April 19, 2007
NBC Airs VT Shooter's "Multimedia Manifesto"
Yesterday, NBC News revealed that Virginia Tech shooting gunman Cho Seung-Hiu sent them a package of photographs, writings, and video - a "multimedia manifesto." The network turned over the materials to the authorities but also shared the package's contents during the evening news last night and on its website.
Quickly, the images of Cho holding guns in both hands, pointing a gun at his head, pointing a gun at the camera, and more, started to be seen everywhere as video of Cho's words played on TV and online (CBS News offers a Flash slideshow of the photographs on the homepage). The Washington Post reports that the letter sent to NBC, sent Express Mail but misaddressed, was similar to the letter found in Cho's room.
While photographs, ramblings and video of Cho are part of the story, we wonder if it's too much. The NY Times has a short article about NBC's decisions. Well, it describes NBC's actions, but doesn't illuminate exactly why the network decided to air and release much of the contents. There's only this quote from Brian Williams: “This was a sick business tonight, going on the air with this,” he said. The Washington Post's Howard Kurtz had some more insight: Apparently NBC wrestled with the decision about what to air (Kurtz also references the NY Times' and WP's decision to print the Unabomber's manifesto), but decided to air much of it, though Williams tried to warn viewers. The Daily News has an article titled, NBC Delivers Final Sick Message, while a forensic psychiatrist told Good Morning America that showing the video on news networks was a "social catastrophe."
As more details are revealed about Cho's mental health history (being hospitalized at one point after complaints he was stalking two women on campus), some suggest the school should have done more while other news outlets are trying to offer "warning signs" on how to spot a killer. The South Korean community, both in the U.S. and in South Korea, voice their sympathies as well as concern about a backlash against them. And Cho's parents continue to be described as a nice, quiet, hardworking couple by neighbors, who managed to send their children to college (Cho's sister graduated from Princeton and is currently a State department contractor).
Professor Liviu Librescu, an engineering professor who students say helped save them by standing in front of a door as they escaped out windows, was remembered yesterday during a funeral in Brooklyn. Assemblyman Dov Hikind gave the eulogy, and while Librescu had no "known connection" to Borough Park, the Sun reports that hundreds paid their respects.
Mayor Bloomberg has ordered all city flags to be flown at half mast through Sunday. Local politicians are asking that colleges and universities to have a summit about security responses (the News points out that the NYPD has close relationships with the city's colleges). And the Manhattan Hokies have planned a candlelight vigil for tonight at 7:30 PM, Washington Square Park. They are also collecting donations for a memorial fund.
Photographs of restaurant diners in Blacksburg, Virginia watching the the NBC Nightly News last night by Amy Sancetta/AP
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Isn't the whole reason why they don't broadcast these things is to not give the next nutso motivation to act up in hopes he gets press also?
it's turning my stomach every time I load MSNBC.com and see this killer with his arms stretched out. I'm curious about his ramblings - but I'm quickly getting tired of supporting his insanity.
Yes, Reg!, I'm very curious about the decision-making process at NBC. I wonder how many of the photos and writings the police would have released, had a media outlet not received the same. And clearly, once the images and video were out, it gives everyone else license to post them on their sites. It was probably a difficult decision to make, and something that will probably be debated for a long time.
Its ridiculous that NBC showed the manifesto. The fact that they continue to break up various clips spread over yesterday and today shows they only care about ratings. This is the same company that had the "moral responsibility" to pull the Imus radio show (not looking to debate that move) but will then show a manifesto from a killer. Way to go NBC!
I don't know how the other asian brothers out there feel, but I'm feeling abit like people are looking at me sideways since all this happened. Even more so with these wack videos...
He was clearly a paranoid psychopath - a lot of the things he described in his videos (ie "have you ever had your throat...etc etc") never actually happened to him. He needed hospitalization and its sad there was no communication between the hospital in his original hospitalization and the police and his school - the hospital had no idea of the extent of his problems./
hey #5, grow a pair. it's got nothing to do with you so why are you feeling the heat
There's only one reason why NBC aired the material: ratings.
