NBC made a questionable call in releasing the murderer’s rantings and pics today.
Does the educative value exceed the likelihood that others will see this as THEIR ticket to national recognition? In fact, it’s hard to see any educational value here: it appears as though people knew that something was seriously wrong with Cho.
The problem seems to have been that there was insufficient cause to take action. How will disseminating his delusions address that problem? I suspect we’ll see this M.O. repeated: rantings sent to a huge media outlet, murders, suicide, followed by mass distribution.
The more responsible course would have been for the network to describe what the killer said, how he looked, or–if absolutely required by ratings–to quote what he’d written.
By televising it, NBC has guaranteed the widest possible coverage, and thus planted in other deranged minds the hope for their 15 minutes.
Perhaps someone will recall this the next time. NBC isn’t responsible for the Blacksburg killings, but their publication of Cho’s rantings qualify them for consideration as accessories in the future.
It is difficult at this point to tell whether Cho knew what he was doing. But, NBC: what’s their excuse?
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