I am wondering how everyone feels about the networks showing the video that Cho Seung-hui (VA Tech Shooter) sent to NBC.
I feel that in some ways it may give the victims & their families a reason behind his rampage, but I also feel that it is giving him what he wanted as well. I think that without showing or releasing the video the news programs could have just as easily paraphrased the contents of what he sent. It kind of makes me sick to look at the video or the pictures of him, he is so evil looking.

By Dawnk777 on Friday, April 20, 2007 - 06:20 pm:

He is evil-looking! I don't think he goes into that much detail about why he's so angry. He goes on the rant, about "their" hedonistic ways, without saying who "they" are, so in some ways, it made little sense to me. It is creepy, though.

By Dancermom on Friday, April 20, 2007 - 06:35 pm:

Personally, I think they should have shown the videos to the families privately.
That way they would have a choice.
I can't imagine having to see his face and hear his voice over and over. Everytime you turned on a tv set.
My heart aches for the families.d

By Dancermom on Friday, April 20, 2007 - 06:37 pm:

And from personal experience. I know that nothing the families hear from these tapes or see in the news is going to make them "understand" why this happened to their loved ones.

By Dancermom on Friday, April 20, 2007 - 06:40 pm:

It been 26 months today since someone decided their agenda was more important than my baby sister's life.
I'm not sure why I feel the need to share, I guess I just miss her.

By Nicki on Friday, April 20, 2007 - 06:59 pm:

I agree with you, Emily. I have not turned on the news because I knew they'd be showing that tape over and over.

This week of all weeks, I feel the media should have toned down the coverage (Columbine). This type of media attention will only trigger sick individuals with these type of thoughts.

I think we are all hurting for the families and friends of the victims. I know I've been really down about all of this, and feel a great sadness and concern for our society. The media isn't helping.:-( So I choose not to watch.

By Dawnk777 on Friday, April 20, 2007 - 08:13 pm:

I have been staying away from the news, too! I did go to the VT website, though, because I wanted to know what a Hokie was and I wanted to know what majors they had and I enjoyed looking at pictures of the campus. I was just nosy. I don't care much for the news coverage, right now. I did read an article or two in the newspaper, though. I've certainly seen enough of the video, or clips of the video, though.

By Ginny~moderator on Friday, April 20, 2007 - 10:56 pm:

I think NBC showed the videos in order to get people to watch, which is what they did. And in doing so, NBC and everyone who watched and kept on watching played right into his hands - he wanted his 15 minutes of fame, wanted to get his "message" out to the world, and NBC did just that. I think it was wrong very much the wrong thing to do, but I wouldn't expect anything better from a commercial (or even non-commercial) TV station.

As for letting the families see them privately if they wanted to, I guess so, but I can't imagine why they would want to - especially now.

By Marcia on Friday, April 20, 2007 - 11:28 pm:

Pam, I'm so sorry. xo

By Bobbie~moderatr on Friday, April 20, 2007 - 11:34 pm:

Pam, I to am sorry... And thank you for sharing your loss with us.. If you are ever ready to share, know we are here to listen with open ears and hearts..

By Dancermom on Saturday, April 21, 2007 - 12:29 am:

Ginny, I was thinking the family may have wanted to see the tapes privately before they were released to the public.
We now know there really isn't anything useful on the tapes, so I guess it wouln't have mattered. But since the guy killed himself, they families really don't have a place to turn for answers.
I think in these situations people just try to gather every piece of information about their loved one, especially the last few moments of their life.
I know I'm rambling, it's just hard to put into words my feelings.
I know at some point I probably would have wanted to watch the tapes and read his manifesto. Just not within days of the tragedy. There is way to much swirling around your head as it is. Way to raw.

By Bobbie~moderatr on Saturday, April 21, 2007 - 08:41 am:

I think you are meaning, the airing of the tapes is like a slap in the face to the families.. To see how evil (menatlly ill) he seemed in the tapes, kind of makes you realize what he probably was like while he was standing over their children, spouses and parents in a few cases... If they could have chosen to see the tapes in their own time for "closure" it would be one thing. But to have it throw in their face every time a news brief came on all through out the day, for days at a time.. It would bring about more pain, constant pain and fear of copy cats for many.... the school is trying to heal... the family is trying to find closure... And the media turns it into a circus not truly thinking of anyone or anything but their own rattings.....

I truly find this a bit odd in our lives of having to be PC about everything... Death and grief is one thing that the PC people have messed up on...

By Nicki on Saturday, April 21, 2007 - 04:12 pm:

MSN "Slate" has an article on the subject called "The Cho Show". I apologize, I don't know how to make a link. It concerns a memo sent out to Fox News restricting further showing of the videos.
http://www.slate.com/id/2164717

By Dawnk777 on Saturday, April 21, 2007 - 07:04 pm:

Slate Article

By Emily7 on Saturday, April 21, 2007 - 07:23 pm:

Pam I am very sorry for your loss.

By Cocoabutter on Monday, April 23, 2007 - 03:14 pm:

I, too, am sorry for your loss, Pam.

I do wonder why, after 9-11, the media stopped showing the towers being hit, out of respect for the victims' families, and why the media asked the question, "Is it too soon?" when United 93 came out in theaters, but they have no qualms about repeatedly airing the rantings of a murderous mad man who slaughtered 32 innocent people in the most gruesome campus massacre in US History.

