No More Media

One of the signs that went up on the buildings around campus shortly after Apr 16 directing the media to stay out of the campus buildings

Megan Minter

Megan Minter

You are contributing your stories and/or files to The April 16 Archive, which is developing a permanent digital record of the events surrounding the tragedy on the Virginia Tech campus on April 16, 2007. Your participation in this project will allow future researchers, and people such as yourself, to gain a greater understanding of these events and the responses to them.

You must be 13 years of age or older to submit material to us. Your submission of material constitutes your permission for, and consent to, its dissemination and use in connection with The April 16 Archive in all media in perpetuity. If you have so indicated on the form, your material will be published on The April 16 Archive web site (with or without your name, depending on what you have indicated). Otherwise, your submitted materials will only be available to approved researchers using The April 16 Archive. The material you submit must have been created by you, wholly original, and shall not be copied from or based, in whole or in part, upon any other photographic, literary, or other material, except to the extent that such material is in the public domain. Further, submitted material must not violate any confidentiality, privacy, security or other laws.

By submitting material to The April 16 Archive you release, discharge, and agree to hold harmless The April 16 Archive and persons acting under its permission or authority, including a public library or archive to which the collection might be donated for purposes of long-term preservation, from any claims or liability arising out the The April 16 Archive's use of the material, including, without limitation, claims for violation of privacy, defamation, or misrepresentation.

The April 16 Archive has no obligation to use your material.

You will be sent via email a confirmation of your contribution to The April 16 Archive. We cannot return any material you submit to us so be sure to keep a copy. The April 16 Archive will not share your email address or any other information with commercial vendors.

Under the glare

A student is interviewed by the media. Burruss Hall in background.

Photo by Roger Gupta.

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Original Source:
<a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/spector1/467337804/in/set-72157600104116028/">http://www.flickr.com/photos/spector1/467337804/in/set-72157600104116028/</a>

Roger Gupta

2008-04-06

Kacey Beddoes

"Gupta, Roger" <ragupta@vt.edu>

eng

Preparing for Media on April 16

Date: Sun, 23 Mar 2008 15:05:04 -0400
From: Unirel@vt.edu
To: Multiple recipients <LISTSERV@LISTSERV.VT.EDU>
Subject: Preparing for Media on April 16


March 2008

To the Students, Faculty, and Staff of Virginia Tech

As you can imagine, there remains significant ongoing media interest in Virginia Tech in light of the tragedy that occurred on our campus last April 16. As is customary for an event of this magnitude - one that gripped not only reporters, but the entire world - there will be anniversary coverage on or around April 16, 2008.

We expect again to have many, many reporters, broadcasters, and cameras on campus during that week and/or at the remembrances planned for that day.

As I did last year, let me again apprise you of our policy and the law. Our university is public property. Roads are public thoroughfares. We cannot bar the media, although many have suggested it. We will be working to provide appropriate but limited access to the campus. I believe that most were respectful of you and the circumstances of our healing last year.

Reporters (or other visitors) are never allowed in classrooms without the faculty member&#39;s permission. This is a moot point, since classes are cancelled on April 16. Still, we are apprising the media to refrain from entering academic buildings before or after April 16. Residence halls are always off limits to any visitor unless approved by a resident or a member of the student affairs&#39; leadership. Spaces like offices and labs are always controlled by the occupants. Certain university buildings have nominal public access and you may bump into a reporter. If a building is open to the public, it is open to all members of the public.

What should you do if a member of the news media approaches you for an interview either on that day or before? You are never REQUIRED to speak to a reporter. Politely telling a reporter &#39;no thank you&#39; will suffice. If a reporter is particularly insistent, just walk away and do not feel guilty about doing so. We have posted media guidelines at www.remembrance.vt.edu.

However, we have a powerful story to tell. We have prevailed and we are healing. The Hokie Nation is strong. You have represented us well during some very trying times. You have shown the world the special nature of Hokie Spirit and our sense of community. The close-knit nature of this academic community was readily apparent throughout the days and months after April&#39;s tragedy and continues.

