Media coverage of the Virginia Tech shooting
Part of a series of articles on the |
Virginia Tech shooting |
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Location |
Virginia Tech (Blacksburg, Virginia) |
Perpetrator |
Seung-Hui Cho |
Victims |
Related |
On April 16, 2007, media from around the world descended on Blacksburg, Virginia, upon receiving word of the Virginia Tech shooting.
Reports included US evening news
In addition to the extensive, worldwide media coverage of the event, there was intense speculation immediately following the massacre over the state of mind of the perpetrator. The focus was not only on the perpetrator and the incident, but also on the media itself, with journalistic ethics being questioned. The media and the general public also questioned American gun control policies as a result of the killings.
United States
Citizen journalism
On April 16, 2007,
Albarghouti was later interviewed on CNN's Situation Room and appeared on Larry King Live later that day. He said to Larry King that he left the dangerous streets of the Middle East to come to a safe town, Blacksburg, in Virginia to study. He went on to say that he still considers the town to be safe.
The cellphone used by Albarghouti is now headed to the
Inaccurate media reports
Early media reports by Michael Sneed of the
Wayne Chiang, a Fall 2006 graduate of Virginia Tech and an ardent supporter of the right to bear arms, was widely mistaken as the killer,[10] as his profile matched several key attributes of the suspected shooter falsely reported by the Chicago Sun-Times.[11] After receiving a deluge of hate-mail and death threats, he came out declaring he was not the shooter.[12]
In a Fox News interview conducted several hours after the shooting occurred and before the killer was identified, controversial (and now disbarred) lawyer
Television news
Major Networks
The
Cho's media package
![](http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/thumb/9/93/AUS_CM.jpg/220px-AUS_CM.jpg)
Newspapers around the world showed Cho's images
On April 18, NBC aired the videotape and some pictures that it received from the killer, Seung-Hui Cho, that afternoon. The package, which Williams called a "multimedia manifesto," was mailed between the two shooting episodes and was received at NBC's New York headquarters that afternoon, and they reported the package to the FBI. Anticipating criticisms that the airing of the tapes was irresponsible, NBC News president Steve Capus said that reporting the story and distributing the information was a journalistic necessity, to provide context and background on Cho's possible motivations.[15]
Some family members of the victims were upset that the photos and video sent by the killer were broadcast, and subsequently canceled interviews with NBC in protest. A Virginia State Police spokesman said he was "rather disappointed in the editorial decision to broadcast these disturbing images,"[16] adding that he regretted that "[people who] are not used to seeing that type of image had to see it."[17]
The American Psychiatric Association, however, urged the media to withdraw the footage from circulation, arguing that publicizing it "seriously jeopardizes the public's safety by potentially inciting 'copycat' suicides, homicides and other incidents."[18] NBC defended itself by stating its staff had intensely debated releasing the footage before deciding to broadcast it and asserted it had covered this story with extreme sensitivity.[17] Williams also emphasized that it had edited out a large amount of obscene material and that the release was cleared by federal and state authorities.[19]
At the annual meeting of NBC's parent company, General Electric, Media watchdog group Accuracy in Media sought the firing of NBC News President Steve Capus because of his decision to air the tapes.[20]
Outside the U.S.
There was extensive coverage of the Virginia Tech shooting and its aftermath in countries throughout the world, with many stations and papers sending journalists to Blacksburg to cover the massacre. Dozens of newspapers around the world placed the story on the front page.[21]
In the UK, an editorial in
Other international commentators predicted little chance of tougher gun laws or changes to the U.S. gun culture. BBC's Washington correspondent Matt Frei wrote "America is at its most impressive when it grieves and remembers. But will the soul-searching ever produce legislation and will it make schools safer?". He further predicted that "[d]espite this week's bloodbath there will be no overwhelming demand for gun control in this country."[27] Similarly, The Economist said: "The Columbine killings of 1999 failed to provoke any shift in Americans' attitudes to guns. There is no reason to believe that this massacre, or the next one, will do so either."[28]
The first book published about the killings was La masacre de Virginia Tech: Anatomía de una mente torturada (The Virginia Tech Massacre: Anatomy of a tortured mind,
Reaction on campus
Students quickly grew tired of the large media presence on campus. The student government issued a statement on Sunday, April 22, the day before classes resumed, asking the media to leave campus. Students were also encouraged to decline requests for contact by the media.[30][31]
Media criticism of Virginia Tech President
Impact in entertainment
- The massacre was mentioned three times in the April 17 episode of hit show American Idol: First, show host Ryan Seacrest expressed "thoughts and prayers" on behalf of the producers of the show and the network; contestant Chris Richardson from Chesapeake, Virginia dedicated his performance to the victims and their families; judge Simon Cowell noted "how difficult this week was for all of us." Cowell was caught rolling his eyes on camera as a contestant was expressing sympathy for Tech victims. At first, this was misinterpreted as his showing his disrespect. Cowell later clarified that he was discussing the contestant's performance with another judge.[33]
- Another Fox show, Bones, postponed the showing of an episode that had been scheduled for April 18. Its storyline centered on a basketball player found dead on a college campus. The episode later aired the following year.[34]
- Also from Fox, The Simpsons episode "You Kent Always Say What You Want" was originally planned to be titled the "Kent State Massacre" but was changed in light of the incident.
