Washington Square Park Vigil For Virginia Tech Victims

Hundreds of Virginia Tech alumni, NYU students and other New Yorkers gathered for a candlelight vigil in Washington Square Park last night. Rabbi Yehuda Sarna, who had traveled to Virginia Tech earlier in the week, brought back a candle from a vigil there and used it to light candles last night. And today, many people are also wearing orange and maroon, Virginia Tech's colors, for "Orange and Maroon Effect" day to show support for the school.

Meanwhile, NBC is defending its decision to air Virginia Tech gunman Cho Seung-Hui's "multimedia manifesto." While Virginia State Police criticized NBC's decision, an unnamed FBI official said that NBC did receive te news. The Times notes that ABC and CBS "led their newscasts last night with the backlash against the use of the images from the mailing." By yesterday morning, NBC did announce it was going to "limit" the airing of the materials, and Newsday points out that many news organizations (including Newsday) got complaints about using them. The Daily News' David Hinckley writes:

The video "has value as breaking news," ABC News spokesman Jeffrey Schneider said, "but then becomes practically pornographic as it is just repeated ad nauseam."

Sorry, but to most people pornography is a matter of content, not repetition. If it was porn Thursday morning, it was also porn on Wednesday night...

From almost any perspective, the networks looked bad, as if they were either seduced by sensationalism or simply had no clue America didn't want to see this.

Personally, though I didn't have a vote, I wouldn't have shown the video at all. To me, it played like a gratuitous taunt at the victims and it "rewarded the behavior," as they say in the child-raising business. It told the next disturbed killer he, too, can get his video on television, which is today's ultimate mark of validation.

Still photos and transcripts can convey the information without the visceral impact or any suggestion of incidental glorification. On TV, no matter how carefully you lay out the context, you make a murderer, on some level, into a TV star.

All that said, however, it's a tough call. I think TV execs weighed it seriously. I don't think NBC opened this package and thought it had won the lottery.

The Washington Post's Howard Kurtz looks at other opinions about NBC's airing. And 41% of our readers thought NBC's release of the manifesto was deplorable; 34% understood the airing, but thought NBC could have limited the materials even more, while 24% felt seeing the manifesto was useful.

Other: NY Times has an op-ed about building a better lockdown, the Post looks at how Cho was bullied in the past, the Daily News has an editorial "Nutty gun laws kill all" and the Sun has an editorial that looks at the "legal juggernaut" that added up to "paralysis" in dealing with Cho.

Photograph of Washington Square Park vigil by New York Daily Photo

Contact the author of this article or email tips@gothamist.com with further questions, comments or tips.

By Jen Chung in News on April 20, 2007 9:58 AM

Comments [rss]

seyoda

As the 1 month anniversary comes around, I have created a dedication site to remember the victims. http://www.virginiatechvictim.com

me

"I don't think NBC opened this package and thought it had won the lottery."

I, on the other hand, am SURE they did.

Joe

that's great and all that these people are gathered for the VA Tech victims, too bad there are so few people expessing outrage publically about the biggest fuck-up in modern history.

Our President (& administration) have so much more blood on their hands than that piece of shit Cho. They are loving the diversion that this massacre has created in the media. Thanks to CNN and other "news" organizations, this war was able to start and they continue to help it continue with no end in sight. Where is the outrage? I don't get it. This country is so fucked, nobody seems to have any sense of reality. I'm ashamed to be an American. I would have never thought I would say that 5 years ago.

Michael

Part of my comment was cut above:

Instead, NBC decided to show a powerful inflammatory video that hurt a lot of people who were already hurting and with certainly will lead to copycat killings.

moon over my hammie

number three was being sarcastic,

notice the quotation marks around "go back to china"

Of course, I know Gook is Korean and chink is for chinese.

I remember one of the stories in Screw magazine on Korean brothels, "The Gook, the bad and the ugly".

That's why this whole story is getting fishy, How could an "american" notice an accent from a kid who came to this country at age eight? They were just bullying him.

We need to get the priorities right in this country.

Punish the BULLY not the bullied. Because, well, you know, this will continue to happen.

But no can do with this violent society.

Michael

Mr. Constitution - Clearly, you have never read the document. There is no constitutional right to "news". This isn't even a first amendment ("free speech") issue because nobody has even suggested the government prevent the video from being displayed.

NBC could have easily released a written transcript of the videos as well as a description of the various photos. That would cover the "public's right to know." It's not the sexiest way to report the news, but it would have sufficed.

Instead, in a demented chase for ratings, it decided to show powerful inflamatory >video

As several people have said so far, they decided to show pornography. Way to kick 'em while they're down, NBC!

HAM

Who wants to see a gook on TV?

"Go back to China".

[3] Posted by: yakovmy smirnoff | April 20, 2007 10:43 AM

______________

You need to get your slurs right.

Gooks are not from China.

Just as Wiggers are not from Africa.

Go have a drink and call it a day or a life.

Quit while you are ahead.

gimme

comeback role for jet li in the v tech massacre made for cable movie

gimme

comeback role for jet li in the v tech massacre made for cable movie

dhex

maybe some of the reaction to the video is actually more along the lines of (internally) "oh shit, he was a loser and a wackjob, and yet he managed to kill all those people."

it's pretty disturbing.

John

Limit the broadcast of his videos. Fine.

Limit the amount of his diatribe to be broadcasted. Fine.

Limit the time at which his videos will be broadcasted. Fine.

But the videos are absolutely 100% newsworthy and if we as the public want to see them, then we should be allowed to.

"Personally, though I didn't have a vote, I wouldn't have shown the video at all. To me, it played like a gratuitous taunt at the victims and it "rewarded the behavior," as they say in the child-raising business. It told the next disturbed killer he, too, can get his video on television, which is today's ultimate mark of validation."

Freaking retarded. How is Cho being rewarded? HE'S DEAD. He wanted to kill a whole bunch of people and that's exactly what he did. He already died happy and satisfied.

And if there are any potential Cho copycats out there and they are that close to the edge already, they'll grab their easily obtained guns and blast away anyway - broadcasted manifesto or not.

bklynd

That Sun op-ed about privacy laws is actually fairly interesting. As someone who was taught Freshman classes in a few area universities I can attest that you meet some fairly damaged kids. (Indeed, I've had one student who struck me as a possible Columbine type - very arrogant and creepy.) But, there is usually no system in place to keep tabs on them, either academically or personally.

hmm

well said 'huh?'. well said.

Hoos for Hokies

"I'm sorry, but that video is news and the constitution protects our right as citizens to get any and all news from free, unrestricted media."

True - but don't you think plastering the video all over the 10 o'clock news was a bit much? I think releasing a statement including a short description of the video would have served the same purpose. Also, I would be less upset if free speech and journalistic integrity were NBC's true motivations - but they obviously were not.

Stephen

Gawker has an NBC memo that now forbids the use of the video:

gawker.com/news/cnn/cnn-bans-u...

yakovmy smirnoff

Who wants to see a gook on TV?

"Go back to China".

mr. constitution

I'm sorry, but that video is news and the constitution protects our right as citizens to get any and all news from free, unrestricted media. The networks didn't have to play it, but they would be censoring themselves by protecting us, as if we are unable to make the decision to watch it or not. The off button on the remote to your television is how you choose whether or not you should view that video.