If interviewed, I would expect a reporter to ask you about April 16. Go only as far as you feel comfortable. You control the discussion. Students and professors with whom I&#39;ve discussed this possibility are in different places emotionally. Many are ready to move on and speak to the now or the future. Frankly, I like to focus on what we were before April 16 and what we remain today - one of America&#39;s leading universities focused on learning, discovery, and engagement. You help invent the future.

Virginia Tech&#39;s reputation and legacy are founded on the quality of its people. I have great confidence in the university community and the institution as we continue on the road to recovery.

If you have any concerns, please do not hesitate to contact our office at unirel@vt.edu or 231-5396.

Sincerely yours,

Lawrence G. Hincker
Associate Vice President
University Relations

Lawrence G. Hincker

2008-03-23

Brent Jesiek

eng

Still waiting for our victory

Observer Viewpoint
Issue date: 4/19/07 Section: Viewpoint

Anyone old enough to speak coherently at the time still remembers the moment, over forty years ago, when they heard about JFK&#39;s assassination. Our grandparents can tell us how they listened to the radio accounts of Pearl Harbor on a December day, more than six decades gone. Every single one of us here at Notre Dame can recall where we were on the day of Sept. 11, 2001 - what we were doing, how the horribly tragic events of that morning unfolded for us and our personal feelings on the matter. Any time someone shares a personal story of That Day, I&#39;m always amazed at the details people recall.

I remember listening to Paul Harvey&#39;s show on my AM radio while driving to school when he announced the first plane crash. I remember talking about it with my friend before the start of first-hour Biology, and I remember the girl who came in and told us the other tower had been hit. I remember conversations I had that day, things different teachers said and talking with my grandparents in the evening. That was my experience, half a country away, without a personal connection to anyone involved. The mass media of the past century gave rise to a new, shared cultural experience, a common reference point that breaches distance and background: the generation-defining event.

When we hear 9/11 described this way, it is absolutely on-target.

This week, we have another national tragedy. News of the massacre at Virginia Tech on Monday spread like wildfire throughout both national and international outlets, even reaching most of us studying abroad in Europe within the hour. We learned of the catastrophe over television stations, through quickly formed Facebook groups, on Internet news sites and during instant messaging conversations. Solid facts came slowly, but no report could sanitize away the fear, confusion, anger, torrential grief and host of other emotions that assault us all in such times.

This is the great curse of our generation&#39;s hyper-awareness and the awesome power of modern media. We cannot escape the sentiments swirling around the tragedies, and they cannot remain anonymous or distant to us. It is hard to ignore the images of grown men and women crying as dead college students are carried away, the surreal sounds of gunshots being fired on a peaceful college campus or the first-hand accounts of courage and action during the Virginia shootings. I hesitate to compare this with 9/11; the numbers, circumstances, impact, source, scope and means are worlds apart. Yet both incidents serve to painfully remind us that these events always seem to be associated with sorrow, tragedy and death.

The events of Monday, though still fresh in my mind, will probably not stick with me as do those of 9/11. Sadly, the thousands of students and faculty and staff connected with the university, the thousands of parents worrying at home and the thousands of residents in the surrounding community don&#39;t have that luxury of separation. For them, this will become a "where were you when..." event. Monday will haunt their minds and stay with them for the duration of their lives. Healing can take place, and God willing, can come soon, but memories of all the little details from Monday will stick. Meanwhile, the rest of us are stuck asking ourselves: How many more of these "defining" events can we plan on seeing in the coming years and decades? And when can we expect one judged not by the body count or human toll, but by the rewards and human joy brought about?

Some may say any event that becomes constantly discussed, like 9/11, does not develop its crystalline clarity in the moments of its occurrence, but rather slowly cements itself during the constant regurgitation of facts and satellite details in the months and years following. Even if this were the case, we are still left empty-handed trying to think of a ubiquitous positive event. I firmly believe that such events, incredibly wonderful instead of shockingly horrific, are entirely possible. Unfortun-ately, we are still waiting to see what such an event would look like.