When all is said and done, that's all these networks have in mind. The fact that NBC tried to claim a high road in this (i.e., some kind of journalistic integrity) makes them seem hypocritical given how they handled the Imus situation (not that I'm supporting what Imus said in any way).
Even sadder is the fact that there have already been stories of police thwarting potential copycats in other colleges before this material got aired. This just adds more fuel to somebody else's fire.
he needed hospitalization
Unfortunately in this country you can't force someone to get treatment. You have to prove they are a danger to themselves or others and that it pretty hard to do if the person hasn't already committed a crime. Furthermore, privacy laws dictate that schools can't communicate with the parents if the person is 18 or older.
Why glorify the guy by showing pictures of him with his guns? Shouldn't they be digging up yearbook pictures from that awkward time around 8th grade; you know, something that would be embarrassing had he still been alive?
uhhh... #5, I haven't gotten any weird looks 'cept the usual, "you're hot" look from people.
I don't understand why everyone is so paranoid. As a matter of fact, I think all this fear and apologizing will draw more attention to Koreans because it almost seems like an invitation saying, "please beat us up". No offense, but I don't see Black or White people apologizing everytime one of their "kind" kills someone.
Anyway, I don't think CNBC did anything wrong by showing some of the video clips and manifesto. It actually helped people gain some insight into who this guy actually was. I mean, I've seen some crazy rumors going around about how he was some muslim terrorist. However, now they're blaming Old Boy for inspiring him. Jesus Christ... People are so freaking weird. I don't even think his plays were even that weird. Not to say that his (Cho's) works are good but it would be like throwing Tarantino into a clinic for doing Resevoir Dogs.
I remember back in the day during Columbine, some friends and I were called down to the guidance counselor and forced to get counseling because they were afraid we might do the same thing. Just 'cause we were misfits, skated, liked hijinks, clockwork orange, and wrote crazy stories. Now, almost 6 years later, I'm sitting behind my desk at work and preparing for my MBA interview. I didn't turn out bad. I hope this doesn't turn into some witch hunt for anything against the norm.
Honestly, the guy basically said he wanted to make himself a martyr, and now he is one.
Good job NBC, how many disturbed kids are seeing this and thinking about how everyone would know who they are and who bullied them if they go out in a blaze of gunfire?
They are positively reinforcing this kind of behavior with celebrity status, which is all this killer really wanted.
Not just NBC but the front page of the NYTimes.. Pure sensationalism. I guess they figured it didn't matter in the age of YouTube? It's proof of how shallow US media has become.
#9: didn't we learn yesterday that he had been declared a danger to others in a court order?
I agree. I find it offensive and irresponsible that the media is posting the final video of the VT killer. I'm actually really disgusted by their irresonsible coverage and greed. The publicity of this video and the infamy being granted to this individual may likely inspire "copycat" killers who want the notoriety and fame.
Why is (the media) giving the killer a platform? Instead of publicizing their last words and creating a cult of notoriety, the media should condemn and shun them. I feel that NBC is exploiting this tragedy for profit and greed at the expense of the innocent victims who have lost their lives.
Now, you've got crazy creepy guy infesting the minds of impressionable young troubled youths who are probably glorifying him in their minds. It turns out Cho was inspired by the "martyr" deaths of the columbine guys. Who will Cho inspire? nice going NBC. You've turned into Foxnews. I'm gonna stop watching these guys too.
Also the chief of police of Virginia also said the police were "dissappointed with NBC's editorial decision to air the material" and what's really weird is that through all the msnbc discussions everyone's like "why are you showing this!" and on MSNBC and CNN all the Psychological pundits are like "You shouldn't show this!" and then Brian whatshisname on MSNBC is like "yeah, we've discussed not showing this. but...." I guess ratings win out. And showing the pictures and video are ten times more suggestive than just reading hardcopy. Why do you think movies and television are more popular than books and newspapers? Can you imagine being a student or parent at a convocation of healing and then the next day be inundated with rantings from your son/daughters killer? talk about relapsed horror.
