Was The Media Irresponsible For Airing The Manifesto

[PuffnScruff]

like most mornings i listen to a local radio host that allows locals to call in and voice an opinion. the host asks the question about the media airing the VT killers video and audio that he sent into nbc. he wanted to know if other people agree with him that the media is being irresponsible for airing this manifesto. so i am wondering what you guys think about this.

this guy clearly wanted his 15 minutes of fame or else he would not have made the videos and sent them in. he also made mention of the columbine killers so in some ways he glorified them. this was all premeditated so is the media just giving him what he wants?

is the media glorifing this guy by putting out his manifesto? could this manifesto create copycats? he is sort of a columbine copycat. in a society were everyone wants their 15 mins will others look at his actions as a way for them to also get their fame and go out in "a blaze of glory" in their eyes?

i do find it kind of odd that the same media who has decided that we the viewers can't handle seeing people jump to certain death from the world trade center from the attacks from 9/11 they decide to show us this. not to mention other things that are questionable. so is the media lacking in the morals and standards? was this all for ratings? i think brian williams may have hit a ratings peak for his career, even though the numbers aren't out yet, i'm sure they were high. would you have liked to see some media outlet take the high ground and say they will not air this guys manifesto? the radio host i listen to refused to air it much less say his name. instead he calls him "choo choo"

bodies aren't even burried yet much less cold. is this guy just re-victimizing these people all over again?

i realize we, at least here in america, live in a voyeristic society where everyone wants to look into the lives of other people but should we be doing this in this case? the media is out there like vultures. they are already doing interviews with the parents of some of these students who died. their children aren't even in the ground yet.

i know people feel they have a need to know or want to know what is going on in this information society we live in but in columbine it took years for alot of the information to come out. most of it came out over time and some of it still isn't out there with the gag order over the parents of the students. has the times changed that much in this short time?

also what happend with the media doing their homework and fact checking? 22mm handgun? wouldn't that gun have some pull? and this isn't even the biggest school massacres in u.s. history. the bath school incident in 1927 killed 45 with 58 people injured http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bath_School_disaster

your thoughts?

 

[Preach]

yes. humanity is at chaos, and the media correspondents with it. i can't really talk about the media or any group of specific occupants really. to me it's like this, the media aren't any different than anyone else on this planet. just because someone works for the media doesn't make them superhuman, so i feel like it's more relevant, for me anyway, to talk about people in general. the average joe, the average doctor, the average entrepreneur, doesn't matter the occupation, people in general are becoming more self-centered. if the media were to treat information in any way but the way they are right now, the entire human society would need to make a change. that's just what i think, anyway.

it's probably the largest school shooting, but def not the largest massacre.

 

[Preach]

btw this may be teetering on the border to words of wisdom. i am paralyzed.

 

[Prize Gotti]

The material he sent the media is pathetic. I can't see how showing this can be in any way irresponsible, don't they show videos that Al Qaeda or Suicide bombers make over in the US? They all ways get aired in Europe, and personally I find them more disturbing than the tripe that this guy made.

 

[Casey]

It needed to be shown. It gives him a personality and opposed to being a faceless cold blooded enigma.

With insight comes understanding, with understanding comes awareness, and with awareness comes prevention for future incidents.

 

[Preach]

It needed to be shown. It gives him a personality and opposed to being a faceless cold blooded enigma.

With insight comes understanding, with understanding comes awareness, and with awareness comes prevention for future incidents.

on the other hand, if some caveman didn't stumble upon fire and the wheel, we would be saved of decades of war and persecution. understanding never helped humans, it only changed the problem from lack of understanding to lack of greater understanding.

basically, i don't think there's a right or a wrong here and there's two sides to the coin. i'm for liberty of speech, but i'm against human stupidity so i can't really have an opinion here lol.

 

[Prize Gotti]

I'm against human stupidity.

You must hate 9/10 users here.

 

[S O F I]

I don't think the media is glorifying this guy. That would mean the media is trying to make him look like he did something good. That's not the case. Will this "manifesto" create copycats? Who knows. I was hoping to see some media outlet take the high ground and air the entire video. I want to see it badly.

As for the bath school disaster, it wasn't done by a student; it was done by a school board member. There's a difference and that's what the media is probably focusing on when it says "worst school massacre in US history".

In the end, I don't think the media was irresponsible for airing it; they were doing their job.