The consistently negative nature of these events can be explained to some degree. "Good events," for one, rarely culminate in one triumphant moment. Tragedy, on the other hand, catches us unaware. In the shock, the horrific facts come slowly and there are a thousand unknowns. With triumphant accomplishments, the event is often merely symbolic and known well in advance. The closest models I can call to mind are the fall of the Berlin Wall - which I and most of my classmates were too young to remember - and the moon landing, decades before we were born.

Our generation, already exposed to so much death and murder and war and evil, still waits for its anti-9/11. We have yet to gather around our televisions and computers to share joy instead of sorrow, fulfillment instead of shock, pleasure instead of anger. We are the waiting. But for the moment, in respect for the Virginia Tech community, let us remember that we are also among the mourning.

James Dechant is a junior studying abroad in Rome this semester. Questions, complaints and rude remarks can be sent to jdechant@nd.edu

The views expressed in this article are those of the author and not necessarily those of The Observer.

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Original Source:
<a href="http://media.www.ndsmcobserver.com/media/storage/paper660/news/2007/04/19/Viewpoint/Still.Waiting.For.Our.Victory-2852060.shtml">http://media.www.ndsmcobserver.com/media/storage/paper660/news/2007/04/19/Viewpoint/Still.Waiting.For.Our.Victory-2852060.shtml</a>
<a href="http://media.www.ndsmcobserver.com/media/storage/paper660/news/2007/04/19/Viewpoint/Still.Waiting.For.Our.Victory-2852060-page2.shtml">http://media.www.ndsmcobserver.com/media/storage/paper660/news/2007/04/19/Viewpoint/Still.Waiting.For.Our.Victory-2852060-page2.shtml</a>

James Dechant

2008-02-25

Kacey Beddoes

Christopher Hine <chine@nd.edu>

eng

When tragedy is for sale, it isn’t tragic enough

Issue Date:Tuesday April 17, 2007
Section: Editorial Section
Ry Rivard, City Editor

By the end of the Monday it was obvious that the media had begun selling the day&#39;s horrors at Virginia Tech. No matter the gravity or magnitude of a tragedy, this country&#39;s commentators veer from events as they are, in and of themselves horrible, to a decontextualized, surreal account of things so they can be sold to and consumed by us.

The shooting - the deadliest shooting in American history - quickly became, for some people, another chance to make various political points. It became, by the time Wolf Blitzer&#39;s show aired, a sort of tragic-porn, a way for the media to provoke rather than inform. Commentators tried to politicize it, politicians tried to comment on it, the news channels tried to heighten the drama with their usual parade of loud music and epic comparisons, "This is worse than ... " or "This is the biggest ... " Was what happened not enough in and of itself?

Glenn Reynolds, law professor at University of Tennessee, quickly posted a 52-page paper on his popular Weblog arguing that the best way to prevent shootings like Monday&#39;s is to permit concealed handguns. It was the day&#39;s most academic approach to the event, but it was also one of the most callous.

Written by two economists, the paper concluded that "the only policy factor to influence multiple victim public shootings is the passage of concealed handgun laws." Reynolds and several others who followed his lead took the deaths of 33 students to advance an agenda which, although done in an attempt to stop such events in the future, made them into a policy argument.

Similarly, the Drudge Report, a conservative news site, dragged out a fourth-month old story from Roanoke Times about failed piece of legislation that would have permitted concealed handguns.

It reported, "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;"

The point was: if students hadn&#39;t had to wait for the police to arrive, Monday&#39;s shootings would have been an incident and not a tragedy. The effect of their ill-made point was that gun control advocates were somehow responsible for the shooting.

In response, the Huffington Post highlighted a story that the White House affirmed the "president believes that there is a right for people to bear arms." Their point: if only there had been a law against carrying weapons (and there is - VT&#39;s handbook doesn&#39;t permit guns on campus), this wouldn&#39;t have happened. The effect of that point was that somehow the Second Amendment or the Bush Administration was responsible for the shooting.