THe negatives for showing this far outweigh the positives. NBC is trying to defend it's post by saying it may give a clearer insight to the killers frame of mind. But it would have been better served had they given it to mental health care professionals, profilers and trained authourities. The real reason they released it was for pure profit and the fact that every news source had to put the NBC bug in the corner of their citations. NBC was willing to risk copycat killers and not shoulder the responsibility and put the public at risk and that is sad.
The news should AWAYS tell the truth and hide nothing from it's viewers weather the story is happy or sad , you don't want your news to be censored by any one , when they do it , its because they are following an agenda , just like when they pushed down your throat that Saddam would blow your backyard , and YES 30 people is a lot and that was a very sad event , but stop for a second to remember how many people have died in Iraq just this week ... just so you can drive your kid to college .
Imagine if for every 30 unfortunate ones in middle-east or Africa would be a big front page in you favorite newspaper?
Do people from a richer country have a bigger value for their life?
I completely agree JOJO,
Couldn't we have gotten this same "insight" on his mind if they just TOLD US about what was in his manifesto instead of releasing the images that poster him up on every front page in the nation looking like Brandon Lee from "The Crow"?
#5 This is totally different than the Islamist terrorists attacks. The killer did not kill because he was Korean or his culture taught him to hate. Even with terrorism, the attacks against Muslims or perceived Muslims have been very, very rare. Do people really think that the US is a land of hate-filled blood-feud avengers like Sicily or the Middle East?
Talking about a perceived climate of fear or backlash seems more like a way to get attention and become part of the story. It's like Antiamericanism growing in Russia. According to reports from Moscow, that is happening because Russians used to feel important as the rival of the USA during the cold war. Now they feel ignored and they hate that. They'd rather be hated than ignored.
As #11 says, to constantly ask for calm is like asking to be beaten up.
The victim's families and friends are probably sick when they see this nutball on TV every five minutes. I am interested in the story but they should have waited a bit or put it all on one show with a warning before it.
In his ramblings the VT killer specifically referred to Eric and Dylan, the Colombine killers. Clearly, Cho was, in part, a copycat, inspired by a previous school shooting. Thanks to NBC we'll probably see more copycats. Totally irresponsible. Basically pornography.
It's so sad that nothing good is going to come out of this. Cho is glamorized. The new channels have already spent days discussing 'the mind' of the killer when what, if you ask me, we so obviously need is a serious national debate on gun control. Are we going to learn this time?
The real question is how do we really prevent this ..and noone actually wants to talk about what that actually requires. Does anyone think for a minute this won't happen again (and worse)? When are we going to get serious about the gun problem?
NBC is creaming its panties over this one. I'm getting so weary of the constant coverage of this. It is undeniable that what happened was horrific and terribly sad, but the Grief Machine was primed and ready for this jackpot. The tinkly piano music, the armchair psychiatrists on the air 24/7, the same images being branded onto our corneas, it's really a sort of pornography. The money shot being, of course, this icky manifesto.
As I mentioned, this domestic incident is a true tragedy, but Baghdad continues to burn. Scores of mothers' sons and daughters are being slaughtered on a daily basis, but were is the national soul-searching about that? The statement couldn't be clearer: Virginia=us, ergo superior; Iraq=them, ergo yawn...
And #11, I totally share your concern that unpopular, countercultural students will be targeted.
#9: didn't we learn yesterday that he had been declared a danger to others in a court order?
A quick web search found this excerpt in McPaper, I mean USA Today:
A Virginia Tech police officer swore at 10:12 p.m. on Dec. 13, 2005, that Cho "is mentally ill and in need of hospitalization, and presents an imminent danger to self or others as a result of mental illness."
The next day, a physician who examined Cho reported that he was oriented as to person, place and time. "Affect is flat and mood is depressed. He denies suicidal ideation. He does not acknowledge symptoms of a thought disorder. His insight and judgment are normal," the doctor wrote on the court documents.
Cho told the doctor he had not received psychiatric care in the past and was not taking any medication.
