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April 20, 2007
"The Desk I Chose to Die Under"
If you haven't yet read this story in the Washington Post about the Virginia Tech shootings, I encourage you to do so. It's a hard read, though.
Geoff at Uncommon Misconceptions shows just how much we lost when Liviu Lebrescu gave up his life to save his students. (H/t: Dave)
And Mark D. Roberts once again shows a measure of Godly wisdom in the midst of such horror.
The Chronicle of Higher Education has done some great reporting this week, with the best being this series of profiles of the victims. If you can get through more than one or two of these without choking up, you're stronger than I.
UPDATE - It took a backlash, but media outlets are finally starting to limit use of Cho's video.
NEW YORK (AP) - With a backlash developing against the media for airing sickening pictures from Virginia Tech shooter Cho Seung-Hui, Fox News Channel said Thursday it would stop and other networks said they would severely limit their use.I think what bothered me the most about the video and the pictures was that NBC took a horrible news story and turned it into an opportunity for shameless self-promotion, as seen in this crop:NBC News was the recipient Wednesday of Cho's package of rambling, hate-filled video and written messages, with several pictures of him posing with a gun. Contents began airing on "Nightly News," and its rivals quickly used them, too.
Family members of victims canceled plans to appear on NBC's "Today" show Thursday because they "were very upset" with the network for showing the pictures, "Today" host Meredith Vieira said.
It's like they are trying to emulate ebaum's World or something. Did the watermark really need to be that big? That noticeable? Is NBC so desperate for attention and a scoop? To me, it's bad enough they showed the video - they didn't have to buy ad space next to the killer.
Posted by slublog at April 20, 2007 12:08 AM
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» Librescu Given Hero's Funeral In Israel; Backlash Against MSM For Showing Cho's Videos; Westboro Church Harrasses Slublog from Ace of Spades HQ
Three updates from Slu. Librescu's burial. A round-up of V-Tech news, including a backlash against the media for so gleefully publicizing Cho. An update on the Cthulhu cultists at Westboro and their planned "protests" of the V-Tech funerals. By the... [Read More]
Tracked on April 20, 2007 02:14 PM
Comments
Thanks for the link, Slub.
Posted by: geoff at April 20, 2007 10:02 AM
No problem. I'm with Dave, though. I didn't understand the big words.
Posted by: Slublog at April 20, 2007 10:05 AM
Dammit. I tried so hard to make it comprehensible for the lay folk.
Sigh.
Posted by: geoff at April 20, 2007 01:18 PM
The fact NBC had their security open the package from Cho and MAKE COPIES OF EVERYTHING BEFORE handing it over to the FBI told me all I needed to know about NBCs motives. You know the NBC people were high-fiving each other with big s**t-eating grins on their faces.
Posted by: QB at April 20, 2007 01:22 PM
Dammit. I tried so hard to make it comprehensible for the lay folk.
Hey...my degree says B.A.
You've got to go easy on us liberal arts folk.
Posted by: Slublog at April 20, 2007 01:33 PM
I've noticed that the media--in its coverage of the "backlash"--has yet to mention the real and significant problem, which is that it gives him what he wanted and encourages others to act similarly in pursuit of their 15 minutes of fame.
I don't think that the photos are "sickening" to the general population... just indicative of what a complete loser the guy was, and frightening in what it reveals about him. "Sickening" isn't the problem here, in my opinion.
Posted by: DaveS at April 20, 2007 02:45 PM
Without trying to be offensive, in this 9/11 age, a better title for the story would have been "I chose to be a victim".
Fortunately some fought back by taking actions that insured their survival.
It starts with making a conscious decision that you will not be a willing victim. If you go down, you go down fighting.
Posted by: GarandFan at April 20, 2007 02:52 PM