The politicians, meanwhile, all took care to come out and say how horrible the events were. Perhaps they thought if they didn&#39;t grandstand on TV with their condolences, someone might mistake their silence for support?

The news channels proved again that constant, breathless coverage undermines the fundamental tragedy, horror and fact of an event. CNN escalated its description of the shootings from "monumental" to a "rampage" to a "massacre," to a "bloodbath," as if their appellations signified anything but their desire to sell the story.

By Monday evening, each station had begun saying as often as possible how tragic the obvious tragedy was, and how horrible the horror was - and at the same time they plugged their own brand: "Stay tuned to us for ... " For what? For whatever scarce news they could pry from any student on the VT campus they could pull aside and, occasionally, attempt to provoke into more tears with probing, useless questions.

CNN kept mentioning their "I Reporters," which is their way of saying "people who sent us pictures from their cell phones."

If the media&#39;s reaction Monday was a sign of the American psyche, we are a country that cannot understand an event outside of a political framework, and we are a country that cannot understand an event as it is.

There were two terrible but - compared to the media&#39;s carnival barker commentary - honest accounts from Monday. The first was cell phone video footage taken outside the building of the shootings that captured the sounds of 27 shots being fired, presumably into somebody. It was replayed and replayed and, after a while, it became a selling point for CNN rather than a way to describe the day&#39;s events.

The second account, reminiscent of Sept. 11, came from a student who told ABC News, "Everyone started panicking and jumping out the window."

But there is nothing anyone can say that makes it make sense, so, from Lord Byron:

And thou art dead, as young and fair

As aught of mortal birth;

And form so soft, and charms so rare,

Too soon return&#39;d to Earth!

Though Earth receiv&#39;d them in her

bed,

And o&#39;er the spot the crowd may

tread

In carelessness or mirth,

There is an eye which could not brook

A moment on that grave to look.

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Original Source: The Daily Athenaeum
<a href="http://www.da.wvu.edu/show_article.php?&story_id=27550">http://www.da.wvu.edu/show_article.php?&story_id=27550</a>

Ry Rivard

2008-02-18

Kacey Beddoes

Leann Ray <Leann.Ray@mail.wvu.edu>

eng

Satellite Trucks at the Virginia Tech Inn

Photo taken April 18, 2007.

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Original Source: <a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/cipherswarm/1483116677/">http://www.flickr.com/photos/cipherswarm/1483116677/</a>

Licensed under <a href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/2.0/deed.en-us">Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 2.0 Generic</a>.

Christopher Bowns

2007-10-25

Brent Jesiek

Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 2.0 Generic

eng

Dedication3

Media coverage of the memorial dedication ceremony on August 19, 2007.

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

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Original Source: <a href="http://www.flickr.com/photo_zoom.gne?id=1174168223&context=set-72157601548585076&size=o">http://www.flickr.com/photo_zoom.gne?id=1174168223&context=set-72157601548585076&size=o</a>

null

2007-09-09

Haeyong Chung

eng

Dedication9

Students carrying chairs at the memorial dedication ceremony on August 19, 2007.

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

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Original Source: <a href="http://www.flickr.com/photo_zoom.gne?id=1175029020&context=set-72157601548585076&size=o">http://www.flickr.com/photo_zoom.gne?id=1175029020&context=set-72157601548585076&size=o</a>

null

2007-09-08

Haeyong Chung

eng

At The Vigil

2007.04.17.
A view of the crowd at the candlelight vigil on the Drill Field of the Virginia Tech campus.

Photo courtesy of Ivan V. Morozov

Ivan V. Morozov

2007-09-04

Haeyong Chung

eng

Media

2007.04.17.
Ever present media is setting up to report from the Drill Field about the candlelight vigil.

Photo courtesy of Ivan V. Morozov

Ivan V. Morozov

2007-09-04

Haeyong Chung

eng