Later on Dec. 14, Paul M. Barnett, a special justice, found that Cho "presents an imminent danger" but decided that "the alternatives to involuntary hospitalization and treatment were investigated and deemed suitable."
Barnett wrote "court-ordered o-p [outpatient] -- to follow all recommended treatments."
Less than 18 months later, Cho went on a deadly shooting spree in one dormitory and at least four classrooms.
So, like I said, it's pretty hard to actually get someone committed against their will until after they commit a crime. Even then it can be difficult to keep them there. My friends in the DAs office routinely have to go to mental health hearings to oppose release of dangerous people. I don' t know exactly how it works in other countries but in the US it seems we place the "rights" of the individual above all else. It takes a village indeed.
"The killer did not kill because he was Korean or his culture taught him to hate."
Of course not - But could it be possible that his proud and hardworking Korean culture prevented him from seeking help? There's a very interesting article in the NYT about how many believe Korean culture turns its back on mental illness, depression, etc.
Just wondering what you guys thought...
#7 - Feeling heat because there are alot of assholes out there, maybe you're one of them.
#11 - Skater punk turned MBA? Aka: poseur.
Case in point:
From MSNBC: "Online, chat rooms throbbed with hate. "Take that s--t back to your own nation," declared one participant on the social networking site Facebook."
Certainly, this has nothing to do with ethnicity. But concerns about anti-Asian reprisals are not invalid. While I don't think the Asian community need to "apologize" or even give a response, the fact is that Asians - especially Asian male - have little if any representation in American media. Images of this crazy disturbed person, do have an effect on how Asian male CAN be percieved. We just have so little counterpoint - Asian male as positive role models in the media. And now this. Add yet another racist stereotype to Asian males living in America. My hope and trust is that people are better than this and will see it for what it is. A tragic, horrific event that has more to do with mental health in society than anything else. If any people can do this, Americans I believe can.
I understand Leo's point, but the fact is that they did hide footage. NBC had all this material and only chose to air some of it...bascially just enough to get eyeballs on their websites and TV news programs.
Plus, the networks typically don't go beyond the "x many people were killed today in Baghdad" and maybe showing a few scenes of a given event.
The fact of the matter is that all news gets censored to some extent. Sadly, it's almost as if the news gets tailored to whatever target demographic the given networks has as its viewership base (case in point, Fox News).
Ill be honest with you Leo. In a perfect media world I would have no problem with them showing the manifesto.
However, considering how hard they chase the ratings with the sensational, as with any big news story the line from simply being factual to stuffing it down our throats gets crossed within the first 24 hours.
A blurb in the Nytimes with the manuscript, a news segment dedicated to what was found in the package, etc. Show it once, and move on...nice factual, reporting.
Only thing is, his face is going to be plastered on how many magazines, dozens of show guests are going to be doing the circuit as experts, news specials, a huge media blitz for weeks to come. It's publicity gold, worth millions.
Leo said:
In general I have to agree, but NBC may have crossed the line here.On the plus side, I think NBC's actions are inspiring good discussion. Me, I think NBC ultimately did it for one simple reason: Money. More viewers mean more advertising revenue.
Who's worse: NBC for displaying the video or all of us (me included) for watching it?
I didn't watch it. I'm so glad I work in advertising and not media or 'journalism' nowadays.
The Columbine shooters made a video, too, but that never got aired (thank goodness). Obviously it didn't have to be since this guy was influenced by them anyway.
In response to #24:
I think you're quite on point with the comment:
"Of course not - But could it be possible that his proud and hardworking Korean culture prevented him from seeking help? "
I don't know if Korean parents think of psychological problems as a Western disease... I wouldn't put it past them though. Parents, regardless of culture, could view the matter with denial and just hope that their child is just going through a phase. I mean, I'm sure some of us had our "Cure" moments during High School.
Might be off the subject but I read about an interesting topic 2 weeks ago about Hikikomoris. Hikikomoris are a Japanese term for reclusive kids. Apparently, they are finally starting to recognize that it is a global phenomenon. Look it up on Wikipedia.
