Editor:
It has long been believed that mass murders are nothing but glorified suicides, commited by unbalanced people that crave notoriety and attention.
I think the media has a serious responsibility here.
The murders at Columbine, and this week at Virginia Tech, were both given unlimited airtime on all major news networks – constant coverage 'round the clock--giving the murderers what they wanted: infamy, notoriety, attention, a chance to be heard.
How many other screwed-up minds are watching this and planning another horrendous attack on innocents, knowing they too will finally capture the attention of the nation and the world?
Instead of airing Cho's video a thousand times, and letting him convey the twisted message of his pity and self-loathing, perhaps the media should give only the statement that "he was a nutcase". Please, quit letting him plead his case to those of us that really don't care, and lend the focus instead to the beautiful lives that he ended in order to make his point.
What a sad thing for Americans to be so rapt by the visions of a murderous cry-baby that NBC, CNN, and others feel they have to play the video 3-4 times per hour.
Laurel Nichols Moreira
Statesboro
It has long been believed that mass murders are nothing but glorified suicides, commited by unbalanced people that crave notoriety and attention.
I think the media has a serious responsibility here.
The murders at Columbine, and this week at Virginia Tech, were both given unlimited airtime on all major news networks – constant coverage 'round the clock--giving the murderers what they wanted: infamy, notoriety, attention, a chance to be heard.
How many other screwed-up minds are watching this and planning another horrendous attack on innocents, knowing they too will finally capture the attention of the nation and the world?
Instead of airing Cho's video a thousand times, and letting him convey the twisted message of his pity and self-loathing, perhaps the media should give only the statement that "he was a nutcase". Please, quit letting him plead his case to those of us that really don't care, and lend the focus instead to the beautiful lives that he ended in order to make his point.
What a sad thing for Americans to be so rapt by the visions of a murderous cry-baby that NBC, CNN, and others feel they have to play the video 3-4 times per hour.
Laurel Nichols Moreira
Statesboro