By Hol on Monday, April 23, 2007 - 11:22 pm:

I despise the way the media treats the families of all victims of tragedy. There is no respect or sensitivity (although, as has already been mentioned, *other* issues often heighten everyone's sensitivities). They parade them out on TV and ask such banal questions as "How did you feel when you found out your child was dead?".

The showing of the video was nothing more than a total quest for ratings. To "out scoop" the other networks, at the expense of the families. They say that viewership of TV news is declining. I'm not surprised. I, for one, don't watch the news anymore, between the war and things like this, it is TOO depressing and sad.

I heard on the radio the other day that the authorities are looking closely at the tape to see if he had an accomplice. They said that the camera angle was TOO centered, and that the camera seemed to move with him, like someone else was filmimg it. I also heard that he had written some sort of Moslem inscription written on his arm, and that nothing was said about it. However, if he had had Christian Scripture written on him, the media would have said "There is a fanatical, over-top-Christian for you".

I totally agree about the evil eyes. I said that to my DH. He has the same "dead" eyes as Osama Bin Laden, Sadam Hussein, Charles Manson. Pure evil. It is chilling.

By Kaye on Tuesday, April 24, 2007 - 09:22 am:

I watched the tape though. I was trying to understand what type of person does this. Would I recognize a killer in the midst of my children? I found it facinating. I do think it should be linked on news pages, but not played over and over.

On a side note. My hubby had a coop last year from VT, she went to high school with Cho, she was stalked by him last summer. She is just devasted. She said the video just really didn't look like him, he never had that much eye contact. She was never scared by him, only bothered. She feels lots of guilt right now, the it could of been her, etc.

By Latonya on Tuesday, April 24, 2007 - 02:46 pm:

I just watched it. I know I am totally going against what everyone else thinks here but I think it should be shown. This kind of thing seems to be happening more and more and we need our kids to see that it doesn't just happen to other people and show them what to look for. This guy abviously had some serious problems that didn't just come up the day before. It was a growing problem that festered until it got out of control. I want my children to be aware of kids like that in school and go to someone of they notice something that doesn't seem right. Maybe that sounds a bit paranoid but I would much rather be paranoid than the parent of a dead child.

I understand everyones concern for the parents and I feel that too. It must be the most horrible thing to go through but if it was your child that was killed and having other kids see the video could help other kids recognize the signs wouldn't you want it on the air everywhere as long as possible. I know I would.

I have realized that in almost every school shooting that I can remember the kids showed signs. They were a loner or was picked on by everyone or was depressed or angry. There are signs that there is something wrong, you just have to know what to look for and I for one want my kids to be aware. I am scared to send them to school. My DD walks home everyday and I call her if she is 2 minutes late to make sure she is ok. I meet all of her friends or boyfriends and their parents. She talks to me alot about kids at school and I listen because I want to know.

Ok I know I went off on my own thing for a moment but I hope you all get my point. I don't think it should be shown because I have no sympathy for the parents becuse believe me I do!! I just think we have to show our kids what to look out for. They need to be aware of everyone around them and if something doesn't seem right tell someone.

By Cocoabutter on Wednesday, April 25, 2007 - 04:23 pm:

Latonya, I understand what you are saying about the awareness, but the fact is that many many people were already aware that this individual was disturbed, and nothing was done to prevent him from doing what he did. There were red flags going up all around this guy. Students refused to go to class with him. One teacher had him removed. He had a history of stalking. At one point he was even deemed by a judge to be a danger to himself and to others, and yet it still happened. I have also heard that in the State of Virginia is was against the law for a school to suspend or expel a student based on his/her mental state.

Bottom line is that there is no way to prevent something like this from happening, so let's not give the "martyr" the satisfaction of knowing that his legacy will be remembered. I want to forget that this sick creep ever walked the earth.

By Nicki on Wednesday, April 25, 2007 - 05:00 pm:

I'm also thinking his behavior on the video was not characteristic of his daily demeanor around others. I think the public needed to know the type of warning signs he gave out before his attack. I agree, we need to educate ourselves. I'm not sure the video helps us learn much, as it basically demonstrates how sick this guy was, but we know that by his actions.

By Latonya on Wednesday, April 25, 2007 - 09:01 pm:

I have had a little more time to reflect on this and I understand what Cocoabutter is saying about all the red flags around him. I also know there is no way to prevent it. I just want to make sure my kids know what to look for and to come to me if they see things like this. If I was a parent in this situation and the school did nothing then my child would be taken out of that school and placed somewhere else. The public needed to know about him before this happened. Parents should have been warned. I don't know what the law is here in FL for expelling or suspending someone due to their mental state but there seems like there has to be something that could have been done. I think the school is as much to blame as the person who did it. They may not have been able to kick him out but they could have done something. If they can suspend a kid for the color of their hair (they can in our town) or the clothes they wear then they can do something about a stalker and a danger to himself and others then they can do something to protect the other kids.

I also agree that showing the video is giving him what he wants but he will be remembered wether the video is shown or not. How can anyone forget that? Not showing the video won't make people forget him. Maybe they should stop showing it but they should be telling everyone about the red flags. Letting children and parents know what to look for and what to do.

He was a very disturbed person. When the judge deemed him a danger to himself and others something should have been done then.

By Jennings111 on Tuesday, May 15, 2007 - 10:25 am:

as awful as it was/is i really think he was a sick and torched soul. not that that makes it ok..