Homeboy was out of his F**KIN mind. It's that simple. You can't ptotect against nutjobs -- it's just one of the hazards of being a human being.
"I'm getting so weary of the constant coverage of this. "
then stop watching. stop reading. media blackouts are as easy as closing your eyes.
"I don' t know exactly how it works in other countries but in the US it seems we place the "rights" of the individual above all else."
well, yeah. or at least that's how its supposed to be on paper. perhaps you are unfamiliar with the extent that involuntary psychiatric treatment has been used in the past to treat disorders like political or social differences, sexual orientation or just plain old being weird?
If everyone is so horrified/disgusted by the airing Cho Seung-Hiu's manifesto, why did so many people watch?
As disturbing as these videos may be, to not air them starts us down the slippery slope of not showing anything on the news that the public may find upsetting. I mean, look how difficult it was to get pictures of the flag-draped coffins of our dead soldiers published.
As far as this promoting a copycat - if someone is that far gone that they would seriously consider something similar to the actions of Cho Seung-Hiu then anything could be the trigger that sets that person off. Blaming the media takes away the accountability of the individual.
How was his "manifesto" any different than the writings of a Steven King, Tarantino or Rodriguez.
Did anyone see the ad for "Grindhouse" they showed people getting mowed/cut up with a helicopter blade.
I bet tarantino is saying, hey, I had those thoughts, too.
How can we call his writings twisted and not the hollywood elite?
This stuff happens and will continue to happen. People go crazy, wars are started, famines happen, hurricanes happen. Just thinning of the herd. The world can't sustain so many people forever.
NBC did not 'wrestle' with airing this. There was no way on earth they would not have shown that material. They just have to go through this show of morals in order to make nice with the audience.
Any editing they did was merely to avoid any FCC censure, not out of some sense of dignity.
After seeing this video, I see this Cho character for what he is:
A loser punk who couldn't get laid, didn't amount to much, and took his frustrations out on more worthy individuals.
He doesn't even deserve a funeral. The police should release pictures of his rotting, shot up face from the morgue... and mail it to his parents. What failures these parents are to nurture a monster like that and sic him onto decent, civilized society.
He wasn't crazy, he was evil. A crazy person is the homeless guy who craps his pants and mutters to himself. An evil person is this Cho guy, who carefully plans a mass murder over a long period of time, and documents it.
… Whew!
Nobody's paying attention to me!
What timing! All right!!
I'm glad they released the viddy because it actually makes nappy headed CHo a lot less scary. He's utterly inarticulate and comes across as a mewling wimp. Worse, he's BORING. Would any future mass murderer want to be associated with him? Nope. The Columbine dudes, on the other hand, came across as cool and scary.
# 39, word! Not to mention the Supreme Court.
For everyone who is concerned about copycat killers, the leaking of this information is inevitable. It doesn't matter if NBC aired it last night or waited, this still will find its way to the internet somehow, and people who are curious will find it.
I'm glad that this stuff came out, and I hope the information will influence health policy makers to invest in mental health infrastructure. This person was suffering from an accute mental disorder, and the law prevented the 'system' from doing what needed to be done.
I get the sense that the killer had probably never experience joy in his life - his mental disorder lead him to feel constant pain and humiliation, which of course twisted his worldview. As rational beings with normal mental functioning, we cannot begin to try to "understand why he did it." Instead, we must see this as the consequences of a human brain in extreme imbalance without the necessary public health care or legal policy in place to prevent the resultant violent behavior from manifesting itself.
The warning signs were there, and people who tried to intervene took Cho's case as far as they legally could. Unfortunately, this wasn't far enough.
"As disturbing as these videos may be, to not air them starts us down the slippery slope of not showing anything on the news that the public may find upsetting. I mean, look how difficult it was to get pictures of the flag-draped coffins of our dead soldiers published."
You're mixing issues here. The Columbine video was never shown, for example.
The public has a right to see Cho's video? For what goal? Encouraging copycats? Building Cho's fame? Boosting TV ratings? What?