- CBS pulled the Criminal Minds episode "Doubt" from the 2006–2007 line-up due to similarities in the plot and the massacre at Virginia Tech in April, 2007. The episode eventually aired September 26, 2007.
- hostage crisis taking place at the fictitious Llanview High School.[35]
References
- ^ Tragedy caught on camera, Anderson Cooper, CNN, April 16, 2007
- ^ Student shot video of campus shooting, CNN, April 16, 2007
- New York Times, April 17, 2007
- ^ Shooting Story Spreads Quickly on TV, David Bauder, Associated Press, April 16, 2007 [dead link]
- ^ Virginia Tech cell phone heading to museum, WDBJ, May 10 2007 Archived 2008-04-21 at the Wayback Machine
- The Atlantic Monthly. Retrieved 2007-04-29.
- ^ Police Preliminarily Identify Virginia Tech Gunman, Won't Release Name as Campus Reels From Tragedy Archived 2007-04-19 at the Wayback Machine, Fox News, April 17, 2007
- ^ Sun-Times: Va. Shooter May Have Been In U.S. On Visa Archived 2007-07-07 at the Wayback Machine, MSNBC, April 16, 2007
- ^ "US reports on 'Chinese killer' criticized". People's Daily. April 19, 2007. Retrieved 2007-04-30.
- Daily News & Analysis. April 17, 2007
- ^ Esposito, Richard (April 16, 2007). "I want to clear my name". ABC News. Retrieved 2007-04-30.
- ^ Glick, Adir (April 18, 2007). "'I am not the shooter,' gun-crazy blogger posts". National Post. Archived from the original on April 20, 2007. Retrieved 2007-04-30.
- ^ gamesTM Staff (June 2007). gamesTM. No. 58. United Kingdom: Imagine Publishing. pp. 9–11.
{{cite news}}
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(help) - ^ Coverage Update: 60 Minutes of CBS Evening News, Ben Grossman, Broadcasting & Cable, April 16, 2007
- ^ Interviews on Hardball and Countdown, April 18, 2007. Also see http://www.broadcastingcable.com/article/CA6434943.html
- ^ Inquiry to probe Virginia killing BBC News
- ^ a b Maddox, Bronwen (2007-04-20). "Why NBC was right to show those demented ramblings". The Times. Retrieved 2007-04-20.
- ^ "APA Urges Media to Stop Airing Graphic Cho Materials" (PDF) (Press release). American Psychiatric Association. April 20, 2007. Archived from the original (PDF) on June 5, 2007. Retrieved 2007-04-22.
- ^ NBC Nightly News, April 18
- ^ "AIM: TV News More Violent Than WWE, But FCC, Stay Away!". Media Criticism. April 28, 2007. Archived from the original on 2008-10-13. Retrieved 2008-06-21.
- ^ Front Pages Analysis: April is the cruellest month in Iraq; murder, mayhem and a madam Archived 2007-04-16 at the Wayback Machine, Christy Mumford Jerding, Newseum, May 01, 2007
- ^ Only the names change. And the numbers, The Times, 17 April 2007
- ^ Massacre will bring a closer look at gun rules Archived 2007-09-30 at the Wayback Machine, Gerard Baker, Ottawa Citizen, April 17, 2007
- ^ U.S. gun laws draw heat after massacre, Associated Press, 18 April 2007
- Asahi Shimbun, April 19, 2007
- ^ U.S. Gun Laws Draw Heat After Massacre [permanent dead link], CBS NEWS, accessed April 22, 2007
- ^ Washington diary: Virginia shootings BBC
- ^ "Guns in America: After the massacre", The Economist, 17 April 2007
- ^ La masacre de Virginia Tech: Anatomía de una mente
- ^ Londoño, Ernesto (April 22, 2007). "Student Body Asks Media to Leave Va. Tech". Washington Post. Retrieved 2008-06-21.
- ^ Felling, Matthew (September 17, 2007). "Victims to Journalists: Keep Out". CBS News. Retrieved 2008-06-21.
- ^ KAHN, CHRIS (April 25, 2007). "Va. Tech Rallies Around School President". Fox News. Associated Press. Archived from the original on March 3, 2016. Retrieved 2008-06-21.
- ^ Fox 11 Morning News, KTTV, Los Angeles, April 18, 2007. Also "Netster® - one of the fastest growing search engines on the internet". Archived from the original on 2007-09-29. Retrieved 2007-04-19.
- ^ Shootings Prompt Fox to Pull an Episode of Bones, Jim Benson, Broadcasting & Cable, April 16, 2007
- ^ Variety, April 25, 2007