is probably the most personal and endearing insights available about the victim&#39;s lives in their own words.

The first MySpace profile I came across was that of freshman Lauren McCain. Lauren was a 20-year old international studies major from Oklahoma. Her brother Joel was listed as her hero. She hoped to have children one day and wanted to meet Andre the Giant because he was "sooooo cool!"

Of all the details on her page, none proved more horrifying than time-stamped comments from friends which evolve from hellos and jokes to urgent pleas asking Lauren to call her parents to grieving memoirs describing her as a great role model and friend.

Further agonizing are Lauren&#39;s pictures. Several display her presumable love of nature and outdoors and she stands in front of a botanical garden in one shot and in another overlooks the horizon on a sunny day in San Diego. Littered with goofy comments and exclamation points, Lauren&#39;s profile began to reflect a young and lively girl.

As much as I ache to help, situations like these leave me feeling completely unqualified as a voice and helpless as a human being. I know Virginia Tech has established a Hokie Spirit Memorial Fund to assist victims and their families. Though I am hesitant in suggesting a financial contribution at the expense of the valid criticism that money won&#39;t make things better, I trust the fund was established because families and the school legitimately need help and I ask everyone to consider donating.

Though I never knew Lauren and only know about her what she decided to reveal on her MySpace page, I am convinced that the world is a lesser place without her and the other 31 people lost in this immeasurable catastrophe. I pray healing and comfort will come swiftly to all those affected so that one day soon, we can begin to live life the way it was originally intended, before wretched souls began turning innocent loss into their own gain.

<i>Behzad Varamini is a graduate student in Nutritional Sciences. He can be contacted at bv29@cornell.edu. Gain Through Loss appears alternate Wednesdays.</i>

--

Original Source: <a href=http://cornellsun.com/node/23140>Cornell Daily Sun - April 25, 2007</a>

Behzad Varamini

2007-07-10

Sara Hood

Jonny Lieberman <jdl46@cornell.edu>, <lieberman.jonny@gmail.com>

eng

Mention of shooter&#39;s ethnicity unnecessary

Apr 30 2007
Re: "CUPD Assesses Campus Safety," News, April 18

To the Editor:

Thank you for the article "CUPD Assesses Campus Safety." In some ways, it made me feel a little bit safer knowing about the heightened security. However, it made me feel uneasy and unsafe at the same time after reading about the last shooting that occurred at Cornell. As a Korean-American, I have felt shame, sadness, pity, anger and fear about sharing the same ethnicity as the shooter at Virginia Tech. In a society where racial inequalities and stereotypes still very much exist, I feared for what this one young Korean-American student may have done for our future race relations here in the U.S. My fear was shared by many others, where Korean parents took their children home from VTech for fear of racial backlash.

Thus, I strongly believe that your reference to the last shooting at Cornell was inappropriate and uncalled for. Although you did not specifically say that Kim, the shooter at Cornell, was Korean, it can easily be implied just by his name. I believe that your mention of this one horrific incidence in which the shooter just happened to be Korean only further aggravates the very sensitive issue of race. I believe that you should have referenced the incidence at Cornell without giving names of those involved, to prevent any kind of potentially dangerous stereotypes and consequences that it may have on other Korean-Americans around campus.

Rachel Baek &#39;07

--

Original Source: <a href=http://cornellsun.com/node/23257> Cornell Daily Sun - April 30, 2007</a>

Rachel Baek

2007-07-10

Sara Hood

Jonny Lieberman <jdl46@cornell.edu>, <lieberman.jonny@gmail.com>

eng