"As disturbing as these videos may be, to not air them starts us down the slippery slope of not showing anything on the news that the public may find upsetting. I mean, look how difficult it was to get pictures of the flag-draped coffins of our dead soldiers published."
You're mixing issues here. The Columbine video was never shown, for example.
The public has a right to see Cho's video? For what goal? Encouraging copycats? Building Cho's fame? Boosting TV ratings? What?
The media can show that tape. However, then they should show how society is not organized.
Something that disturbs me is how people are labeling this guy Cho as if he is the only one with the problem. The problem in the the American society. If he had a problem it should have been managed two years ago. His problem was allowed to grow.
This has nothing to do with guns. It has more to do with mental illness or polictical unrest. I don't know the man, I don't know what his family life was about.
However, it is obvious that things went on unnoticed for a long time. He was disturbed. You can call his problem a mental illness, you can call it anarchy against the government, you can call it political unrest against the college system.
The bottom line is that he should have been moved away from the community two years ago when they realized that he was going through culture shock. I don't mean Korean to America cultural changes. I mean that he was not ready for college on such a large campus. He complained about other peoples life style which were different then his. If young girls are dressing with little or no clothes and acting like ho's that's on them. If guys are screwing every thing with mammory glands then they have the right to do that, especially while in college. They are sewing their wild oats. It is what some people do in college and beyond college.
He couldn't get a date because he did not have the social skills to live amongst people different from him. That is the sacrifice you wind up with when you try to make the Deans (4.0/top 1%) list every quarter.
What Cho wanted had nothing to do with the agenda at VT. He wanted everyone to be "pure", brainiacts, and colored blind. Being poor would have made him a little happier too. Too bad so sad. He didn't get that. The world doesn't work that way. He should have been removed from the system NOT deprived of buying a gun. That is what is done to criminals and severly mentally ill people. If they can't function in society they need to be rehabilitated to become functioning members.
"Whatever the motivation, it seems clear that the way is made easier by the fact that guns of all sorts are readily available to Americans of all shades of morality and mentality."
- Charles Whitman
Hey! Help! They're taking me apart over here!
So #46 what is the point. Guns are not the problem.
Had society been set up to believe an experienced writer/woman's word regarding the perp.n we wouldn't be in this hot mess.
Everyone that first said this guy has a problem was a woman. They immediately saw a potential for problems. Everyone that let him slip through the cracks was a man.
The men dropped the ball here.
Guns are the least of the problem in this situation. If they really wanted to lock Cho down he would have been locked down. But the ego involved said a male trying to get a piece, trying to fit in, a 4.0 smart male caused them to make bad decisions.
Why did the judge leave the decision to an emotionally strained "young" boy, emotionally young, to determine when to check himself into a program or facility. A suicidal young boy. Something is wrong with that picture. As if to say that he will take care of himself, and boys don't cry, and he can handle it. There is masculinity written all over the decisions made in this crisis. Control issues. The judge probably heard of his grade point average and descide that he is brilliant enough to straighten this out on his own.
Cho had a 4.0 GPA? For real? Did you read his plays?
I should get my cat a BA at that school.
49: well he did manage to kill the most people in US History by a single individual at the same time mailing a letter with his technobabble so he is smart, too bad he was batshit crazy!!!! Anybody laugh that he's a mouth breather like Napolean Dynamite?
NBC just had a clip where a family member in Korea says that he's been mentally ill since childhood and never liked to talk as a child as well.
NBC fires Don Imus??? But they have no problem glorifying mass murder?
Very nice.
NBC could have just told it viewers if they want to see the video could to msnbc.com
when all is said and done the only reason why they aired it is for the ratings because ratings brings in more viewers which in turn brings in more ad money.
While Cho's parents slaved to put both their children through college, others get a FREE ride on the back of the Middle Class. This breeds resentment which may have been part of Cho's mention of Rich and Charletons driving expensive cars.
Let's see the rest of Cho's 28 manifesto the media has chosen not to put out to the public. We need to understand more so we can change the system and make things more secure.
I'm sure there are things that the College system wants to keep under the radar scope.