Re: Media Backlash against NBC


"Jeff Strickland" <crwlr@xxxxxxxxxxx> wrote in message
news:KpRVh.6431$0S1.2427@xxxxxxxxxxx
PS
I saw the same footage on every TV station I tuned into, so NBC should not
be alone. It is alone, but I don't think it should be. If there was an
error in judgement to put this story on the air and show all of the awful
pictures, all of the networks made the same error.


And I'm sick of this. They need to STOP broadcasting these sickos, because
all that does is encourage the next shooter to go out in a "blaze of glory"

ENOUGH

Natalie



"Jeff Strickland" <crwlr@xxxxxxxxxxx> wrote in message
news:qlRVh.6430$0S1.6340@xxxxxxxxxxx
NBC aired footage of the maniac from VA Tech. Now they are catching all
kinds of *** for it.

I'm torn.

The messages were intense, and they were alarming. But, they were also
news. I assume NBC had the blessing of law enforcement to air footage due
to the ongoing investigations. I don't see what was gained by airing the
footage, other than selling news, but I also do not see what the harm is
in airing the footage, other than making some of us uncomfortable.

Cho was certainly a deranged individual, and he should have been
committed to a mental hospital for his own good, not to mention the
safety of the community. Having said that, how do we confine people like
Cho and not confine people that ought not be confined? If Cho needed to
be in a hospital despite his assertions to the contrary, how do we know
when somebody that resists confinement in a hospital really deserves to
be set free? It is a slippery slope, my friends. Either we lock up guys
like Cho and ensnare a few innocent people in the same process, or we
endanger society by not gathering up our sick and dangerous brethren.

I am reminded of an old Jack Nicholson movie, One Flew Over the Coo Coo's
Nest. In the movie, Jack checked himself into the funny farm to hide from
life for a while. He found himself stuck in a black hole from which there
was no escape. There were mental patients there that were clearly better
off on the inside, and society would do those people a huge disservice
had they been turned loose -- we set about to turn them loose in the '70s
sometime, and we failed them as a result. Clearly, we need mental
hospitals for guys like Cho -- despite anything that Cho himself had to
say on the topic. Some mental patients -- most, I think -- need the
stability that a mental ward might provide, as opposed to the instability
they find on the streets.

Cho was ordered to a mental hospital, and he sought and received
outpatient care when there is little doubt that he should have been
committed.

After all of the dust settles, if we can't figure out whom should be in
mental hospitals and whom should be roaming the streets freely, we are
destined to repeat this horrible experience. I think it is worthwhile to
try and figure out how to fix the problem(s) associated with mental
hospitals and getting people into them against their will, but I do not
think it is worthwhile to point crooked fingers at the system in an
attempt to place blame. It happened. It was horrible. We can pray it
never happens again, but I think it will.

NBC had hard choices to make. Had they elected to not air the footage,
they would be charged with becoming an arbiter that decides what we see.
Had they shelved the footage, then they would be facing censorship
charges today. They would still be on the losing end of bad press. Their
job is to bring us the news, and they brought it. It was news when they
brought it, but as an afterthought it was not a particularly good news
story. But, NBC isn't burdened by deciding what is good news and what is
bad, they only decide what is news and what isn't. Sometimes the decision
is good and remains so, sometimes the decision is good when made but
turns bad, and other times the decision is bad from the start. I think it
was good and turned bad. It was always uncomfortable, but news can be
that way.







.